Here in TheLab™ we have been covering the exploits of Verve, the post graduate company of the Northern School of Contemporary Dance, since 2007. Over the years they have consistently produced a high standard of dancer and creative work.
For the 2015 season there are 4 new works from Kerry Nicholls ‘Entwined’, Theo Clikard ‘We Become Panoramic’, Douglas Thorpe ‘Dramatis Personae’ and Luca Silvestrini’s ‘Forth and Last’ a piece that is almost literally about being fourth and last in the programme.
The company tell us this much about the work from Kerry Nicholls;
“Inspired by ‘Lovesong’, a poem by Yorkshire’s Poet Laureate Ted Hughes, the dancers explore a series of fleeting and enduring relationships. Juxtaposing tenderness with bitterness, the intimacy between two people is revealed in an exhaustive battle to keep the exchange alive.”
For our interview feature we spoke with two of the company dancers, Robyn Byrne and Louis Lever. We also spoke to the company AD Gianluca Vincentini about keeping the company up and running under increasingly tight budgets and working with the new Pro Dance Leeds initiative set up by recent NSCD graduates.
The company will be touring nationally and internationally in the coming months so check their website for more details.
Verve 2015 is performed by Robyn Byrne, Emmie Coxey, Georgia Heighway, Harriet Irving, Kyle Lawson, Josh Scott, Joshua Smith, Bryn Keinion Thomas, Joseph Thomas, Louis Lever, Paula Tato Horcajo and Lisard Tranis.
Filmed at The Riley theatre in Leeds on February 27th, 2015.