Luke Pell, our Head of Learning & Research together with two dancers (Vicky Malin and Mirjam Gurtner) have delivered a 10 day-residency, working with two schools and over 20 students to make a site specific performance for the theater.

The performances took place on the day of our main show and it was great to see the students, who had no previous dance experience, own the space and their bodies to deliver a beautiful and intriguing performance.

Our sell out performance was super- well received (I think there were 12 bows in total) and there was a great deal of interest in the student project and our work leading to some good discussions in the post show talk. It is great to be able to be part of the company and experience first hand the atmosphere and questions when on tour – a luxury we office bods usually don’t have….

For most of the company it was then time to enjoy the sunny weather and fruits of the region (as in the liquid grape variety) whilst Luke and Vicky continued working delivering our Teacher Training Intensive in co-operation with the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg – a great initiative that allowed us to gain insights into teaching approaches in Germany as well as pass on our experience of delivering training activities world-wide….

For those German Speakers amongst you here are some nice articles about our work in Germany:

http://www.tanznetz.de/kritiken.phtml?page=showthread&aid=189&tid=22893

A big thank you goes to the wonderful staff and colleagues at the Theater Heilbronn who made us feel so very welcome!

Whilst in China we had a great interest from the press and even had a little bit of a celebrity recognition (!) on the plane back. Below is a feature from the Chinese CCTV:

CCTV TALKS WITH PEDRO MACHADO

BEAUTY OF PHYSICAL DIVERSITY

by Hu Bei

‘Under the invitation of “UK Now,” an ongoing arts event about British culture, Candoco have brought two performance pieces to China. After their performance in Shanghai on April 17 at the Lyceum Theater, they will now take to the stage of the National Grand Theater in Beijing this Saturday and Sunday.

Parallel Lines is a commissioned work to celebrate “Culture Olympia,” a huge arts festival that will take place in London during the 2012 Games. Shanghai saw the world premiere of this piece.’

To read the full feature please visit Global Times website

chillis, chopsticks, noodle bars, dumplings, goose guts, tea pots, tea scams, best friend price, haggling, hawking, spitting, squatting, staring, skyscrapers, scorpions on sticks, koi

carp, kareoke, tsing tao, tsing tao, tsing tao…xièxiè Zhōng guó!

Here are some links to features from that’s (Shanghai) and Time Out, Beijing

by Nancy Pellegrini

‘Dancers, choreographers and dance companies have long searched for perfect bodies – long, lean and the envy of any audience. But Britain’s Candoco finds all bodies beautiful, and believes physical diversity only enhances a stage. By combining disabled and non-disabled dancers in the same works, the company asks us to re-examine what we think about dance in relation to ourselves – while we sit back and enjoy the show.’

To read the full feature please visit Time Out, Beijing’s website

Choreography for Crutches
Lyceum Theatre, Shanghai

by Tom Lee

‘Disability might seem like the ultimate disadvantage for a dancer. Candoco begs to differ. They see disability not as an encumbrance, but as an opportunity to explore a person’s innate physicality.’

To read the full feature please visit that’s website

We have six places available and want to raise money for our Youth Dance Company to get more disabled and non-disabled young people to dance together.

To join us or to find out more please email Nadja on marketing@candoco.co.uk

Here are two reviews from Global Times and China Daily

The dancers also taught workshops during the week with Shanghai Jin Xing Dance Theatre at Oriental Arts.

Yesterday I did an interview where I was continually asked about my disability rather than my job. Even the cameraman needed to know apparently, so he could get some ‘ specific’ angles to highlight this in the filming! ….. Not quite sure whether it makes me want to laugh or cry to be honest…. So I’ll laugh and remind myself that things CAN and DO change…..mmmm see what I did there?

Anyway, the week has just been rounded off with a dress rehearsal and so it’s it’s time for…
passports, check.
visas, check (thanks Miss Lyons), tickets, check.

China here we come!

The company will perform in Shanghai and Beijing as part of our China tour.

So after that it was almost too exciting to be not only eating and moving around, but dancing and working again with our fabulous extended cast of 12. This time we’re re-learning Parallel Lines, the piece we made with Marc Brew seemingly a lifetime ago, refreshing our memories before we head off to Shanghai and Beijing. It was also my birthday this week, second in a string of four birthdays within a two-week stretch. I was very spoiled by a generous outpouring of sweets, cards, and flowers, and relished the chance to chat with friends over a glass (or several) of wine. And we only worked two days of the four-day Easter bank holiday, so that’s an improvement on past years!

Tomorrow back to the studio to polish our movement (and celebrate two more birthdays!) before heading for the airport on Saturday. Very much looking forward to visiting China again, after our first trip in 2008 was so memorable.

Happy Spring!