wave function issue 1

www.balbirsinghdance.co.uk

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wavefunction:snapshot of a creative moment issue one, Spring 2015

wave function issue one, Spring 2015

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Welcome to Wave Function, anoccasional publication thatshowcases the creative developmentof Balbir Singh Dance Company.

Wave Function is a snapshot of possibilities.In the quantum scientific world from whichwe’ve borrowed the term, a wave functiondescribes the sum of every possibleoutcome for a particle at the microscopicscale. It’s not until the moment a quantumparticle is glimpsed that we can know whichway the wave decided to take it.

We think it’s an apt metaphor for BalbirSingh Dance Company.

BSDC, under the guidance of its ArtisticDirector Balbir Singh, believes anything ispossible. Over the last two years, thecompany has travelled to some exciting andcompletely unexpected places. In atrajectory first established with its acclaimedpool-based spectacle Synchronised thecompany has moved towards a relationshipwith sport that has yielded rich andinnovative collaborations.

welcome to Wave Function

inside this issue of

wavefunction:

the defining moveThe constant element at the core of BSDC’s workpage 6


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Collaboration itself has been the trigger forother explorations.

It has led to narrative work such as FullContact, in which stories are woven withdance and live music in celebration of therich history of Rugby League.

Champion of the Flatlands has seencollaboration with international BMXchampion Keelan Phillips, in a trilogy of workthat opens up new audiences to thepossibility of dance.

And The Artist Invites, an excitingdance/painting/music project withinternationally recognised painter AngelaLyn, takes the company into collaborationwith the visual arts for the first time.

ROH links

This edition of Wave Function celebrates aparticularly fruitful collaboration.

Over the last two years Royal Opera Househas been working closely with BSDC tooffer support and expertise as part of itsinnovative mentoring programme ROH Links.

The programme, initiated by Arts CouncilEngland, offers arts organisations of avariety of scales a unique opportunity tolearn from each other and grow.

With an open brief to explore the areas thatbest fit its partners’ needs, ROH madeavailable its expertise from across itsdepartments. For BSDC this has meantaccessing high level guidance aroundareas such as marketing, fundraising,sponsorship and strategic development.

When asked to quantify how the relationshiphas impacted on the company, Balbir Singhtakes a holistic view: “It’s not been abouttaking us in this or that direction. It’s ratherthat the support has increased ourmomentum and focus on achieving ouraims. As a result of the excellent workingrelationships we’ve developed with keyROH personnel, our confidence has grownon a number of levels.”

The pages that follow provide a snapshotof some of BSDC’s key projects at thebeginning of 2015. The projects selectedare a testament to the value of the ROH

Opposite: Illustrationpublicising Two WheelTrilogy. Image: Lee Goater

Cover image: Synchronised. Photo Maya De AlmeidaAraujo

two wheels betterDance, storytelling... and championBMX cyclingpage 12

tackling a newtheme Women’s rugbytakes centre stage page 11

getting back in the waterTaking the sell-out spectacular to international audiencespage 8

partnership – each has been influenced bythe relationship and strengthened by it.

This influence will continue to resonate forBSDC as it looks towards the comingNPO period. As the company’s nextcreative wave begins, the possibilities willbe so much greater for having beeninfluenced by ROH Links.

point of contactWhen sport and art collidepage 10


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Whatever collaborative adventures BalbirSingh Dance Company engages in, onefundamental dimension conditions itsevery move: dance.

So a forthcoming showcase for BalbirSingh’s choreographic talents is a welcomeopportunity to see once again a definingpiece that illustrates the richness of thecompany’s creative process at its best.

Deceasing Infinity will be presented toaudiences at London’s Rich Mix on 31 May 2015.

The performance is an edge-of-the-seatexperience for audiences. The tensionsbetween the two male dancers areamplified by the accompaniment of liveTabla and Human Beatbox.

A pure dance piece, Decreasing Infinitydraws the audience ever deeper intoBalbir’s exploration of the mutual attractionof opposites. Each style lets go of itsdistinct identity and takes on aspects of theother, whilst both reflect the same conceptsthrough their own particular language.

the richnessof dance

Right: Sooraj Subramaniam. Photo Jim Rowbotham


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“Clear and sharp withmesmerising physicalarticulation”

Dancin’ Oxford Festival,Pegasus Theatre

Images: tabla, human beatbox anddancers from Decreasing Infinity.Photos Chris Nash


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insynch

Back in 2012, BSDC astonishedaudiences at the Cultural Olympiad thataccompanied the London Olympics, with Synchronised, a dance andsynchronised swimming spectacular that played to sell out audiences inSheffield and Leeds.

That was followed by a highly successfultour supported by Arts Council England’s Strategic Touring Fund, whichtook the piece to arts ‘cold spots’ aroundthe country.

Balbir’s roots in community danceengagement stood the company in goodstead as it forged productive partnershipswith local authorities and leisure centres inplaces as diverse as Blackburn in Lancashire,Barking, Dagenham and Leicester.

Included in NPO plans as a piece formaturation, Synchronised has hugepotential to attract and excite even wideraudiences.

Right: publicity shot for Synchronised.Photo Simon Wright


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“A huge congratulations onSynchronised at PondsForge last night. To fusedance, synchro, live musicand a choir so smoothlyand innovatively was ahighly inspiring experiencefor the audience. You trulyembodied the mission ofthe Cultural Olympiad –well done!”

Amy Carter, Head of Arts, Museums and CulturalPromotion, Sheffield CityCouncil

Left: Balbir Singh with former Olympicathlete and pilates instructor HebaAbdel Gawad, with whom Balbircollaborated on the development ofSynchronised. Photo Gavin Joynt

Below: Dancer during development ofSynchronised. Photo Xxxx Xxxxxxxx


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getting back intothe water

The universally positive response toSynchronised from critics and audiencesalike when it was first performed in2012, encourged the company to explorethe potential of touring the work further.

Since then the company has been workingto develop links in the sports and healthworlds, both of which have a natural affinitywith Synchronised.

As a result of this, new opportunities topresent Synchronised, both at the nationaland international levels, are now underdiscussion.

Touring Synchronised internationally willincrease the company’s profile while furtherenhancing BSDC’s reputation for innovation– not only in terms of the artform, but alsofor its ability to attract audiences far beyondtraditonal arts attenders.

Meanwhile, at home, the company isworking on developing a three waypartnership project with NHS providers andcultural agencies in the capital, as a vehiclefor bringing together the arts and healthagendas, something for which the companyis increasingly well respected.


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Above and opposite: promotional shotscreated to introduce Synchronised tointernational audiences. Photos Maya De Almeida Araujo

“Rich religious references are matched by popular ones.‘Serpents of Hollywood’ recalls the athleticism of synchronisedswimming with Busby Berkley-inspired abstractions of movingbodies. Jazzy saxophone riffs are joined by flute, piano, guitar,cello and mridangam to transport us to new places. We aretaken on musical as well movement journeys, with the rhythmicinterplay of dancer and musician in ‘Splash’ focusing the digi-dah and ta-ki-ta at the core of Kathak.”

Excerpt from A review of Synchronised by Stacey Prickett, PulseMagazine, Autumn 2014


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Combining abstract dance andstorytelling is not unique. What’sdistinctive in BSDC’S work is the waythese two modes of performance meshand combine – bringing abstraction tothe narrative and at the same timecreating an emotional ‘story’ through theabstract language of dance.

The company’s first major exploration ofthis approach was Full Contact, anentertaining retelling of the ‘hidden history’of Rugby League, commissioned andperformed as part of Leeds Inspired’scultural celebrations around the 2013Rugby League World Cup.

Of course, what Full Contact also did wasopen up a whole new world of audiencepotential. Since the piece premièred inLeeds, sports bodies have been keen todiscuss possibilities for collaborative workwith BSDC.

2015 will see these relationships developas the company explores how Full Contactcan be brought to rugby audiences inRugby Leagues heartlands.

movingstories

Above: Dan Mallaghan, storyteller from Full Contact.Photo Malcolm Johnson

Top: Show publicity was inspired by traditionalBaines Cards, popular with fans of the early game.Illustration David Andrassy

Hot on the heels of 2013’s successfulpremière of Full Contact, BSDC alsobegan exploring the game from a newperspective: that of women players.

Emphatically not a piece about the battle ofthe sexes, the new work finds yet anotherborderland world in which two apparentlycontradictory forces interact to create athird, very different outcome.

The working method – as always – is tocollaborate, to learn from others. So BSDC is currently busy gatheringintelligence from the experts: women rugbyplayers themselves.

“Our game is faster, more tactical” pointsout one of the women involved in earlydiscussions with the Company. “in themen’s game it’s about taking down theopponent – ‘if he hasn’t got legs, he can’trun!’ is the way it often goes. With womenit’s more to do with thinking two stepsahead, to get the ball where in needs to be.”

How this will translate into live performancelater in 2015, is being eagerly anticipatedby the rugby world.

Above: early concept for theWomen’s rugby piece. Photo Glen Burrows

Right: two dancers in FullContact, the show thatinspired the new work.Photo Malcolm Johnson

creative pitch

“In the men’s game it’s abouttaking down the opponent.Our game is faster, moretactical... with women it’s moreto do with thinking two stepsahead, to get the ball where itneeds to be.”

Insight from female rugby player,gathered during companyresearch for the piece


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When Roundness of 12 was performedat Nexus Festival 2014, audiences weretreated to an extra bonus.

In a surprise addition to the show Balbirinserted a prelude – a short experiment incross-artform synthesis. This kind of ‘liveR&D’, which draws on the classical Indiantradition of structuring work explicitly toallow improvisation, is an increasinglycommon component of Balbir Singh’s work.

In the Nexus performance, the unexpectedprelude featured world champion BMXerKeelen Phillips who, accompanied by somewild and gripping sax improv from long-timeBSDC collaborator Jesse Bannister,enthralled the audience with a dangerousmix of movement and sound.

The experiment paid off – the audiencelapped it up. And, just as importantly, theartistic potential of the concept opened upa new creative seam for Balbir.

So rich, in fact, that the stage is set for anew trio of work from the company in2015.

Two Wheel Trilogy will do what BSDCdoes best – present work that is accessibleto wide audiences, far beyond the traditionalcontemporary dance crowd, while bringinga sophisticated choreographic expertise tobear on the work.

Each piece has a different flavour – there’smuch in it for children and young people,but also nostalgia and reflection for moremature audiences. And outdoor festivalorganisers will be able to presentsomething fresh to audiences with thethird piece in the trilogy, Dancing Bicycles,which promises to be a tour de force ofrisk and controlled movement.

two wheel trilogy

This page: Illustrationsfrom marketing materialfor Two Wheel Trilogy.Images: Lee Goater


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“To me it's about beingcreative, all about the way youthink rather than the physicalaspect. Of course you have tobe fit and agile, but withouthaving a creative mindset it'sjust like another 'sport'.Working with Balbir Singh Iam seeing how it's more of anart and fits more with dance.”

Keelan Phillips, BMX Flatlands champion

Above: Two Wheel Trilogy illustration.Image: Lee Goater

Below: Dancers relive their childhood loveof bicycles and Keelan wows the audienceat Nexus Festival Leeds. Photos Xxxxx


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body/painting


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The Artist Invites is an artist led projectbringing together a series of evolvingcollaborations; an attempt to build on artas a foundation for shared experience.

A collaboration with Swiss-based visualartist of English and Chinese descent,Angela Lyn, The Artist Invites will seeBSDC performing alongside an exhibitionof Lyn’s work, responding to it and creatinga multi-artform experience whichcommunicates through movement in timeand space as well as the two dimensionsof the picture plane.

The influence of Lyn’s dual heritage on herwork echoes Balbir Singh’s ownbackground and formative experiences.

Using the work of a visual artist as a sourcematerial and starting point for work is anew departure for BSDC.

Developing the piece promises to be a richprocess which will start with a period ofexploration between Balbir Singh, JesseBannister and Angela Lyn in her Swissstudios this spring.

The Artist Invites is scheduled to bepresented in October 2015 at CanvasStudios in Shoreditch, London.

Opposite page: Prize Giving Day, oil on canvas, Angela Lyn

Left: Talking Through Cedars (detail),oil on canvas, Angela Lyn

“The vigour that transpiresthrough the overall projectand its meticulous executionin the smallest detail speak ofher awareness of and deepcommitment to her Westernand Eastern roots.”

Max Koss, from the introductionto Angela Lyn: My China, 2009

Follow BSDC:

twitter.com/balbirdance

BSDC is an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation and works with the Royal Opera House through its Arts CouncilEngland funded ROH Links scheme, part of the broader ROH Connections. BSDC is an Associate Company of the University of Leedsand is part of the CidaCo Creative Capital programme.


Balbir Singh Dance Company

Yorkshire Dance

3, St Peter’s Buildings

Leeds LS9 8AH

United Kingdom

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We hope you have found this first issue ofWave Function informative and interesting.We would welcome your feedback –please get in touch [email protected]

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