Rachel Dean

A Christmas Cabaret – Rachel Dean and Matthew Bellwood

Rachel Dean — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 11:01:10 +0000

Acclaimed performers Rachel Dean and Matthew Bellwood invite you to join them for two very different interpretations of Christmas in a special night of story, dance and music.

Nativity is a full-body collision with the enduring power of the myth and magic of the Virgin Mary. Rachel Dean uses movement, song and things that sparkle to create an irreverent and at times surprisingly devotional solo performance. This engaging solo performance is accompanied by an eclectic, lively and decidedly seasonal soundtrack.

St Nicholas and the Wicked Butcher is the tale of a quest to save three tiny children from a villainous Parisian butcher. Alongside a Christmas ghost story, Matthew Bellwood’s telling of this grisly and bizarre tale promises to be as engaging as his audiences at Opera North and the Edinburgh Festival have come to expect.
Plus Nativity by Rachel Dean and Christmas treats including carols from the Leeds Women’s Institute choir.

Friday 9th December, Theatre in the Mill, Bradford, 7.30pm Tickets £6.50 full, £5 concessions, students pay what you can.
www.brad.ac.uk/theatre/whats-on/performances/Christmas-Cabaret/

Saturday 10th December, Seven Arts, Leeds
www.sevenleeds.co.uk/

Teaching at International New Year Contact Improvisation Jam London

Rachel Dean — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 10:44:08 +0000

Rachel is teaching the following 3 day workshop in London:
Intentions don’t count for much in Contact Improvisation except when they come through your body. This workshop will take the Clear Intentions theme in the direction of embodying intention. We will practise recognising and responding to our own body’s intentions and those of the people we dance with, letting our bodies take the lead. How can physicality clarify our intentions, tapping into something different from making decisions, different ways of being and relating, becoming an animal, becoming alive.

We will begin from our own physical reality in each moment, using our senses, and listening to, trusting and respecting our body’s intuition. By starting from places of security and ease and expanding outwards with gentleness and awareness, what was once not possible (flying, disorientation…) can become so. We will try slowing down to allow time for this to happen, and speeding up so we depend on our bodies’ intuition and responses to find a way.

We will devote time to the physical skills needed to have autonomy in our dances, so our dancing can be an intersection of our intentions with those of the people we dance with and with the flow of gravity. For example we will practise both receiving a partner’s weight, and channelling undesired weight elsewhere. With the freedom to choose comes the confidence for safe, dynamic and effortlessly powerful dances. The workshop will emphasise Contact Improvisation as a practice of empowerment, personal responsibility and freedom.

Pre-Workshop: 26 – 30 December 2011
Clear Intentions

* Intensives with Jörg Hassmann, Vanessa Cook and Rachel Dean
* Workshops and warmups with various UK & international teachers
* Labs and jams
* Hot-tub and morning yoga
* Delicious vegan & omnivorous catering
£ 130 regular / £ 100 concession

New Year Jam: 30 December 2011 – 2 January 2012
Joyful Resolutions

* Jamming in three beautiful studios
* Workshops and warmups with various UK teachers
* Live music by Barnaby Tree, underscore practice with David Leahy
* Morning yoga, outdoor excursions, dusk & dawn jams
* Bodywork spaces, hot-tub, New Year’s eve feast…
* Delicious vegan & omnivorous catering
£ 100 regular / £ 80 concession

Package price £ 200 regular / £ 160 concession
Book before 1 November for a 10% discount
Prices include meals (but not accomodation)

Venue:
movingartsbase, Syracusae Building, 134 Liverpool Road, London N1 1LA
Multiple studios with underfloor heating and good natural light
Studio sleeping spaces available (10 £ per person per night) Local accomodation info

Schedule:
Pre-Workshop: 26 Dec 5 pm – 30 Dec 12:30 pm
New Year Jam: 30 Dec 5 pm – 2 Jan 12:30 pm

Registration and enquiries:
Daniel Mang
danielmang@gmail.com
+44 7411427331 (British mobile)
http://www.danielmang.com/node/10

September Mathilde performances

Rachel Dean — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 14:08:08 +0000

Sunday 11th September, Rotherham
Friday 16th September, Leeds, 8pm, 7 Arts, 31a Harrogate Road, LS7 3PD £5/6

Mathilde are a collective of five improvisers who integrate movement and sound, taking playful and entertaining improvised performance and participation to music events, theatres and festivals. They are popular with a wide range of audiences.

Performance
Dancers and musicians navigate the physical and sonic space, exploring the boundaries of each others’ realms and giving way to enchanting spontaneous interactions that draw you in and carry you with them on the journey.

The performers each bring their unique skills, presence and personalities, whilst sharing a common interest in creating a spontaneously composed performance which is intricate, human and communicative.

More about Mathilde working processes and approaches to improvisation at http://mathildedance.blogspot.com/

The Moment When

Rachel Dean — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 13:46:25 +0000

Rachel is very happy to be working with Cheshire Dance on ‘The Moment When..’

Cheshire Dance and Walk The Plank are gearing up for a phenomenal performance project in 2012 (inspired by London 2012), choreography by Jacqueline McCormick, Cheshire Dance, Vicki Amedume, Upswing and Ruth Spencer, Independent Dance Artist.
All performances will be site-based at 3 iconic locations in Chester, Cheshire East and Warrington and will involve a range of specialist collaborators in dance, aerial work, music, light, costume, fire and pyrotechnics. The Chester event for example will form the culmination of the Olympic Torch evening celebration event, so we’re talking about events of some scale.
More at http://www.cheshiredance.org/2012/index.html

Tour with Ascendance Rep

Rachel Dean — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 13:37:50 +0000

Rachel is currently touring with Ascendance Rep in Outside Places, Inside Spaces. Please see their Website for locations and dates. http://www.ascendance.org.uk/

Mathilde Summer tour, Leeds, Manchester, Sheffield

Rachel Dean — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 21:19:04 +0000

Mathilde Improvisation are performing several times this month

Thursday 14th July, Leeds, 7.30pm, Roundhay Park Bandstand Performance, FREE
In the bandstand near the Mansion, overlooking Upper Lake, LS8 2ER

Friday 15th July, Manchester, 8pm, St. Margarete’s Church, £4/5
Whalley Road, Whalley Range, M16 8BZ

Saturday 16th July, Sheffield, 1-4.30pm, Ecclesfield Community Arts Festival, FREE
Ecclesfield Secondary School, Chapeltown Road, S35 9WD

Friday 16th September, Leeds, 8pm, 7 Arts Space
31a Harrogate Road, LS7 3PD £5/6

“Imaginative, playful and utterly charming!”
“Fascinating”
Audience feedback 2010

Mathilde workshop 20th May

Rachel Dean — Thu, 12 May 2011 08:47:36 +0000

Touch and Play research

Rachel Dean — Mon, 09 May 2011 17:00:26 +0000

In June Rachel is travelling to Spain to attend ‘Touch and Play’ as a researcher. Read her research proposal and interests here http://2011.touchandplay.org/what/workshops/building-safer-spaces-and-consent/

Eternal Surge performance Wednesday 11th May

Rachel Dean — Mon, 09 May 2011 14:27:42 +0000

Rachel is performing as part of The Eternal Surge, a composition by Kim Macari incorporating music, film, dance and photography.

HEART in Headingley,

8.30pm, Wednesday 11th May, By donation

http://theeternalsurge.posterous.com/

Mathilde performance on Friday 8th April

Rachel Dean — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 11:42:33 +0000

At SARSVL 1st Birthday Party (Support After Rape and Sexual Violence Leeds)

7.30pm At coHearentVision, Centenary House, North Street, LS2 8JS

Facebook event here