Lisa Ullmann Travel Scholarship Fund Report (LUTSF)

Please find attached a cover letter, report and supporting material relating to my recent trip to New York to participate in the Performance Mix Festival.

Project title: Insideout live (b) trip to New York, USA.

Project Dates: 29/3/08 – 7/4/08.

Reason for visit: To attend and perform in the National Dance Alliance’s Performance Mix festival 2008.

Purpose of project:  The aims of the project were met in full and exceeded. I was able to attend the festival, perform and view other choreographer’s works as well as participate in technique class and view other choreographer’s work outside the festival.

Highlights:  The highlights for me, besides performing in a city with an international reputation for dance, was having the opportunity to immerse myself in the dance scene, experiencing different performances within the realms of the contemporary genre both in and out of the festival.

Suggestions: My suggestions for other awardees would be to experience everything your trip has to offer and see all that if humanly possible to see. Since my return I have been further inspired to make my work and further explore exporting work further a field that the UK.

Plans to share information: Currently I am in devising for two new shows a male and female piece. I am performing in the male piece and plan to incorporate my solo material into the work therefore where possible I will be discussing my NYC experience during post show talks etc to which the support received by LUTSF will be discussed and accredited. I will also recommend LUTSF to other dance professionals wishing to further develop their art in other countries.  I also plan to put the performance on our website and you tube page which is currently averaging 7-10 hits per day.

 

PROJECT REPORT

Insideout live (b) trip to New York, USA

Wayne Sables Project (WSP) is a Dance Theatre company based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, that specializes in devising and delivering live dance theatre and dance film. Founded in 2006 by Wayne Sables, to date WSP have made several short dance films and live works in both a professional and community context. Two WSP films have been screened across Europe and their live dance theatre works have been performed in the UK. Excerpts of these can be viewed at www.waynesablesproject.co.uk.

During April 2008 I, Wayne Sables, was invited to premier a solo dance theatre piece entitled Insideout live (b). The piece is based on a short dance film created in 2007 and was created specifically for the New Dance Alliance’s, (NDA) Performance Mix Festival, which took place at the Joyce Soho, New York, during March/April 2008. During October 2007 I had sent a short dance film entitled Insideout to the NDA with the hope that I would be screened during their festival. After viewing the film Karen Bernard Director of NDA spoke with me about the film, asking what I would ideally like to happen with regards to a screening, I had expressed interest in screening it along with a live piece that would be performed directly after. The live work would take place a year in real time to the film, and thus the idea for Insideout live (b) was conceived. Karen was immediately struck by the idea and programmed the two works for April 3rd 2008.

This was a big opportunity for myself and my company the ‘Wayne Sables Project’ as it offered international exposure and the opportunity to perform at an International Festival outside of the UK. As a direct result of being granted the scholarship from LUTSF to the sum of £400 which paid for my flights and travel insurance, I was able perform my work and to attend the festival and view the range of work being performed; to make links with an extended dance community; and gain contacts that may aid my work at a later date. his opportunity was hugely beneficial as I was able to view my work as being part of a programme and to see its relationship to other artists’ work, as well as receiving feedback from other performance artists and a general public whose frames of reference differ from that of a UK audience.

I was able to take several classes whilst there which has aided me in the next stage of my development as an artist and our company development, which is to create two new pieces of work, an all-male piece entitled Is it me? and an all-female piece entitled Only Human which will be created between April 28th – June 30th 2008 and showcased during July/September 2008. A small-scale UK tour is planned to take place during Spring/Autumn 2009.

Whilst in NYC I was invited to submit the film Insideout  to a dance film festival taking place in New York in Summer 2008 alongside applying to show Insideout live (b) as part of the American Dance Guilds Performance Festival taking place between 11-14th September 2008. I have gained several contacts in the dance scenes from the USA, Slovenia, New Found land and Canada. I am also in the early stages of discussions with Emily Faulkner, a dance artist based in NYC specializing in Skinner Release Technique, about a possible collaboration, which may lead to a new dance piece/film in 2009. This was a direct result of attending the festival, which I would not have been able to do without the support from LUTSF.

Wayne Sables