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Brighton Festival: major new outdoor event will bring fascinating story from Brighton’s wartime history back to life.

Brighton Festival announces major new work inspired by the story of hundreds of thousands of men who travelled from India to fight for the Allies in the First World War.

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Commissioned in partnership with 14-18 Now and Royal Pavilion and Museums, and created by performance company Nutkhut with a creative team that includes designer Tom Piper (Tower of London poppies), Dr Blighty will be an ambitious, large-scale, immersive outdoor experience, and a showpiece for the 50th edition of Brighton Festival which again takes place in May.

More than a million men travelled from India to fight for the Allies during the First World War, their collective experiences constituting one of military history’s great though often untold stories. Brighton played a key part in that story, as between 1914 and 1916 over 2000 Indian soldiers wounded on the Western Front were brought to a temporary hospital housed in Brighton’s Royal Pavilion Estate.

Dr Blighty recalls this episode in Brighton’s history, bringing the experiences of the soldiers – and the locals who came to care for them – movingly back to life via an immersive, walk-through installation across the Royal Pavilion Estate.

Inspired by letters the soldiers sent home, and populated by actors, interactive installations, video projections, ambient soundscapes and theatrical set pieces, the event will seek to capture the essence of the Pavilion wartime hospital along with the experiences of the soldiers who recuperated there.

The hospital installation will be complemented by a series of related performances and participatory outreach activities, drawing parallels with contemporary events while bringing this moving episode in Brighton’s history back to life.

For four nights, a spectacular after-dark production will incorporate video projections on the Royal Pavilion.

In addition, the Philharmonia Orchestra will perform with some of India’s leading contemporary musicians in a special ticketed concert at Brighton Dome, marrying Western and Eastern classical music traditions.

Ajay Chhabra, Artistic Director of Nutkhut says: “Thousands of letters were written from the Western Front back home to wives, mothers, daughters and sisters, and it’s the emotion within these letters that Dr Blighty is trying to bring into the public domain. They, alongside the propaganda and the censorship, give us an insight into the lives of these young men, and give these many anonymous soldiers a voice. The project will essentially tell a 100-year-old story, and make it a contemporary one for new audiences.”

Andrew Comben, Chief Executive, Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival added: “This is an important story, both in the history of Brighton & Hove and in the wider context of the First World War – one which we think deserves to be better known. In Brighton Festival’s 50th year, it’s even more appropriate that we present this piece now and I am delighted to be working with our partners to bring it to fruition.”

Brighton Festival’s Guest Director for this milestone year is the pioneering artist and musician Laurie Anderson.

Established in 1967, the month long event is now one of Europe’s leading arts festivals, and is an enduring symbol of the city’s culture, inventive spirit and experimental reputation.

Full programme details of Brighton Festival 2016 will be announced on February 17, 2016.

For more information, click here: 

 

Kazakhstan’s official Academy Award entry to open the Asia House Film Festival 2016

Yermek Tursunov’s 2015 film, Stranger (Zhat), will open the Asia House, 2016 Film Festival on February 22 at the Ham Yard Hotel in London.

Asia House

The film, Kazakhstan’s official submission for the Best Foreign Language Film at this year’s Oscars, is a beautifully shot outdoors epic set in 1930s Kazakhstan, and charts one man’s search for freedom set against the historical backdrop of the country’s darkest years.

Tursunov, who directed the film, will host a Q&A session following the screening along with the film’s producer, Kanat Torebay.

The full programme for the festival has also been confirmed, with this year’s theme of Breaking Boundaries reflected in a diverse programme of 19 films, including five European and six UK premieres. All of the films will be shown in London for the first time.

Now in its eighth year, the festival will run until March 5, and will include 11 feature films, three documentaries and five short films coming out of countries including Japan, China, Myanmar and Afghanistan.

 

Jasper Sharp
Jasper Sharp

Jasper Sharp, the Festival’s Artistic Director, said: “The films selected as part of the 2016 programme represent a world in which culture, politics and economies are transcending national boundaries. There will be a number of films from countries often completely overlooked by followers of Asian cinema, giving audiences a chance to experience the lives and landscapes of such a dynamic and multi-faceted continent.”

For a full list of screenings and to book tickets, click here: 

 

PREVIEW: 2016 Asia House Film Festival ‘goes global’

Asia House, the London based centre of expertise on Asia, has announced that its annual film festival will return to London next spring with a diverse programme of films exploring transnationalism and globalisation.

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Breaking Boundaries: Asia House Film Festival 2016 will take place from February 22 to March 5, and will include 11 feature films, three documentaries and five short films, from countries including Japan, China, Kazakhstan, Myanmar and Afghanistan.

All films are being screened in London for the first time, and there will be several European premieres.  The festival will also include a series of special events at Asia House.

The programme kicks off on February 22 with an opening night gala at the Ham Yard Hotel in Soho. Screenings will subsequently take place at the historic Regent Street Cinema from February 25 to 28 .

The Regent Street Cinema became the birthplace of cinema in the UK in 1896, when the Lumière brothers’ Cinématographe machine was first demonstrated to the press. The cinema closed to the public in 1980 and became a lecture theatre. Following a fundraising campaign the 119-year-old cinema re-opened its doors in May 2015, reinstating one of the most historic cinemas in Britain to its former grandeur.

The films selected for 2016 represent a globalised world in which culture, politics and economies are transcending national boundaries. There are a number of international co-productions featured too, reflecting how the film industry has also globalised.

Jasper Sharp
Jasper Sharp

Jasper Sharp, the Festival’s Artistic Director, says: “There are some enthralling, insightful and hugely entertaining titles emerging from places you’d least expect, and which we rarely get a chance to see on-screen. Many of the films selected reflect ideas of how cultures, identities and experiences are increasingly transcending geographical boundaries and, though the Asian continent encompasses such a vast and varied range of peoples and nations, there are commonalities between these that will resonate with everyone.”

Breaking Boundaries will come to a close at The Cinema Museum in Kennington, with a special one-day retrospective entitled Singaporeana, featuring British and American films shot in Singapore during the 1960s and 1970s.

To date the festival has previewed and premiered films including In the Absence of the Sun (Indonesia, 2014); The Last Reel (Cambodia, 2014), Passion (Mongolia, 2010) and Unforgiven (Japan, 2013).

The full programme for 2016 will be available on the Asia House website in January.

To view the program, click here: 

 

Preview: I Am Not Myself These Days

The brutal, shocking and yet deeply moving one man show, I Am Not Myself These Days, comes to Brighton next February following its debut at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe.

I Am Not Myself These Days

The play, adapted from Josh Kilmer-Purcell’s bestselling autobiography, is a fast-paced, at times darkly humorous tale of love, self-destruction and personal discovery, set in the flashy, trashy New York of the 1990s.

It tells the story of Josh, a successful advertising art director by day who at night transforms into Aquadisiac, an alcoholic drag queen desperately trying to make her relationship work with Jack, a high-class rent boy addicted to crack.

The show has been described as heartbreaking, gripping, and profoundly affecting, with a breathtakingly physical, central performance from Tom Stuart, who also adapted Kilmer-Purcell’s memoir for the stage.

Stuart writes: “It’s such an incredibly honest, open and engaging book. I wanted to see if I could extend that honesty to the stage and make an audience feel how I felt reading the book alone in my bed. I like to think of it as a love story, albeit an unconventional one. Although set in a specific time and place, I think most people will be able to relate to and recognise something of themselves in it, whatever their background or circumstances.”


Event:  I Am Not Myself These Days

Where: Brighton Dome Studio Theatre

When: Saturday, February 13

Time: 7.30pm

Tickets: £12/£10 concessions

To book tickets, click here:

PREVIEW: Festive fun and more at Brighton Dome this December

High-flying daredevilry, bewitching dance and improvised panto are set to make Brighton Dome the home of spectacular festive entertainment this December.

Flown
Flown

Following a stand out performance at Brighton Festival 2014 and fresh from a sell-out tour across Australia, the Dome welcomes back Pirates of the Carabina as they perform a special Christmas run of their acclaimed show, Flown, a thrilling mix of theatre, acrobatics, aerial feats and stunts –all set to live music.  It’s a big, bonkers show for all the family (19 – 27 Dec).

Other festive treats include Andrew Barnett Jones’ one man show, The Panto Game, an improvised, interactive panto where you the audience can help create the story. If you’ve ever wondered where writers get their ideas from, now’s your chance to find out! (Dec 12)

There’s also Box Clever’s new adaptation of  Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, which uses puppetry, theatre and music to bring this classic story to life in a unique and entertaining  way (Dec 15 – 20).

And don’t miss Ballet Theatre UK’s magical re-telling of Hans Christian Andersen’s classic fairy-tale The Snow Queen (Jan 2 & 3), the iconic story which inspired the smash hit movie Frozen. Ballet Theatre UK’s company of international dancers, beautiful costumes and glittering stage sets combine to create a lavish festive spectacle, all set to a glorious and magical score

Finally, renowned folk singer Kate Rusby will be performing a special show of songs from her two acclaimed Christmas albums (Dec 11).

Away from the Christmas theme, watch out for cult comedian Paul Foot performing three special retrospective shows (Dec 4 – 6), a brand new tour from Josh Widdicombe (Dec 15), and a gig from MOBO Award winning hip hop artist, writer and poet Akala (Dec 3).

For more information, click here:

FEATURE: Keep on Trockin

Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo are back in Brighton this month, so GScene went to London to preview their latest show and take a look behind the scenes at this iconic ballet company.

The Trocks

6pm and I’m sitting in a dressing room in the depths of London’s Peacock Theatre with Trocks’ dancer, Raffaele Morra. Raffa, as he prefers to be called, is dressed smartly, and is relaxed and composed. But just a couple of hours earlier I watched him and the rest of the company as they were taken through a rigorous ballet class which lasted well over an hour. It began gently enough at the barre with light and subtle stretching exercises, but soon escalated into what seemed like a gruelling work out, the dancers given testing and repetitive routines full of jumps, pirouettes and extensions.  Just watching was exhausting and you could see that they were being asked to work extremely hard. Yet in just a couple of hours’ time the company was due on stage to perform a full three act programme at the Peacock. It struck me that these dancers were elite athletes as well as true artists.

Raffa tells me he’s been with the company since 2001. He is now one of the Trocks’ two ballet masters and also dances leading roles in the company’s repertoire. But unlike many ballet companies the Trocks don’t have an artists’ hierarchy – that is, there are no principals, soloists, or corps de ballet members as such. They are all simply described as dancers, part of a company whose philosophy is both democratic and inclusive. “Everyone plays an important part and has their time on stage, their moment in the spotlight” says Raffa.

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I next visit another dressing room where four dancers are carefully and ritually applying their own stage make-up, transforming themselves into their drag ballerina alter egos for tonight’s performance.  Joshua Thake, AKA Eugenia Repelskii, tells me a bit more about the company: “This current group of dancers has mostly been together for about two years now. We’re a very close group”.  Joshua adds that the current company is made up entirely of gay men. I can see that this creates a unique and very powerful dynamic.

So how does the company recruit its dancers?  Artistic Director Tory Dobrin sheds some light: “The dancers tend to find us, usually through the internet now.  We don’t hold auditions.  A dancer who is interested is invited to company class. Seeing the dancer involved with the group, and the dynamic between them, is how I understand if they have a sense of humour, and if they are team players, and if they respect the protocol of the class. These elements are so important. Nice dance technique is, of course, needed, and is easy to spot right away.”

Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo was founded in 1974 by a group of ballet enthusiasts who wanted to present a playful, entertaining view of traditional, classical ballet, danced by men en travesty (in drag to you and me) and parodying the choreography, characterisation and narrative of classics like Swan Lake and Don Quixote. The dancers performed en pointe (in pointe shoes) and part of the fun was that they attempted to execute the demanding technical elements of the choreography as well as play for laughs.

Those early performances were given in a loft space in the meat-packing district of New York City. In the forty years since, the Trocks have grown into a first class, internationally renowned ballet company, regularly touring the world and playing to packed houses. Their repertoire had developed to include elaborate and faithful, parody productions of classical and modern ballet pieces and contemporary dance works.

The 1970s saw a drag explosion in downtown New York City following on from Stonewall. It was mirrored on the West Coast and can be seen, for example, in the first performances of San Francisco’s highly satirical and topical drag review show, Beach Blanket Babylon, which was also established in 1974. The founding of Les Ballet Trockadero de Monte Carlo needs to be seen in the context of this political activism and as part of the fight for LGBT rights. Today, this heritage and history remains an essential part of the company’s make up. The Trocks continue to be out, loud and proud, in their profile, in their performance, and in their ongoing benefit appearances supporting LGBT and wider humanitarian causes.

That night at the Peacock, the Trocks put on a spectacular show full of laughter, technical skill and bravura. In lovingly parodying the geniuses and tradition of dance, they are showcasing and preserving its legacy while at the same time keeping their audiences thoroughly entertained.  They may be called a comedy ballet company, but there is so much more to them than that.

For more information, click here: 

To read review of the London performance, click here:

PREVIEW: Music, visual arts, theatre and dance – it’s a busy November for Brighton Dome.

This November sees another busy and eclectic month of performances at Brighton’s Dome.

The Tiger Lillies:
The Tiger Lillies: Dome Concert Hall: Nov.30

Earsthetic returns for its third year with a mini-season of multidisciplinary work exploring the boundaries between music and visual art. The week-long event will play host to the likes of songwriter Bianca Casady & The C.i.A.,  Brechtian punk-cabaret superstars The Tiger Lillies, and acclaimed sound artist Mikhail Karikis. (Nov 25 – Dec 1).

Other concerts in November include John Grant, bringing his sumptuous ballads and taut, fizzing, electronic pop songs to Brighton as he performs his new album, Grey Tickles Black Pressure (November 13). Watch out also for Matthew Herbert (November 19), making a welcome return to his house music roots in a special live show.

Theatrical gems in November include Little Soldier’s hilarious re-enactment of one of the most influential works of literature, The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha (November 5), which the company say is no mean feat given they’ve not read the book and don’t have enough actors; Chris Goode’s critically acclaimed and incendiary work Men In The Cities (November 24); and a revival of Cathal Cleary’s renowned production of Enda Walsh’s Disco Pigs (November 18), a tale of two teenagers raging against small town mediocrity.

And don’t miss award-winning comedy dance company Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo (November 3 & 4) as they bring their clever, hilarious yet technically brilliant ballet repertoire to the Concert Hall stage for two evenings.

For more information, click here:

REVIEW: Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo

As part of their 2015 world tour which heads to Brighton in November, Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, New York’s internationally renowned, comedy ballet, took the town by storm with a sparkling, hilarious and fabulously entertaining programme at London’s Peacock Theatre.

The Trocks

The Trocks were in dazzling form, bringing technical prowess, bravura and wonderful comic method to the stage, thrilling their audience on the night,

In the company’s take on Les Sylphides, romantic reverie met narcolepsy as Gianni Goffredo’s vain, airhead of a leading man, Sergey Legupski, slept-walked his way through the dance, totally indifferent to his long suffering ballerina, Lariska Dumbchenko, played with assurance, grace and much comic patience by Raffaele Morra.

Both were admirably supported by Alberto Pretto and Carlos Hopuy’s sylphs. Pretto was poised, elegant and reminiscent of a Kirov ballerina until stepping out of character to hilarious effect, while Hopuy’s dancing was marked by speed and attack and was packed with fleet jumps. Around them cavorted a corps of sleepy sylphs, one moment floating with airiness and grace, the next bored and distracted by each other and taking up wrong positions on stage. It was a very funny start to the evening.

The middle part of the programme contained three short pieces. Patterns in Space, a wickedly funny parody of Merce Cunningham style dance, was set to a ridiculous, avant-garde score improvised on stage by two dead pan musicians played by company dancers. As their sonic improvisations became more absurd, they became increasingly funny and inevitably ended up stealing the show from the hapless dancers.

Go for Barocco - photo by Zoran Jelenic
Go for Barocco – photo by Zoran Jelenic

Go for Barocco was a brilliant parody of the genius of George Balanchine. Led by Matthew Poppe and Joshua Thake, the Trocks were all long legs and neo-classic poses, sometimes beautifully lyrical, sometimes deliberately jarring, but always very Balanchine. It’s often the extent of exaggeration which determines how funny and informing a parody is, and in this piece artistic director Tory Dobrin and his company tread the line beautifully, still allowing the audience to see the genius of the original choreography and staging. Even some of the more slapstick moments are beautifully judged, as when two dancers meet centre stage and begin gracefully resting one hand on top of the other, until it eventually becomes a battle, literally, for the upper hand. It’s very funny on a purely comic level but also refers back to Balanchine and his sublime use of gesture.

Part two closed with the Dying Swan, with Maria Paranova (Carlos Renedo) switching effortlessly between beautiful swan like lines reminiscent of Pavlova, and high camp drollery, bringing her swan queen to a comical demise surrounded by a stage full of disintegrating plumage.

 

The final part of the programme was given over to the company’s new working of Don Qixote, an action packed snapshot of the full length classic ballet. Again there was much hilarity, in part driven by the traditional comic plot, here given a Trocks’ twist.  But it was the dazzling technique of Chase Johnsey and Paolo Cervellera as Kitri and Basil which stole the show. Stepping back from the drag comedy for a moment, this was a classy, classic performance full of fireworks and éclat which went beyond comedy ballet and would have graced any stage.  And this is one of the great qualities of this company. For all the parody and humour, the Trocks are also passionate about sharing their love of dance and the repertoire. In lovingly parodying the geniuses and tradition of dance, they are showcasing and preserving its legacy while at the same time keeping their audiences thoroughly entertained. This show works on every level and really is a must see at the Dome in November.


Event: Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo

Where: Brighton Dome Concert Hall

When: Tuesday November 3 & Wednesday 4, 2015

Tickets:  7.30pm, £12.50 / £18.50 / £22.50 / £27.50

To book tickets online, click here: 

PREVIEW: The Trocks are coming!

Get set for an uproarious and exhilarating night out this November.

Don Quixote
Don Quixote

New York’s internationally renowned, all-male, professional comedy ballet company, Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, returns to Brighton Dome with its brilliantly playful take on some of ballet’s best loved works.

‘The Trocks’ will once again be presenting their inspired blend of technical prowess, bravura, and side-splitting comedy, with dancers Ida Nevasayneva, Olga Supphozova and Lariska Dumbchenko performing alongside their broad-shouldered and sometimes hairy-chested fellow ballerinas, bringing athleticism and grace to the stage while wearing up to size 12 pointe shoes. Yes, these men can really dance en pointe without falling flat on their faces.

The Trocks’ return marks the company’s fourteenth visit to the UK and follows extensive tours of Europe and Japan in spring and summer 2015.

Their Brighton programme will include Swan Lake (Act II), the Merce Cunningham-inspired Patterns in Space, the Balanchine style Go For Barocco, and the UK premiere of the Trock’s new Don Quixote.

Go For Barocco
Go For Barocco

Event: Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo

Where: Brighton Dome Concert Hall

When: Tuesday 3 & Wednesday 4 November 2015

Time: 7.30pm

Tickets: £12.50 / £18.50 / £22.50 / £27.50

To book online, click here:

 

New study finds ‘gays’ have less life satisfaction than ‘straights’

A major study of life satisfaction among sexual minorities in the United Kingdom and Australia has been published by the Journal of Economic Behaviour and Organisation.

London School of Economics

In the report Lesbian, gay and bisexual persons in both countries are found to be significantly less satisfied with their lives than otherwise comparable heterosexual persons.

The report was put together by academics from the London School of Economics and the University of Melbourne, using two data sets: 33,000 people from the UK Household Longitudinal Study and 12,400 people from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey.

The data was then used to estimate a simultaneous equations model of life satisfaction, where self-reported sexual identity was mapped against levels of life satisfaction both directly and indirectly through seven different channels:

(i) income
(ii) employment
(iii) health
(iv) marriage and de facto relationships
(v) children
(vi) friendship networks and
(vii) education

Some of the top-line key findings are:

♦       bisexuals in both countries are the least satisfied with life and report worse health outcomes

♦      gay and lesbian people in Australia report better life satisfaction than their UK counterparts

♦      bisexuals tend to be from lower-income households and are less likely to be employed than heterosexuals

♦       gays and lesbians in Australia are as healthy as Australian heterosexuals, while there is a larger differential in health among gay and lesbian individuals in the UK when compared to UK heterosexuals

♦       findings suggest that the social stigma surrounding gay and lesbians in Australia has dropped markedly and is now largely absent

♦       there is little evidence that lesbian women in the UK have lower levels of life satisfaction than heterosexual women – this stands in marked contrast to gay men in the UK and in Australia and lesbian women in Australia

♦       older gays, lesbians and bisexuals do not report a lower life satisfaction to the same degree as their younger counterparts, suggesting that they have a) fewer hardships; b) they have come to terms with and adjusted to any stigma and discrimination; or c) they may be more likely to misrepresent their sexual orientation than younger GLBs.

For information on the full report, click here:

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