Don’t miss the chance to see Birmingham-based ACE dance and music company’s latest production, SKIN, which was recently awarded an impressive 5 star review by Terry Grimley at The Birmingham Post.
ACE were last on the Wight with their stunning and powerful production of REAL which they promise to equal with SKIN.
Artistic Director, Gail Parmel, worked with two established international choreographers of critical acclaim; Akiko Kitamura from the Leni Basso Dance Company of Japan and Vincent Mantsoe from Soweto South Africa to create a show which explores what lies beneath the skin, where our skin begins and ends, the spirit of unity and all the things that we all share.
Split into two halves the first is Blind Trip by Akiko Kitamura – a wildly explorative, intelligent piece that asks as many questions as it finds the answers.
The stage resembles a clinical laboratory, with spot square lighting underfoot, futuristic projections and high contrast lighting, with dancers researching what makes us function as a human being, testing the role of the skin in our existence. Blind Trip’s movement is inspired by the ceremony of fighting, the dancers invade each others space with respect, allowing the skin to use its own sophisticated ways of communicating between their bodies. Blind Trip also explores miracles of the skin that science just can’t explain, miracles that make us human beings rich creatures; the invisible signals that we give out and the microscopic details of the feelings of our skin awakening every emotion that we have.
The second piece is Letlalo by Vincent Mantsoe. The word Letlalo is Mantsoe’s native mother tongue for Skin. With its roots firmly planted in African culture and spirituality, Letlalo takes you on a journey through time, reflecting on the natural patterns of people, exploring energy, change and ebb and flow. As with Blind Trip, Letlalo explores what lies beneath the skin, We live in a complex world of race where the colour of our skin is what we want to see, and not the true nature of the human being, the spirit of unity and those things that we all share. Letlalo is about human power and spirit. One of post Apartheid South Africa’s leading choreographers, Vincent descends from a long line of Sangomas (his mother, aunts and grandmother are traditional healers/diviners) and draws his inspiration from ancestral worship and rituals as well as contemporary world cultures. Vincent Sekwati Koko Mantsoe dances with spirits. They are, he says, integral to releasing the full passion of his dance.
“I try to explore different energies through different dancers coming from different backgrounds and cultures, how they may reflect and express on what does not belong to them (as we are all borrowers). The artistic element that we will approach will not be of a political nature, but rather about human power and spirit.” Vincent Mantsoe
“I strive to root my work in the traditions and movement of the past, and through a journey of exploration aim to express and reflect these roots, while also embracing contemporary ideas and styles. Working with Mantsoe and Kitamura has complemented and enhanced my practice. For this piece I specifically chose to collaborate with International choreographers of the moment who share my desire to ‘get under the skin’ of their traditional cultures and convey what is poignant now, uniting the old and the new.” Artistic Director, Gail Parmel
Bits and Bobs:
Performance Date/Time: Thu 7 Feb 8pm Doors 7pm
Location: Anthony Minghella Theatre, Quay Arts
Ticket Price: £10 / £9
Box Office 01983 822490
