Dartington Performance Programme, May - August 2010

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Performance Programme May-August2010

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I’m writing on a beautiful spring day after a lively discussion on how best to use Dartington’s courtyard and gardens for the first ever Home (p.11), a special festival featuring acoustic music from around the world. We’re also hoping our grounds and ethos will inspire the visiting artists we’re working with more intensively this season: Ayanna Witter-Johnson visits for a week to develop new work for her national tour (p.09), staff from Battersea Arts Centre join us on a creative exchange and we’re working closely with composer Hugh Nankivell on several projects, including GeoQuest (p.07).

It’s a great time for me to join the team, while Lara takes time out for her first child; I’m looking forward to meeting you soon!

Matthew Linley Live Art Producer

Sign up for updates at www.dartington.org/signup or find us on:

Info Access info p.14 How to find us p.13 Booking info p.13 Keep in touch p.14 Diary back page designed with ❤ at biz-R 01803 868989 / www.biz-r.co.uk

Dartington is a pioneering charity nurturing ideas to address pressing problems. We work together for advancement of the arts, sustainability and social justice.

With thanks With grateful thanks to the members of the Arts Society for their invaluable support of The Arts at Dartington in a multitude of ways

Contact The Barn / Dartington Hall / Totnes / Devon / TQ9 6DE box office 01803 847070 / administration 01803 847074

www.dartington.org/arts

The Arts at Dartington is a department of The Dartington Hall Trust, a company limited by Guarantee, registered in England as a charity.

Company No.1485560. Charity No.279756. VAT No.402196875, Registered office: The Elmhirst Centre, Dartington Hall, Totnes, Devon TQ9 6EL.

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Saturday 1 May 2.30pm, 5.00pm, 7.30pm Studio 1

Lone Twin Theatre presents The Catastrophe Trilogy Three works share a common playful interest in the act of storytelling. Touching, comic and resolutely hopeful, this is a unique collection of works by an ever-surprising international ensemble.

Alice Bell 2.30pm - a fictional character born into a fictional conflict, Alice seeks happiness in a divided land, finding love and companionship but at a terrible cost.

Part DIY musical, part fairy-tale, Alice Bell offers a portrait of life as an act of hope, life as something to sing and dance about.

Daniel Hit by A Train 5.00pm - inspired by a Victorian collection of 53 true stories about people losing their lives in the act of saving another, this work tells each tragedy in turn, in all their comedic, vaudevillian glory.

Sincere but unafraid to raise a smile to these most selfless of souls, Daniel Hit by A Train stands as a testimony to our abiding need to help each other.

The Festival 7.30pm - this work continues the company's playful approach to storytelling, narrative and song, presenting an episode in the life of a character where chance and coincidence leave an indelible mark.

The running time for each show is 75 mins. dartington.org/arts/lonetwin

“A wonderful body of work” The Guardian

Tickets Concessions Students & U16s Like this? See p.03

www.dartington.org/arts

£10.00 £9.00 £5.00

£27.00* £24.00* £12.00* *Trilogy ticket

Box office: 01803 847070

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Thursday 6 May 7.30pm Studio 1

Sunday 9 May 3.00pm Great Hall

Interior Traces

William Howard with Benjamin Comeau

Imagine a world where a single test can determine your future.

Catie has been told that she risks developing cancer, whilst Mike is treated as a psychopath although he hasn't committed any crime.

Interior Traces is a powerful multi-media performance telling the stories of two people struggling to regain control over their lives, in a future when scans and genetic tests are part of everyday life.

New ways of seeing the brain and understanding its relationship to our actions have raised many questions: should we be held responsible for behaviour caused by a brain condition? How should the State balance personal privacy and its citizens' safety? Should we be free to decide our own treatments?

Scriabin Prelude no. 5 in D major and Prelude no. 8 in F sharp minor from 24 Preludes Messiaen Regarde de la Vierge Stravinsky Tango Janácek In the Mists Fauré Nocturne No.4 in E flat Op.36 Chopin Ballade No.1 in G minor Martin Butler Funerailles Schumann Humoreske Op.20 Described by The Independent as “a pianist of lustrousness and versatility”, William Howard enjoys a career that has taken him to over 40 different countries. He has performed regularly in the Great Hall with the Schubert Ensemble in recent years and we’re delighted to present him in this special solo recital.

Tickets Concessions Students & U16s

Tickets Concessions Students & U16s

£8.00 £7.00 £5.00

£12.00 £11.00 £5.00

Like this? See 5 Soliders p.04

Like this? See Orchestra South West p.06

www.dartington.org/arts

Box office: 01803 847070

£2 Off

William’s performance is preceded by Benjamin Comeau, an outstanding young pianist supported by Dartington through South West Music School.

£2 Off

Duration 40 mins.

Followed by a panel discussion.

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Friday 14 May 8.00pm Studio 31

Rosie Kay presents 5 Soldiers The Body is the Frontline 5 SOLDIERS is a timely, controversial, thought provoking and moving exploration of war in modern times. A dance theatre work with five dancers, four male and one female, it looks at how the human body is essential to, and used in, warfare and explores the physical preparation and the mental and physical effects of war.

Featuring Kay's trademark physicality and athleticism, 5 Soldiers weaves a story of physical transformation, helping us understand how soldiers are made and how war affects them.

This performance is a unique collaboration between award-winning choreographer Rosie Kay, visual artist David Cotterrell and theatre director Walter Meierjohann.

It follows a period of intense research, where Rosie learnt battle training with The 4th Battalion The Rifles and David spent time in Helmand Province with the Joint Forces Medical Group. The piece has an original sound score by Annie Mahtani and dramaturgy by Petra Tauscher.

N.B. This show contains partial nudity.

See more at dartington.org/arts/rosiekay

£10.00 £9.00 £5.00

£2 Off

Tickets Concessions Students & U16s

Like this? See StopGap p.10

www.dartington.org/arts

Box office: 01803 847070

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Sunday 16 May 7.30pm Great Hall

Thursday 20 May 8.00pm Great Hall

Dartington Community Choir

Eliza Carthy Trio

presents Mendelssohn’s Elijah Conductor Jonathan Watts “This is where it all started” Inspired by the dramatic expression of the Christian message in J.S. Bach's large choral works, Felix Mendelssohn wrote Elijah, re-telling the epic Old Testament story of the eponymous prophet. The composer conducted its first performance at Birmingham’s Town Hall in 1846 and its immediate success in this country heralded the birth of the amateur choral society, a particularly British phenomenon. Within decades towns and cities across the country had a chorus of singers keen both to perform large scale choral works and also commission new works that have contributed greatly to the musical landscape of the U.K. The Choir's performance of Elijah (sung in English) is supported by four soloists and a thirty-six piece orchestra.

Tickets Concessions Students & U16s

Iconic folk singer Eliza is winner of two Mercury Prize nominations and innumerable other accolades over a 16 year career. She has performed and recorded with a diverse array of artists from Paul Weller to The Wainwrights, Billy Bragg, Nick Cave and Joan Baez. For this performance, and album Dreams of Breathing Underwater, Eliza is accompanied by Willie Molleson on drums, Emma Smith on double bass, Barney MorseBrown (Imagined Village) and Phil Alexander (Salsa Celtica) on keyboards and piano accordion.

A truly inventive and innovative singer and fiddle-player, Eliza holds an unrivalled seven BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards and is possibly the most impressive and engaging performer of her generation. In 2003 she became the first traditional English musician to be nominated a BBC Radio 3 Award for World Music (for Anglicana).

Powerful, vital and exuberant rhythms absorbed from her travels around the globe, characterise this highly original, self-penned music.

N.B. This is a standing gig with limited downstairs and balcony seating.

£17.00 £16.00 £5.00

Like this? See the Summer School brochure

www.dartington.org/arts

Box office: 01803 847070

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Sunday 23 May 7.30pm Great Hall

Orchestra South West & South West Music School

o

Orchestra South West performs chamber classical and new repertoire under the artistic direction of Tim Boulton, a regular member of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and the Domus ensemble.

Supported by Dartington through South West Music School (SWMS), this concert showcases three emerging young musical talents from SWMS in new work that includes a specially commissioned piece by acclaimed jazz composer and pianist Keith Tippett.

Keith Tippett New work for jazz drum kit & chamber orchestra Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue for piano & chamber orchestra Vivaldi Four Seasons concertos for violin and orchestra arranged for electric guitar Soloists Nathan Bawden (drum kit; Tippett) Ben Comeau (piano; Gershwin) Ross Pike (guitar; Vivaldi)

“Bewitching and original” ★★★★ Q

Tickets Concessions Students & U16s

£16.00 £15.00 £7.00

Tickets Concessions Students & U16s

£15.00 £14.00 £5.00

Like this? See Home p.12

Like this? See William Howard p.03

www.dartington.org/arts

Box office: 01803 847070

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Tuesday 25 - Monday 31 May Venues across the English Riviera

GeoQuest A journey of exploration around Torbay, featuring a week of walking, workshops and performances to celebrate the English Riviera Global GeoPark, a UNESCO area of outstanding scientific interest in Torbay.

START Walks start at 6pm; performance/talk suppers at 8pm (advance tickets only).

Performance/talk only tickets will be available on the door subject to availability.

What more appropriate way to highlight our geological history than a journey through our GeoPark? A performance walk from the Valley of the Rocks at Watcombe to Berry Head in Brixham, during which the landscape will be re-examined through historical research and artistic creativity.

VENUES Kents Cavern, Torquay Torre Abbey, Torquay Occombe Farm, Paignton Palace Theatre, Paignton Paignton YMCA, Goodrington Berry Head Café, Brixham Torquay Museum, Torquay

Three 'Questors' - musician Hugh Nankivell, Dartington's featured composer of the year, writer Phil Smith and performer Tony Liddington - will travel Torbay by foot, creating, finding and telling new ideas, stories and songs about the land and the communities they pass, and inventing a new geocultural map. In a series of events along the way the artists will animate the great transformations that have formed our landscape and our lives.

A GeoQuest evening starts at 6pm when you can join the Questors for a short, exploratory walk, followed by a 8pm performance, a talk from a GeoPark expert and a simple shared meal (included in the ticket price). www.dartington.org/geoquest for walk start points and details of expert talks.

Tickets Concessions Students & U16s

£9.00 £7.00 £5.00

Like this? See HOME p.12

www.dartington.org/arts

Box office: 01803 847070

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Saturday 29 May 11.30am & 2.00pm Studio 31

Saturday 5 June 11.30am & 2.00pm Barn Theatre

Funny Bones

PuppetCraft presents The Selfish Giant

by Oscar Wilde

Funny Bones is a brand new double bill of contemporary dance, created to entice children aged 5+ and their families into a new world of dance and movement.

The show is a 50 minute interactive and sensory in-the-round performance by a company of outstanding dancers.

Start in style with DanSense, a beautiful and stimulating interactive dance experience to tantalise the senses, featuring music, plastic spoons and a very wet stage!

The show continues with Go!, an energetic dance theatre exploring different sports, facing victories and defeats, competitions and challenges. The audience is called to support and take sides, but who will be the winner?

Choreographed by Enrique Cabrera & Luca Silvestrini; presented by DanceXchange and two’s company dance management.

“ The Selfish Giant built a high wall all round his lovely garden to keep the children out. But it also kept Spring away, so that it was always Winter in the garden, and the North Wind and the Frost and the Snow danced about the trees. One morning the Giant looked out and saw a most wonderful sight...”

This much loved fairy tale by Oscar Wilde has been adapted and is performed and presented by PuppetCraft, a masterful South West based company noted for their combination of beautifully crafted puppets and original music.

For everyone aged 4+, duration 45 mins.

For everyone aged 5+, duration 50 mins.

£6.50 £5.00 £22.00

Box office: 01803 847070

Family

Tickets U16s Family [2+2]

£2 Off

www.dartington.org/arts

Family

£8.00 £6.50 £24.00

£2 Off

Tickets U16s Family [2+2]

07|08

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Thursday 10 June 8.00pm Studio 31

StopGap Dance Co. presents Trespass A double-bill by two internationally renowned male choreographers. Thomas Noone’s Within uses forceful dance and frenzied human contact to create a journey into an imaginary fiery female world.

Lord of the Rings’ musical choreographer, Rob Tannion (Stan Won’t Dance), takes us on a journey to Asia. Influenced by samurai ethics of honour, the dancers share timeless stories of rites of passage and challenges between personal integrity and group loyalty.

£10.00 £9.00 £5.00

Duration 60 mins + interval For more see www.dartington.org/arts/stopgap

£2 Off

Tickets Concessions Students & U16s

StopGAP is a contemporary dance company made up of five professional dancers with and without disabilities, whose performances have inspired audiences across Europe. With dazzling moves and exciting story-lines, audiences will be thrilled by the drama that will unfold.

Like this? See Interior Traces p.03

www.dartington.org/arts

Box office: 01803 847070

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Friday 11 June 8.00pm Ship Studio

Ayanna Witter-Johnson “One of our rising stars of the future”

Ayanna Witter-Johnson vocals and cello Fraser Fifield pipes, whistles, bagpipes and soprano saxophone Robert Mitchell piano

Courtney Pine

Unique and captivating, Ayanna WitterJohnson is a composer, vocalist and cellist who has developed musically from a diverse background of mixed cultures. Following an Emerging Artist Residency at London's Southbank Centre, extensive collaborations with two of the UK's most groundbreaking artists - Nitin Sawhney and Courtney Pine and a year spent developing new work in New York, Ayanna has composed new material for her trio which comprises Fraser Fifield, the astonishing piper and low whistle player who is equally conversant on soprano saxophone and the amazingly inventive pianist Robert Mitchell..

The music that you hear tonight has been developed as part of a Dartington Residency in collaboration with SERIOUS. See/hear Ayanna at www.dartington.org/arts/ayanna

£12.00 £11.00 £5.00

£2 Off

Tickets Concessions Students & U16s

Like this? See Home p.11

www.dartington.org/arts

Box office: 01803 847070

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Saturday 26 June Great Hall & Courtyard

An acoustic festival o music, voice, langua f ge & roots

HOME is a one-day festival focusing on acoustic music, voices and song from around the world. A celebration and exploration of different cultures and languages, at a time when we’re losing global cultural, biological and linguistic diversity, HOME features unplugged sets from a wide range of outstanding international artists.

The event takes place in and around the Great Hall and courtyard from midday on Saturday to 1am Sunday morning and also features film screenings, family activities, workshops, talks & discussions, crafts, market stalls and great food.

Find out more and book tickets at www.dartington.org/home FEATURING Bassekou Kouyaté & Amy Sacko Mali Rizwan Muazzam Qawwali Ensemble Pakistan Eddi Reader Scotland Asere Cuba Mor Karbasi Israel Chartwell Dutiro Zimbabwe Patrick Duff England 9Bach Wales

£35.00 £20.00 £10.00

Like this? Also pick up a Summer School brochure

www.dartington.org/arts

Box office: 01803 847070

Family

Tickets Concessions U16s

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Friday 2 - Saturday 10 July 7.30pm Private Garden* Matineé Saturday 3 July, 2.30pm

Throughout July & August Various venues

Playgoers Society of Dartington Hall

Other events

presents She Stoops to Conquer Directed by Richard Clark Oliver Goldsmith's classic comedy of manners, tells of the clever schemes and comic ruses that unfold one night at a country house. An ambitious step-mother, impassioned sweethearts, a pragmatic father and a pair of star-crossed suitors are sent spinning through a hilarious comedy of errors by one of the great characters of the stage, Tony Lumpkin.

The play is a celebrated story of class, courtship and dysfunctional families with mistaken identities and rich humour.

She Stoops to Conquer promises to be a flirtatious summer extravaganza.

Picnicking is available in designated areas to ticket holders from 6pm.

Proceeds from Monday night’s show will go to Macmillan Cancer Support.

Please note there will be no performance on Sunday 4 July.

Tickets Concessions Students & U16s

£10.00 £9.00 £5.00

Sense of Place exhibition: Jilly Edwards & Nigel Morgan 4 May - 29 October High Cross House Course: Creativity, Perception and the Modern Mind 17 - 28 May Schumacher College Mahali exhibition 26 - 28 May The Gallery Ways With Words 9 July - 19 July Dartington Hall Dartington International Summer School 24 July - 28 August Dartington Hall Dartington Summer Youth Programme 1 - 13 August University of Exeter Check our website for details of these events & film programme

*Great Hall if wet, excl. 9 & 10 July

www.dartington.org/arts

Box office: 01803 847070

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Buy a ticket Call

01803 847070 between 12.30-7pm* Online

www.dartington.org/arts * Pre-show / In Person Box office opening times exclude the hour prior to an event or film for ‘on the door’ sales.

Totnes bookshop box office is open Mon- Sat 9.30am - 5pm.

Returns Refunds are not available unless an event is not able to go ahead. Exchanges/credit may be offered at the discretion of the Box Office with 24 hours notice.

Concessions Arts Society; over 60s; full time students; U16s; unemployed; disability benefit; DHT staff. Please provide proof of eligibility.

Family

In advance by post Send your order & cheque (payable to The Dartington Hall Trust) to the above address, with an SAE if you’d like your tickets sent to you.

Reservations Reserved tickets must be paid for 24 hours prior to the event. We will release tickets that have not been paid for by this time.

Credit & debit cards We accept most cards.

£2 Off

Group bookings Buy ten tickets and get one free.

Family tickets are for 2 adults & 2 children.

Early Bird £2 off a limited no. of tickets on a first come, first served basis

Getting here By car

By train

Free parking is available on-site. See www.dartington.org/arts for directions to Dartington or call us on 01803 847074.

Totnes train station is 1.5 miles from us, which equals roughly a 30 min walk or a 5-10 minute taxi ride.

By bus

On foot

Catch the 165 bus from Totnes info on on 0870 6082608 or www.countrybusdevon.co.uk.

A level footpath travels from Totnes station along the river before turning right onto the Dartington Hall drive for the last 3/4 mile.

www.dartington.org/arts

Box office: 01803 847070

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Be involved Membership

Email listings

Support Dartington’s performing arts programme and enjoy a range of benefits by joining the Arts Society.

Join our free emailing list to receive listings and updates www.dartington.org/signup

Arts Society members receive our brochures free, concessionary ticket prices, discounts and exclusive invites.

Address The Barn, Dartington Hall, Totnes, Devon, TQ9 6DE

For more information about the Arts Society please visit our website, ask at the box office or call 01803 847082.

Box-office 01803 847070 Administration 01803 847074 Email arts@dartington.org

For info on membership of Dartingtonrelated community arts companies see www.dartington-community-choir.co.uk www.playgoers.co.uk

Access

Food & drink

Wheelchair access is available at the Barn, Great Hall and Studios 1, 3 & 31. There are accessible toilet facilities adjacent to these venues. For patrons with a hearing impairment, The Barn and Great Hall offer an infra-red system.

Assistance dogs are welcome. Please advise box office in advance of your access requirements and any assistance needed.

Our staff will be pleased to help you.

The Roundhouse Café Situated next to the Barn Theatre, is a welcoming, family friendly space open from 12pm to 8pm every day to serve hot and cold drinks, wine and beer, a selection of locally made cakes and ice creams. Wifi is available.

Large print brochure available.

Please phone 01803 847074

www.dartington.org/arts

The White Hart bar & restaurant Open from 12pm to late offering main meals and a wide selection of wines, spirits, beers & ales. Booking is recommended on 01803 847111.

Meal Deal Look out for Movie Meal Deals in our cinema brochure.

Café Deal Cake and a hot drink for £2.50 when you attend a Thu matineé.

Box office: 01803 847070

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Save the date

Diary

Boxoffice 01803 847070 www.dartington.org/arts

May

June

01

05

Saturday 2.30pm, 5.00pm, 7.30pm Studio 1

Lone Twin Theatre: The Catastrophe Trilogy

06

Thursday 7.30pm Studio 1

PuppetCraft: The Selfish Giant

by Oscar Wilde

10

Interior Traces

09

Sunday 3.00pm Great Hall Friday 8.00pm Studio 31

Rosie Kay: 5 Soldiers The Body is the Frontline

16

Sunday 7.30pm Great Hall

Dartington Community Choir: Mendelssohn’s Elijah

20

Thursday 8.00pm Great Hall

Eliza Carthy Trio

23

Sunday 7.30pm Great Hall

Orchestra South West & SWMS: Crossing the Blue - Classical meets Jazz

25- Tuesday - Monday English Riviera GeoPark 31 GeoQuest 29 Saturday 11.30pm & 2.00pm Studio 31 Funny Bones

The Arts at Dartington gratefully acknowledges the generous support received for this programme from:

Thursday 8.00pm Studio 31

StopGap Dance Co: Trespass

11

William Howard: Piano Recital

14

Saturday 11.30am & 2.00pm The Barn

Friday 8.00pm Ship Studio

Ayanna Witter-Johnson

26

Saturday Great Hall & Courtyard

Home: World Music Festival

July 02- Friday & Saturday 7.30pm Private Garden 10 Playgoers: She Stoops to Conquer