Vanessa and I will be both teaching at The Place on the Easter Dynamics course from 6-10 April. Vanessa teaching Introduction to Choreography and Beginners Contemporary and myself, Jazz. Hope to see some of you there.

We also begin working with Lindsey Butcher and Gravity & Levity from the end of this month to make 'Re-Flex'. It promises to be an exciting project and we are very much looking forward to embarking on something new. We will of course post these tour dates along with new dates for PUSH very shortly.

Thats all folks!

Having done 'Tough Guy' at the end of January (where I managed to get hyperthermia) and yesterday the South London 10K where the expression 'like a drowned rat' only goes part way in describing how I felt after running in the torrential downpour, I am ready for some improvement on the weather front.

Apart from that, things are ticking along nicely. We are booking in shows for the summer with PUSH and both are busy with various individual projects. Myself, teaching and choreographing for upcoming shows (see the latest piece That's All Folks at Move It, London Olympia on March 13th, performed by students from Bird College) and Ness is up in Scotland devising and performing in Jane Ayre at The Perth Theatre from 4 - 20 March.

More from us soon....

We have lots of plans for the next 12 months, including a spring/summer tour with our show PUSH, additional projects on the incredible bamboo set (which continues to amaze and surprise us) plus a wedding to plan for Nikki - so a lot to look forward to!

We will be running open company class soon in London, so keep checking into the website for dates. In the meantime, keep warm and stay strong on those resolutions!

Additional news / stop press:
Find us at the trade fair of BDE 2010 in Birmingham on February 5.

We recently spent a day with Chris Fogg as dramaturge, working on PUSH to make it what we really want it to be. Having Chris there helped us make the connections to navigate through the piece.

In making work there are always stages, just as there are in writing; draft one, draft two and a version ready to go. Then there is development in performance, when the show is taken on tour.

PUSH now feels exciting and ready to be on the road. It feels refreshing to be in such a place and know that it was worth the physical and emotional investment.

We think the main reason Push felt like it could use more studio time is because elements of the process took longer than anticipated. We now have a beautiful bamboo set that is light and that we can assemble, disassemble and transport ourselves. However, the set design continued to evolve once we were in the studio and our first few performances took considerably more hands and time to do the get-in than we had hoped. It has taken a few drafts of technical plans to solidify the best get-in technique. Additionally, the set is held together by rope lashings that we have had to learn through practise. We simply didn't have the time to practise assembling and disassembling the set in our studio time, so we have been learning on performance days. Fortunately, performances have fallen on delightfully hot days, making it easy to assemble the set outside. An extra week (or 2 or 3) would have definitely aided these technical considerations.

It also took us longer to make material on the set than we expected. A new MacBook has gained the prize for being the most useful new tool in our process. Imovie has served as an invaluable outside eye. We found it hard to be clear and confident in choreographic choices because we were on the inside. This process has reminded us how important it is to have an outside eye. Kerry Nicholls offered incredibly helpful mentoring. We feel more time with an outside eye/mentor would only benefit the piece.

The final factor that left us wanting 'one more week' for our process was that we were utterly consumed by having to do our own administration. After long days in the studio we would get home only to review the work, plan the next day, write copy, biogs, select images for flyers etc. It filled every second out of the studio, and every inch of our brains.

The irony of all this is that one of the main themes of Push was the idea that the things that hold us back can be the very things that push us forward! This process has indeed tested the truth of that idea.

We are grateful to have had support from ACE and DanceXchange. They made the process possible. The DX staff couldn't have been any more supportive if they'd tried.

Making work should surely make us more kind with anyone else who makes work. As Plutarch said, "To find a fault is easy; to do better may be difficult". And so it is.
I'm aware that when someone gives their opinion on a piece of work it takes a few seconds for them to summarise their thoughts on the piece. Almost funny considering how long it takes to develop a piece.

Push is just one version of the many pieces that could be made on our new set. Maybe there will be an opportunity in the future to make another piece on it. But not now. Another time. When we have time, plus 'one more week'.

All Play has just successfully bid for Arts Council funding to make its new show, PUSH. This certainly feels like a big burst of growth -- new shoots powering a flowering season -- and it feels great! We are looking forward to an intense, concentrated devising process, embracing this injection of growth.

Growth is a huge passion of mine at the moment -- I have become obsessed with planting and growing, with a big selection of plants and herbs, all grown from seeds and all flourishing. It's been exciting to watch them grow, just like our company.

You can find details of where to come and see PUSH under the new 'dates' section on the website. Hope to catch you at a show very soon.

We will also be running company class at DanceXchange in June. Details as follows:

Where: DanceXchange, 5th floor, Thorp Street, Birmingham. B5 4TB.
When: Tuesday 16th June & Tuesday 23rd June
Time: 10-11am.

Looking forward to seeing you there!

I have been running for about three years, most recently training with British Military Fitness, and I often wonder what effect those hill sprints, long strides and intervals have on my dance performances.

It is difficult to measure, but it seems that improving my aerobic fitness has increased my levels of efficiency. My ability to assimilate and deliver vocabulary has improved: instead of getting out of breath and losing focus, I can keep hold of the detail and absolute precision of delivery. Of course, there still comes a point where I run out of gas, but that point comes later and I am able to stretch myself further.

And the benefits do not end there. This academic suggests higher levels of fitness help dancers recover from injury. However, he says many dancers do not exercise because of aesthetic considerations and old-fashioned approaches to training.

But it is not just new research that points to the need for higher levels of fitness, but also the continued growth of physical theatre and dance companies, of which All Play is one. The vocabulary and the style of performance make huge demands on artists, so fitness levels need to be high.

Maybe this is preaching to the converted, and this is how most dancers now train. If so, I look forward to seeing you out in the park!

1. the act of putting to a special use or purpose: the application of common sense to a problem.
2. the act of requesting.
3. a written or spoken request or appeal for employment, admission, help, funds, etc.: to file an application for admission to a university.
4. a form to be filled out by an applicant, as for a job or a driver's license.
5. close attention; persistent effort: Application to one's studies is necessary.

Origin:
1375-1425; late ME applicacio(u)n (< MF) < L applicātiōn- (s. of applicātiō), equiv. to applicāt(us) applied (ptp. of applicāre to APPLY ) + -iōn- -ION
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/application?qsrc=2888

We have recently it seems had a full time job in filling in application forms. This has been for a variety reasons including ACE funding, and a string of festival and platform applications. I almost feel like a professional. If only it were that enjoyable. Despite thinking that each time this will get easier (and to a small degree it does), there is always an unending amount of time involved and always one if not several awkward questions to answer, (are these really relevant one must ask). And then there is the waiting....did all my effort pay off?

As a small company who take on board all its own administration as well as the artistic side of directing, choreographing and performing, we are recognising (and have done for a while) the sheer amount of work and skill this involves. We are demanding of ourselves competence in areas in which largely we have no experience in, and just 'common sense' (whatever that means) to guide us through. For most part, we are doing a good job, and the success rate is high and new levels of efficiency realised.

However, there will come a time where to have our own administrator will be a necessity not just a luxury.

Any offers?!

Ideas, no matter how developed on paper, take time to develop and unfold, mostly in directions you don't anticipate,

Rigging slings from structures in the ceiling is precarious and so very time consuming,

We need to build up callouses on our hands to reduce the pain of hanging onto the slings all day. Good-bye soft gentle skin!

Body butter must accompany us in the studio to alleviate and reduce friction burns,

One of the best feelings is to laugh at ourselves when we start to realise our ideas are ridiculous and just don't work,

It feels so good to discard the bits that just don't work.

We look forward to really getting our teeth into making Push in February 2009.

And A Disappearing Number, by Complicite, is exactly that.

Complicite describe the show as:
Simultaneously a narrative and an enquiry, the production crosses three continents and several histories, to weave a provocative theatrical pattern about our relentless compulsion to understand.

Sounds like fun, until you realise that the show tells its story through mathematics. Yes, you heard that correctly - mathematics. And while there are maths buffs out there, they are not often to be found in theatres, and certainly not on stage. And yet this tale of infinity, mathematics and beauty served to deliver a captivating, informative and highly professional production - another success for the company under director Simon McBurney.

And so what will I take away from the production? What will I hope to inject into our next piece of work? It would be great to deliver a slice of excellence, as Complicite has achieved, through a detailed and motivated creative process, as well as a successful collaboration process.

When describing the process of creating a work, McBurney says:

"Over the time that I have been working with Complicite, what happens in the rehearsal room has changed enormously, yet certain elements are always present. The constant fooling around; the immense amount of chaos; pleasure as well as a kind of turbulent forward momentum. Nothing is off limits apart from not turning up ..."

Click here to book for their next production Shun-kin at the Barbican in 2009 - certain to be well worth a watch!

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More soon.....

More things in the pipeline....

There's more exciting news for All Play who are going International! We have been booked to perform in Milan. So November will see us jet-setting off, to not only Milan but to The Pyramid Arts Centre, Warrington. We are very much looking forward to both of these Autumn dates.

Prior to that however, we will be making a film in collaboration with TheLab which will be an exciting addition to our repertoire and a great opportunity to explore a new realm, thus furthering our development and adding a new dimension to our work as All Play. Look out for a bite size taster on this very site, very soon!

In March, All Play, a photographer and a music composer worked in collaboration with Creative Partnerships in Lindsworth School (where pupils are statemented with emotional and behavioural problems). The project 'Impossible Moments' allowed the participants to choreograph airborne sequences which were captured on camera accompanied by a soundtrack they composed for themselves. They later taught the skills they'd learned to pupils from Allen Croft Primary School (where we did a residency at the end of 2007). The project was a real success and put the girls at Lindsworth in the right direction to achieve their Arts Awards.

It is always a pleasure to facilitate and then stand back and watch the levels of creative ability shown by participants who may have failed in social or working contexts. We hope to enjoy such moments in Foston Hall.

Under the umbrella (and knowing how reliable the weather is, it might be) of Stamping Ground aka Dance4, we will be appearing firstly at the International Children's Festival, (Lakeside Arts Centre) on June 8th, followed by Arnold Carnival on June 14th, also in Nottingham.

Keep your eyes on our homepage for further details...

FACT: Its National Walk to School week so come on folks get those walking boots on!
For more info see http://www.walktoschool.org.uk/

The concept of BST was first proposed by William Willett in order to 'max-out' useful daylight hours, and after initial refusal by Britain to accept the system, the 'changing of the clocks' was implemented in May 1916. This acceptance provided a system that saved essential fuel and money during the war years, and infact 'double BST' was adopted during WWII. After a century of Daylight Saving Time however, the debate continues as to whether it is a good thing or not.

The idea of 'maxing-out' time, and daylight hours is certainly an appealing one to us, and something that All Play implements in what becomes 'the ordinary(?) life of a dancer'. Rushing here and there, performing, teaching and choreographing, fitting in ridiculous travel logistics to do so, having the bank call you up to see if your card has been frauded because you have been in that many places within 24 hours, making those essential calls whilst travelling, ticking tasks off lists to only add more, whilst accepting more work!Phew! But we love it, right?? To do all this in as much 'light' as possible though is definately a preference, so All Play say thanks William, nice one. Bring on BST and the (fingers crossed) sunshine.

For now, until Summer (June to be precise) when the next stretch of our tour begins, All Play try to take a small breath, whilst getting busy with some individual projects and self development work.

In the meantime, don't forget to check out our latest images through our video/media page into the world of Flickr.