Poem for Riot OFFspring By Eve Pearce, Company of Elders.

POEM FOR RIOT OFFSPRING

We have babies!  Not only babies , but babies in boxes,
with their mums.  Then, a few years later,
they’ve turned into giggly girls and noisy boys.
next we  have teenagers, lithe and lovely,
leaping like kangaroos – such joy!
Young adults enter – strong and supple,
hoping to turn pro – moving in their innocence.
finally the Elders, doing their best
in spite of gammy legs and crumbling hips,
broken shoulders and arthritic knees
don’t stop us – nothing does; and when
five lucky ones are lifted in the air.
and as Mafalda says – you fly-
where do we go?  Why, to Heaven of course!

                                                                 Eve Pearce

Company of Elders rehearsal pictures.

Amber Group rehearsal pictures.

Diary Entry - Maire Amber group

Tues 9^th-Today we were working on a section in which we interact with the turquoise group. I think the concept that we are working with is the miscommunication between generations, classes and the tension between authoritative figures and those who feel like they've been marginalized in our society. This obliviously is the underpinnings of the London riots in 2011 and what we’re trying to draw out in this section is this contrast between the high-energy, angry, aggressive movement of the “rebels” and the solid, strong but simple movements of the “guards”. Like most dancers, I really enjoy doing huge, dramatic movement and one of the biggest challenges I've found in these rehearsals is being able to do the simple, minimal choreography with just as much energy and conviction as the big movement.

Wed 10^th- I really enjoyed working with the elders. We performed a task in which we were each teamed with an elder who directed us though an improvisation. Each gesture the elder performed would correlate to different parts of our bodies. It was really interesting to see just how much movement could be produced by this and to experiment with different rhythms which consequently meant that little duets were developed. 

Drawing, documenting and recording - to keep a good physical memory.

Diary Entry - Luka from the Amber group

Friday 5^th of April

Whatever point at which you stop practicing is where you pick up from.

I am still finding it hard to follow some choreography. But I have to keep trying . Drawing documenting and recording to keep a good physical memory.

I already see opportunities to try for, if I keep working hard there is a strong chance I will get them. Hard work, determination is guiding me. 

Pictures from the whole company rehearsing.

Turquoise rehearsal footage

             All Copyright reserved to Creative Learning, Sadler's Wells

Diary Entry - Faye Tan Turquoise group

"Another aspect of Riot Offspring which I really like is observing the Company of Elders, the 'little kids' and the mums and their babies. One does not often see these age groups participate in a dance piece, but their presence in Riot Offspring really brings something magical to the entire performance.

The whole project is based around one person – Igor Stravinsky. His music is notoriously complex and difficult to memorise, and this complication only gets worse when large groups of people are asked to dance to his composition. However, I found the experience of working with the score to be very educational and enlightening. Simeon and Ivan taught us to notate the score, and we memorised (with inevitable difficulty) the six's, eight's, ten's, two's, boom-boom's, five's, sixteen-two-three-four's… The music really sharpened my mentality, and has definitely improved my focus as a dancer, especially in terms of musicality and memorisation. This ability to be quick-thinking while performing is a vital skill for any dancer, and I appreciate the fact that the project has helped me to enhance this skill."

Rehearsal Photos

Some great pictures taken by Eliza from the whole company rehearsing on the 11.04.2013

MIMBRE Youth Company Diary Entries

My Time at Sadler’s Wells so far.

 10.04.2013

Julia

“On Tuesday in the morning we were working with Mafalda on floor work. We had to walk with our hands on the floor. It felt really tiring and good at the same time.

The music started really relaxing but suddenly the music changed and went all terrifying, I really liked the music.

In the afternoon some of us were working with the teenagers. I was lucky enough to work with them, first we had to jump on their backs – and then they carried us like babies.

I like to work with the paper at the beginning of the piece, we put our hands out; it feels like I’m at a graveyard and dead bodies come alive!!!!!”

Ravi

“Our first session at Sadler’s Wells was on Friday 5^th of April. We met the people who would be working with us, Simeon, Pascal and Mafalda. We did some work with Pascal and Mafalda. My favourite part of the day was when we worked with Simeon on dancing. We did some hard moves, but it was fun.”

Ciar

“This week we got covered in paper which was fun, it was part of a dance. We also did a lot of movement on the floor, like shaking on our backs and on our belly. Plus, I got to do the worm through the paper. We also got carried away by the teenagers.”

Manuela

“On Friday we created a clapping game, this was done by copying Simeon. We also did a dance routine. In one of our routines we split into groups and got our moves from the clapping game, my move was first.”

Kieran

“In our rehearsal for the show, we were all covered in newspapers. We lifted our arm up and I tried to reach as far as I could.”

Anthony

“I had a great time working with the teenage group, when they carried me away. The pattern game was hard at first, but after a few days I got much better. I enjoyed playing with the papers.”

Nyle

“First we put our hand up, and then we put it down. Second we started to shake on the floor. Next we walked around sideways on the floor……Mafalda called number six; I jumped up and threw papers.”

PAPER PILE

Check out these pictures from today, making a giant paper pile!!!