From our Artistic Director: Summer Preview 2022

Exciting, world-class outdoor performance landed in Hounslow in 2014. The brand new Bell Square was the first of its kind in London, hosting extraordinary artists and performers from across the globe, every other weekend. Hounslow came together to watch amazing shows – spectacles, entertainment, theatre, circus and dance.

The last 2 years, we’ve brought you as many shows as we could, but Covid has meant that the events have been lower key than they would normally be. Well this year, we’re back! 

We’ve got fabulous international shows for you, daytime and night-time, tango, hip-hop and Bharatnatyam, festivals and parades, superb theatre and spectacular fire.

Hounslow this year will have an amazing Summer of Culture, a 3-month festival of arts and culture all over the borough – and Bell Square will host the opening and closing events. 

For me, the most wonderful thing about Bell Square is that it brings everyone together. And after the last 2 years we’ve all had, we can’t wait to be back with you!

Come and join us! We start on Saturday 4 June and will be there every other Saturday through to December. Here’s a taste of what’s to come during the summer.

June

We start the season – and launch Hounslow’s Summer of Culture – with Compagnie Bilbobasso from France. This was the company, back in 2014, that performed the very first show in Bell Square. You all loved them – so they’re coming back with another show, Amor. It’s a couple’s relationship told through feisty tango, quite a few sparks and a lot of fire!

Next up is Seeta Patel Dance with Rite of Spring. This is a vibrant, contemporary interpretation of a classical dance piece which shocked the world at its premiere in 1913. Not so shocking now probably but a powerfully energetic dance show nevertheless!

July

In July, we welcome 3 companies to Bell Square performing with us for the first time. 

London-based Alleyne Dance are twin sisters, Kristina and Sade Alleyne, who bring us an athletic show about the changing connections between siblings – all performed on a giant, rotating glass house.

Then we have Just Us Dance Theatre with Born to Protest. Their choreographer, Joseph Toonga, is an up and coming star of the dance world, creating powerful hip-hop theatre with a strong political message.

At the end of the month, one of Poland’s legendary outdoor theatre companies, Teatr Ad Spectatores, bring their show, Aliens from Mons. This is funny, clever, physical theatre, all projected on a big screen, telling the story of how Europe came together at the end of World War Two. 

August

In August, the events go large - not just at Bell Square but all over the town centre!

We launch a brand new festival of South Asian Outdoor Arts, showcasing music, theatre, dance, poetry and more in a celebratory atmosphere all along the High Street. It’s called Anhad – which means ‘limitless’. The High Street will come alive with the sights and sounds of local and national artists throughout the afternoon and evening.

Then on the last weekend of August, on the bank holiday, Rara Woulib come from Marseilles. Providing the closing event of the Summer of Culture festival, they will take the town centre by storm with their show, Deblozay. It’s a celebration of our town, of our residents past and present, in a grand Caribbean tradition. In Haitian-Creole, Deblozay means ‘bedlam’. Hounslow, let’s party!

Come and see us at Bell Square on Saturday 4 June – we can’t wait to be back with you!

FROM OUR ARTISTIC DIRECTOR : A BURST OF COLOUR FROM CADIZ

On Saturday, we welcome Teatro El Carromato to Bell Square. These wonderful, contemporary street artists come all the way from Cadiz in Southern Spain to bring a burst of warmth and colour to our grey winter days!

In June this year, I was invited by the regional government of Andalucia to attend a 2-day event for programmers from around Europe to meet the outdoor arts companies based in their region. It was a great opportunity to meet around 30 companies, see their shows, and also attend the fabulous Circada Festival in Seville.

Andalucia is the southern-most region of Spain and includes many important cities - Cordoba, Granada, Malaga and Cadiz, in addition to Seville.

Cadiz is an important coastal city in this region. It dates back 3000 years and is considered to be the oldest city in Europe. This is where Columbus set sail for the Americas in 1493!

The long history of Cadiz can be seen wherever you go. It seems that almost every narrow street reveals another fabulous square or plaza. Beautiful monuments and bustling cafes attract locals and visitors alike.

Is it any wonder that street arts are an important part of the culture of this city! Their Carnival is a huge, 11-day street party with parades, fun and mass participation – and second only to Rio in its fame!

When I was in Andalucia, I met several companies from Cadiz. Teatro El Carromato is a long established street theatre company who have created 20 different shows since 2000. Some of these shows have been performed over 300 times across Spain and around Europe.

One of these shows is Big Dancers and it is easy to see the cultural influences of Cadiz in the 4-metre high dancing puppets, the joyful music and the magical atmosphere. These dancing, almost human sculptures, with their illuminated colourful costumes, will flood the High Street with music and colour. You certainly won't miss them!

Come and join the spectacle - and dance, if you want, with these amazing giant puppets! Let's welcome a little Spanish warmth into our November day.

Teatro El Carromato are our first guests from Andalucia - but I promise there will be more!

If you speak Spanish, you can follow the company on twitter @El_Carromato - and on Facebook @elcarromatoteatrodecalle

Their website is http://elcarromato.com/home/ - English, Spanish and French.

And you can follow us @BellSquareLDN on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. And sign up to our email newsletter here.

from our artistic director: marking mental health awareness month at bell square

October is mental health awareness month at Bell Square. We have two very different shows that look at issues affecting our mental health and encouraging us to reflect on the things that influence our wellbeing.

World Mental Health Day is celebrated every year on 10 October and aims to encourage education, awareness and advocacy against social stigma. Many activities take place across the world throughout October.

Last year, Company Chameleon performed their show, Witness This, at Bell Square. It told the story of the choreographer’s diagnosis of bipolar, his recovery and the effects of his illness on those close to him in a viscerally moving dance performance.

Mental health problems can affect anyone at any time so it’s very likely that it will affect each of us directly or someone close to us. Maybe it’s not surprising that Witness This drew such a phenomenal response from the Bell Square audience last year - and many, many people asked us to do more events around mental health.

So this October, we have a large, spectacular show about insomnia and its effect on our wellbeing, and another show which is small, intimate and considers the mental health of the young people in our community. We also have two open, public talks and discussions, and a series of workshops with young people in Hounslow.

Insomnio by Teatro do Mar

The NHS describes insomnia as ‘difficulty getting to sleep or staying asleep for long enough to feel refreshed the next morning’. Almost everyone experiences insomnia from time to time, maybe for just a few days or weeks, but the NHS says ‘it’s a common problem thought to regularly affect around 1 in 3 people in the UK’.

Teatro do Mar: Insomnio

It’s widely acknowledged that most adults need 7-8 hours sleep a night. But the Mental Health Foundation says that, ‘with increasingly busy lives, it’s estimated that we now sleep around 90 minutes less each night than we did in the 1920s’ and that ‘it’s obvious that many people are now functioning in a permanently sleep-deprived state’.

Probably all of us have had nights tossing and turning and felt tired, irritable and out of sorts the next day. But research shows that the long term effects of sleep deprivation are much more serious and present significant risks to our emotional wellbeing, our mental and physical health.

On 12 October, Teatro do Mar visit Bell Square for the first time. The company was founded over 30 years ago in Sines, in Portugal, and are well-established and well-respected throughout Europe.

Their latest show, Insomnio, looks at the rhythm of contemporary life – fast, noisy and immediate. We absorb the ever-increasing amounts of information thrown at us, and have less and less hours of sleep to process it all. Dreams allow us to retain the experiences that have future meaning for us. If we don’t sleep and dream enough, are we creating a culture of forgetting what is important?

This large-scale show with theatre, acrobatics, music and video projection, deals with insomnia, human fragility, forgetting and remembering.

Unkindest Cut by Sadhana Dance

Our second show in October is Unkindest Cut. Sadhana Dance perform in a large shipping container and will take up residence at Bell Square from Wednesday 23 – Saturday 26 October. Watching the performance inside the container is an intimate experience and totally different from Insomnio. With this show, there are several performances each day for a smaller audience.

Unkindest Cut is about the mental health and wellbeing of the young people in our community. According to MQ – Transforming Mental Health Through Research, 1 in 10 children and young people have mental health problems, and 70% of those children and young people have not had appropriate help.

The title of the show, Unkindest Cut, refers both to damaging cuts in government spending and to self-harm. The company notes that cases of self-harm in girls aged 13-16 have risen by 68% since 2011.

Sadhana Dance: Unkindest Cut

Sadhana Dance is led by dancer and choreographer Subathra Subramaniam, and incorporates extensive medical and scientific research into its dance productions. Unkindest Cut was made in response to the growing crisis in young people’s mental health. It was developed by Suba during a period as artist-in-residence at the Maudsley Hospital in London, with the active involvement of their Consultant Adolescent Psychiatrist, Dr Partha Banerjea.

The performance explores how our minds cope – and sometimes don’t – with modern life. It includes dance, spoken word and film, and integrates the voices of young people into the heart of the piece. It represents the experience of living through psychological pain, while life goes on outside. Inside the shipping container, watching the show, we experience what is going on in the young people’s minds, but we also hear the day-to-day noises of the street outside. It’s a subtle reminder that it’s what’s on the inside that matters.

We have probably all heard the statistics that 1 in 4 of us is living with a mental health condition. That’s nearly 15 million people in the UK with an illness. Bringing that figure home, it’s 67,000 people in our borough.

And that figure of 1 in 10 children and young people living with a mental health condition means 3 children in an average classroom - in our classrooms in Hounslow, like everywhere else. And 2 of them are probably not getting help.

As so many of you said last year, we need to talk about this. I hope these 2 very different shows encourage us all to talk about mental health with friends, family and colleagues – and to think about our own wellbeing, too. I’m going to end this post, though, with a thought from Subathra Subramaniam from Sadhana Dance:

‘I believe that the essence of human beings can be revealed through art. I want my multi-disciplinary work to instil a curiosity, pose questions, open up debate and discussion. Mental health is such an important issue facing young people today. Unkindest Cut – you could call it a head trip. It’s about reflection, rather than a reaction, a thinking space that can help us think differently about mental health’.

For full details of the shows and talks, please see the What’s On page.

You can follow Teatro Do Mar on Twitter and Facebook @TeatroDoMar

You can follow Sadhana Dance on Twitter and Facebook @sadhanadance

And finally, huge thanks to the National Lottery Community Fund for making this programme possible.

From our Artistic Director: Beautiful Old Street Games all the way from Poland

Last year, I spent a few days in July at the Ulica festival in Krakow.  Ulica means ‘street’ in Polish and the festival is dedicated to theatre and performance in the street.

Krakow is a beautiful city with a medieval, and still vibrant, old town. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site with historic cathedrals and churches, towers and cobbled pathways dating back to the 13th century.  It offers a picturesque, and very special, backdrop for outdoor performances.

Rynek Glowny – or the Grand Square – is huge, maybe 40 times the size of Bell Square, and is split across its centre with an indoor market building and cloisters. Rynek Glowny was the largest plaza of medieval Europe, one of the greatest trading hubs and now, it is the central focus of the festival, attracting thousands of people to see the many performances.

 The nearby Maly Rynek – or small market square - served the crucial function of a meat market for centuries.  It is one of the city’s most scenic places, with its large stone cobbles, old town houses and church buildings, and it still happily frames contemporary Krakow life.  It was in this picturesque square that I first saw the collection of street games which we will welcome to Bell Square this weekend.

The games are all lovingly hand-made by Teatr Wagabunda with wood, iron and natural materials – rope, canvas, sacking and willow.  They are inspired by the household games and utensils that would have been used by previous generations.  There are rocking horses, flying animals whose wings flap when they are pushed around the square, a see-saw – and there is everything needed to play boules or hoops or have a pillow fight.  All the games are quite beautiful and special, and have the nostalgic appeal of a lost era.  

Many of the games require great skill – in balance or throwing, for example, and are actually very difficult, even for adults.  But Teatr Wagabunda also bring a playful engagement to the experience – mischievous and clown-like at times, slightly wicked at others!  People join in and do the weekly washing with an old wringer, so there is plenty of water around – what could possibly go wrong?

When I saw these games in Krakow, they were a magnet for everyone who passed by.  Children, of course.  Families, yes.  But adults, too, were drawn in to play – with friends, and with others who happened to be there at the same moment.  It is so easy to just start playing these games with people you don’t know.  They are so much larger than the games you probably have at home, so they contain an implicit invitation to play with them as a community.

Even though I can speak no more than a few words of Polish, I had such fun playing these games with people in the Square in Krakow.  It is lovely for anyone, and perhaps especially an adult, to stop and play in the street with other people.  I saw two people, strangers a few minutes earlier, having a pillow fight, laughing together and loving every minute of it.  These were strangers made friendly by the invitation to play.

These games bring people together – to be friendly, engaged, and together in public space.

I can’t wait to play the games again on Saturday with you all at Bell Square!

If you speak Polish, you can follow the company on Facebook @teatrwagabunda and their website is http://www.teatrwagabunda.pl/

And you can follow us @BellSquareLDN on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.  And sign up to our email newsletter here.

From Our Artistic Director: Just back from Fira Terrega

The second weekend in September can only mean one thing for me – the annual pilgrimage to Fira Tarrega!  For 4 days each year, an unimaginable number of artists, audiences and programmers descend on this small Catalan town for an amazing festival of outdoor arts.

The whole experience is like a ritual.  Plane to Barcelona airport.  A shuttle bus for artists and programmers from Barcelona to Tarrega.  The work has now begun.  Conversations, mini-meetings on the bus, catch-ups, artists ‘selling’ their shows, programmers looking for partnerships and shared projects.

Ninety minutes later, we’re in Tarrega.  Register, collect your tickets for shows, get the address of where you’re staying.  Drop your bag off.  In 30 minutes, you’re straight out to see the first show. 

Over 4 days, I expect to see about 30 shows, anytime from 10.00 in the morning until 1.00 the next morning.  I have pored over the brochure in advance, selecting the shows that from the basic description look like they may be possible choices for Bell Square next year.  In the gaps, there are meetings with artists, other programmers from around the world, and presentations to attend.  Maybe a quick snack on the way to the next show.  Sleep? Not much.  It’s a whirlwind: exhausting and exhilarating! 

The shows are mainly from Catalunya, the region in which Tarrega is located, and other parts of Spain, but also from France, Portugal and further afield outside Europe.  There’s dance, theatre, music, circus - large scale and small.  Shows that have been touring for a while and are very polished.  But also a huge number of brand new shows, performing for the first time, and hoping to get booked by programmers from everywhere you can think of. 

Many of the most interesting shows were concerned with the stories of our time and our world. Reflections about our cities and urban spaces.  About social change.  About resistance and protest.  About individuality within a community or society – how do we find our place in the crowd?  Shows about violence and vigil.  Some of these are serious, others are entertaining or observational.  But a glance at the news from around the world, including our own country, makes it obvious where the inspiration for these shows is coming from. 

One of the most affecting shows I saw this year was Cie Galmae’s C’est pas là, c’est par là.  It is inspired by the artist’s experience of being in the protests against the government in Seoul on the first anniversary of the Sewol ferry tragedy in which over 300 people, most of them children and young people, died. The show captures the experience of the protest - and the police response which attracted international condemnation. 

Cie Galmae - C’est pas là, c’est par là. Fira Tarrega, 2019

Having been to Tarrega for several years, I have seen the small changes typical of any small town over time.  But over the last couple of years, the struggle for independence in Catalunya, which many of us will have read about in the news, has been palpable.  There is a real tension between those who want independence for Catalunya and those who want to remain part of Spain.  The yellow ribbon which has become a symbol for Catalan independence is everywhere.  Yellow ribbons hanging from the trees in the town squares could have been mistaken by a foreign visitor as bunting for the festival.  Instead, it is a highly visible symbol of the demand for a free vote on independence.  The yellow ribbon is on council buildings not surprisingly, but it is also illuminated on churches at night.  It was on the key-ring I was given to the apartment where I was staying.  The ribbons are on lamp-posts, painted onto the roads and pavements.  Graffiti demands the release of the jailed politicians on every street corner.  New street art demands the right to decide their own future.

In this context, it is unsurprising that many Catalan artists are also making work which is more overtly political, talking about freedom, oppression and democracy.  One company told me that they had always worked indoors, in theatres, but that they had now made their first outdoor work as they felt they had to take to the streets to make their voice heard. 

Personally, I believe that outdoor arts, or street art, is always political.  It makes a statement in public space.  It makes people’s voices heard.  It brings different stories of our different communities into our shared space.  A regular programme, like we have at Bell Square, allows us to come together to reflect on the issues that affect us, that are important to us, to talk about the things we want to challenge, and to celebrate the things that make our world good.

So, on Monday, as I stood at the bus station in Tarrega with a strong black coffee and waiting to start the journey home, I was exhausted, but much more importantly, I was exhilarated.  The audiences at Bell Square tell us over and over again that we need to talk about these stories.  And there are so many stories for us to talk about next year.

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FROM OUR ARTISTIC DIRECTOR : LET’S GET TOGETHER AND TALK

I believe passionately in the power of outdoor arts to bring communities together and to get people talking.  As we head into the autumn and winter season at Bell Square, there are opportunities to see shows about things that affect us all - things like our mental health and the environment - and there are also opportunities to just get together and have a good time!

Through a regular programme of outdoor arts like we have at Bell Square, many artists give their perspective on the things that matter to them.  We hear many different voices.  About many different topics.  We talk about the stories that affect us, and those close to us, and the places where we live.   Migration.  The environment.  Mental health.  Relationships.  The big stuff. 

An audience member a few months ago said to me, ‘This is great.  We need to talk about this stuff in public.’  Many people read about these stories, these topics, every day on their phones, watch them on TV, listen to them on the radio.  But do they talk about them?  Share their own views with their friends, their families, their neighbours?  Maybe not enough. 

At an outdoor arts space, there is an openness.  Outdoor arts is democratic – anyone can come.  There are no tickets, entry charges, rules and regulations about how you watch these shows.  You just turn up and enjoy it - or leave if you don’t like it.  You can hang around afterwards.  You’ve all just witnessed something together.  Hopefully it made you think.  Challenged your assumptions or ideas, maybe.  Somehow this makes it easier to talk to strangers about what you’ve just watched.  Many people are really keen at this moment to share their thoughts and ideas with someone else who has just had the same experience.  I love it when I see people talking to each other at the end of the show, and I love it when people come and talk to me about what they’ve just seen.

Outdoor arts also create great experiences when people gather and just do something different together – whether it’s deciding to join in a performance, playing giant street games together or taking part in the lantern procession at the annual Winter Lights event.

As ever, we have a mix of UK and international shows through the autumn and winter.  We have artists from the North, from Manchester and Yorkshire, and from the South, from Buckinghamshire and Brighton.  We have 3 companies from Europe, all renowned on the continent but new to Bell Square, from Portugal, Poland and Spain. 

Here’s what we have coming up for you – I really hope you enjoy the shows through the autumn and winter.

September

This Saturday, Avanti Display return to Bell Square with their hugely popular Full Circle.  I don’t want to give too much away on this one but I do promise that it’s mischievous, ends up being quite hilarious, and uses hundreds of silver buckets!  If you want a laugh this weekend, this should do it for you!

On 28 September, we welcome Teatr Wagabunda with the UK premiere of their show, The Old Homestead.  The whole Square will be laid out all day with dozens of large-scale games.  When I saw this in Krakow last year, I nearly cried laughing at 2 middle-aged men essentially having a pillow-fight!

October

October is Mental Health Awareness Month.  Last year, we did a dance show (Company Chameleon’s moving performance about recovery from Bipolar) and your comments after the performance, and on the feedback cards so many of you complete for us, described a very emotional response and a desire for more events about mental health. 

So we are marking Mental Health Awareness Month with 2 very different shows.  First, on the evening of 12 October, we have Teatro do Mar from Portugal, with their show Insomnio.  The show is visually spectacular and looks at the effects of insufficient sleep on our mental health.  Set on a giant bed, the show incorporates theatre, acrobatics and video.

Later in the month, Sadhana Dance move their shipping container onto Bell Square for a short residency.  Inside the container, there will be a show about what affects the mental health of the young people in our community, influenced by workshops leading up to the event.  There will also be an audio-visual installation in the container between performances, and some talks and discussions if you’d like to join in.

November

On 9 November, El Carromato come from Cadiz with Big Dancers.  The ‘big dancers’ are 4-metre high ‘human’ puppets who, with synchronised music and lighting, create an atmosphere like a street party.  If you want to dance, you can!  

23 November brings the annual Winter Lights event, a ritual celebration of light in the cold, dark nights of winter.  Every year, in the weeks leading up to the event, hundreds of people all over the borough take part in workshops to create their own lantern.  On the night of the event, they come together to take part in a beautiful lantern procession through the town centre, leading to a sparkly and fiery finale at Bell Square!

December

And to end the season in December, Thingumajig Theatre bring their gorgeous caribou to the High Street.  With music, song and the illuminated puppets, Ghost Caribou tells of lost habitat, impossible migrations and the seeds of hope before the beautiful caribou continue their journey into the night.  

So, I hope you can join us at Bell Square this autumn to have some fun and some good conversations.  Come and talk to us after the show – we love to know what you think.  And you can always start a conversation on social media @BellSquareLDN

Finally, thanks as ever to our funder, Arts Council England.  And to the National Lottery for funding the shows and talks during Mental Health Awareness Month.

Do follow us @BellSquareLDN on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. And sign up to our email newsletter here.

FROM OUR ARTISTIC DIRECTOR: CARMEN FUNEBRE RETURNS TO LONDON

Carmen Funebre is known as one of the most legendary pieces of outdoor arts ever made.  It is a show about the impact of war on civilians as the former Yugoslavia broke up in the 1990s.  It is a mighty piece of theatre, uncompromising and searing in its impact.  The show is 26 years old, has toured the world, and returns to London for the first time in 10 years.

Teatr Biuro Podróży

Teatr Biuro Podróży is a famed Polish outdoor theatre company set up by Paweł Szkotak with a group of young and passionate actors in Poznan in 1988.  Since then, they have created 15 different theatre productions, and performed over a thousand times for audiences in 50 different countries. 

 They have always been determined to make theatre in a different way to accepted traditions, and to make that theatre for people who don’t normally go to well-known theatre institutions.  They care about people and the stories of their lives.  Teatr Biuro Podróży’s shows are social, political and powerful.

 The company emerged onto the scene as civil resistance in Poland demonstrated the people’s demand for change and led to the end of communist rule in the summer of 1989.  The new company came up with the name Biuro Podróży, which means Travel Agency in Polish.  In a country behind the Iron Curtain, very few people were able to obtain passports.  As the rest could travel only in their imagination, the ironically-named Teatr Biuro Podróży offered an ‘escape’ through theatre.

Carmen Funebre

Carmen Funebre, or Funeral Song, is the group’s most famous piece, and was made in 1993-94.  As the Balkans Wars raged, just south of Poland, and the former Yugoslavia broke up, 4 million people were displaced in the 10 years from 1991-2001.   

The show specifically explores the impact on civilians and focuses on the story of refugees and migrants caught up in the spiral of war.  It is based on interviews with victims of the wars.   

Directed by its founder, Paweł Szkotak, the show uses physical theatre, overwhelming music, the highly visual effects of fire, and tyrants towering on stilts, to tell the story of people trapped in the turmoil of war. 

This seminal theatre production continues to tour the world today.  In the context of recent carnage and cleansing in the Middle East, the show is as relevant now as it was 26 years ago. It can be seen just as much as a comment on the fate of refugees caught up in the mass exodus to Europe, looking for a safer place, as it was on the Balkans in the 1990s.

Teatr Biuro Podróży present Carmen Funebre at Bell Square on Saturday 31 August at 8.00 pm.  The show lasts 50 minutes.  Age guidance 14+

You can follow Teatr Biuro Podróży on Facebook @ Teatr-Biuro-Podróży

And on Instagram @teatr_biuro_podrozy

From Our Artistic Director: What's a Bolero and Why's it so Famous?

Our show this Saturday is Bolero.  It’s performed by a fabulous Spanish dance duo led by Jesus Rubio Gamo.  The music is from the French composer Ravel’s famous Bolero – which most people will probably recognise.  But what is a bolero – and why is it so famous?

Jesus Rubio Gamo

Jesus is a dancer and choreographer from Madrid. His shows have been presented at festivals across Spain and Europe, as well as in places like museums and, of course, outdoors.

He studied contemporary dance in Spain and then won an award to pursue advanced studies in a foreign country. He chose to come here to the UK and studied at the London Contemporary Dance School. He is now based back in Madrid but happy to be coming back for a visit to London!

One of his most successful shows is Bolero.

So what’s a Bolero?

The Bolero is a traditional Spanish dance dating back to the late 1700s. It is all about love and romance and is quite slow and sensuous. The dancers, individually or together, produce brilliant and intricate movements to the rhythmic accompaniment of their castanets.

The dance also has influences from Spanish bull-fighting and the lead dancer often mimics the movements of the toreador in the bullfight; whilst the other dancer’s movements often suggest the matador's cape or even sometimes the bull! And like a bullfight, the bolero dance has a certain grace and athleticism but is also teeming with dramatic tension!

Why is the Bolero so famous?

The most famous Bolero music ever composed is by Maurice Ravel, a French composer working in the early 1900s. Ravel’s Bolero is built on a single repeated rhythm played on a snare drum – Ta, Tatata Ta, TatataTatatatatata Ta.

The melody that goes with this rhythm starts incredibly quietly and is repeated, over and over, getting louder and louder, until the whole orchestra is playing by the very end – ‘fortissimo possible’ or as loudly as possible!

If you don’t recognise it from this description, I’m sure you will know it immediately when you hear it! According to FranceMusique.com, Ravel’s Bolero is one of the most frequently-played pieces of classical music and every 15 minutes, somewhere in the world, a performance begins. Given that the piece lasts 17 minutes, this music is being played constantly, somewhere in the world!

As well as in concerts and live performances, Ravel’s Bolero often appears as the background music in TV programmes and in films. Memorably, it was used by the British ice skaters, Torvill and Dean, for their gold medal-winning performance at the Sarajevo Olympics in 1984, watched by a television audience of 24 million people. And because of this, it has become the music for the final remaining competitors on each series of Dancing on Ice.

Surprisingly, despite this being one of the most popular pieces of music ever written, the composer, Ravel, really hated it! He thought it was basic, that it was one of his least important pieces and that any competent music student could have written it.

But everyone else loves it! The structure and build through the piece is mesmerising. And it works so well for the show we will see on Saturday.

Jesus Rubio Gamo’s Bolero

Jesus says his work has a pattern which ‘combines mathematical structures with sensorial intensity’. He tries to create ‘formal architectures of the body that allow emotion to burst out’.

You will see on Saturday that the piece has an extraordinary intensity and like Ravel’s music, builds and builds throughout. There is increasingly a fine line between pleasure and exhaustion. By the end, the dancers are at the limits of their endurance, at the point of breaking – like the orchestra playing as loudly as it possibly can! But there is a determination - almost a desperation - to keep going!

Come and see Jesus Rubio Gamo’s Bolero on Saturday, 17 August 2019. It is on at 1.00 pm and again at 3.00 pm.

Let us know what you think using the hashtag #bellsquareldn

You can find out more at the artist’s website, www.jesusrubiogamo.com

And follow him on Facebook and Instagram @jesusrubiogamo

From Our Artistic Director: Extreme Dance at Bell Square

Ofir Yudilevitch is one of the rising stars in Israel’s dance scene.  As a freelance dancer, he has toured the world with leading companies and has recently started to turn his focus to choreography.  His first major dance piece is Gravitas which comes to Bell Square on Saturday 3 August.

 Ofir Yudilevitch

Unusually, Ofir did not study dance from a young age.  Instead, at 15, he started Capoeira, a martial artform developed by African slaves in Brazil which combines self-defence, acrobatics, dance, music and song.  He studied it extensively for 10 years, first in Israel and then in Brazil.  In his early 20’s, he was an instructor of both Capoeira and acrobatics.   

Then, when he was 24, he started studying contemporary dance back in Israel at the Professional Dance School in Haifa.  After graduating, he quickly established himself as a professional dancer, working with some of Israel’s top dance companies and on international projects in Europe and the US.

In his early 30’s, like many successful dancers, the lure of creating his own dance works took hold and he started early forays into choreography alongside his regular performance.  He worked on several small dance shows for different festivals, before creating his first large scale performance in 2015.  This was Gravitas - which has toured internationally ever since and which we will see at Bell Square on 3 August.

Gravitas

In his own dance pieces, Ofir incorporates extreme physicality and it is easy to see that much of this comes from his background in Capoeira and acrobatics.  He stretches himself and his fellow performers physically to the limit, yet still connects with the audience on an emotional and human level. 

Ofir also stretches the boundaries of what some people may think of as dance.   It has a style that is very acrobatic, very strong, physical and powerful. 

In his first substantial piece, Gravitas, he focuses on gravity, one of the most basic and powerful forces in nature.  Gravity acts upon each and every one of us, and upon every physical object, in exactly the same way.  It doesn’t care if we land or crash, it will remain the same.  And Ofir’s piece explores how far the 2 performers can push their bodies, how far they can push the force of gravity.

They compete with each other, pushing each other, as they test their speed, balance and strength.  And they do this on a giant, air-filled mattress which brings a whole extra dimension to their movement.  Falling, crashing and jumping take centre stage as the 2 men hurtle through the air and rebound spectacularly off the mat.  Mischief often pervades the display, however, as they knock each other out of headstands, jostle for the best spot on the mat, and compete for the audience’s love as each tries to do the best back flip!

Underneath it all, the show is about male relationships.  Two men challenging each other, reminiscent of boisterous, boyish play and still driven by a competitive spirit as they test the limits of trust, danger, risk and masculinity – and ultimately their friendship.     

Come and see Gravitas on Saturday 3 August at Bell Square.  It’s on at 3.00pm and again at 5.00pm. 

And let us know what you think, using #BellSquareLDN 

You have also told us previously that you would like to be able to look up more information about the artists and follow them on social media:

You can follow Ofir on Facebook @Ofir-Yudilevitch-Dance-Artist

From our Artistic Director: What are the Hippos Saying?

Zum Zum Teatre are one of Spain’s leading theatre companies and, after 25 years, have just made their first outdoor show.  Hippos comes to Hounslow on 20 July.  Three dancing blue hippos will be at Bell Square. Yes, that’s right.  Three.  Dancing.  Blue.  Hippos.  So I talked to Zum Zum about their work and their experience of making an outdoor show for the first time.

Zum Zum Teatre is based in Lleida, in Catalunya, in Northern Spain.  The company was set up by Ramon Molins in 1994 and he still leads the company to this day.  My first experience of Zum Zum’s work was seeing Hippos last autumn, so I was interested to find out about their previous work in indoor theatres and how it had led to these dancing hippos!

Ramon told me ‘The company’s slogan is that we make theatre for adults aged 4 years and up.  The shows introduce different levels of issues so people understand them in different ways, depending on their age and background.  But children and young people are very intelligent!  They understand the shows and we believe that the youngest amongst us have the right to enjoy high quality theatre, too!’

We also like our shows to raise more questions than answers.  Hopefully they excite people so they go home and talk about what they’ve seen.’

We also talked about their new outdoor show, Hippos.  Zum Zum’s descripton of the show is:  ‘In a world where animals and people live together, we encounter hippopotamuses that choose a middle path.  Are they humans disguised as the animal they wear?  Or are they hippos that are searching for themselves inside of the individual that inhabits their body?’

When they were first starting to create the show, they also wrote a short poem which defined what they wanted the character of the hippos to be:

                To be a hippo is to understand that we are dangerous animals if someone wants to take on           what we are.

                To be a hippo is to demand that you not be taken by surprise.

                To be a hippo is to go wild.

                To be a hippo is to be multiple.

                To go on being.

                To be a hippo is to reevaluate loneliness in company.

                To be a hippo implies letting be.

 Has this has raised more questions than answers for you?  Yes, me too!  

 I asked Ramon what they want the audience to take away from the show?

 He says ‘Hippos is an idea, not a story.  You can enjoy it with your own imagination – you don’t have to ‘understand’ a story.  So people will bring their own different interpretations to it.  Many people interpret it as being about the threat of extinction to hippos.  But some have thought it’s about bullying, and others have had completely different ideas.’

The hippos’ statement at the end of the show is, ‘I will survive if you let me be’.  Whatever the show has meant to you personally, I think this is probably a quite poignant moment. 

As Hippos is Zum Zum’s first outdoor show, after 25 years of working indoors, I was also interested to know what the company’s experience of going out into the street has been.

According to Ramon, ‘It’s been totally different!  Indoors, our shows are not at all colourful, they have quite a ‘brown style’!  But it’s completely the opposite outside – the hippos are bright blue!  We wanted a completely different style on the street.

 The audience is totally different, too – outside it is much more spontaneous.  This is also our first show with no text and our first show with dance in it.  So it’s a real adventure for us – we’re having great fun with it! We’re getting to really love the hippos.  We would like to develop the characters of them, so        people can just find them, behaving like a person.  Maybe sitting on a balcony, drinking a coffee?’

Who knows what a hippo might do next!

Come and see the Hippos on Saturday 20 July at Bell Square.  They’ll be dancing at 1.00pm and 3.00pm.   

And let us know what you think, using #BellSquareLDN

You have also told us previously that you would like to be able to look up more information about the artists and follow them on social media:

Zum Zum Teatre can be found at https://zumzumteatre.com/en/

And you can follow them on Twitter @zumzumteatr

Joli Vyann tell us about their next show at Bell Square

Joli Vyann have been in rehearsal at Watermans where they’ve been rehearsing the outdoor version of their new show Anima, which will be at Bell Square on Saturday 6 July. In this 5-minute video they tell us how they met, what’s special about the dance style they’ve developed, and you’ll get a taster of what to expect on the day. Enjoy!

A VIEW FROM OUR ARTISTIC DIRECTOR : ONE OF BRITAIN’S OLDEST STREET THEATRE COMPANIES COMES TO BELL SQUARE

Introduction              

Bash Street Theatre Company rolls into town on Saturday 22 June with their new show, Bellevue Hotel.  Set up 28 years ago by partners Simon Pullum and JoJo Pickering, this is one of Britain’s oldest street theatre companies.  Now performing with their 2 sons, Lochlann and Finbar, and niece, Kesha, this is a traditional family-run company that tours all over the world.

Street theatre

Bash Street perform fast-moving, silent-comedy, street theatre shows with live musical accompaniment. 

Their shows draw on a long tradition of street theatre that stretches back many hundreds of years.  It’s often claimed that street theatre is the oldest form of theatre – and even that as long as society has existed, people have created theatre.  Outdoor theatre in ancient Greece and Rome goes back over 2000 years but, on the streets, there are records dating back to the 4th century of the Church in England putting on plays to convert people to their religious beliefs.  Since the 1100s, Midsummer Watches celebrated the summer solstice, with similar Christmas Eve Watches in the winter.  And from the 1400s, the Mystery Plays, telling stories from the Bible, were performed in English cathedral cities, most notably York and Chester.

From the 1500s, more secular theatrical events such as royal pageants and the Lord Mayor’s Show became common.  At the same time, the early performances of Shakespeare’s plays, often criticising the monarchy, became very popular outdoor entertainment!

Much modern street theatre, though, has its roots directly in the English tradition of ‘strolling players’ who travelled around the country at this same time performing in the inns and taverns.  They performed shows that challenged the aristocracy and a particular favourite was Robin Hood, the famous story of stealing from the rich to give to the poor.  They were not popular with the government of the day and, sadly, in the late 1500s, the strolling players were banned when the government claimed they were spreading disease, especially the Black Death, around the country!  Popular theatre then increasingly had to find its audience on the streets. 

Street theatre today ranges from lone buskers, like those in Covent Garden, to organised theatre companies like Bash Street that tour the world.  The practicalities of performing on the street, traditionally with little technical support or amplification of sound, meant that street theatre has often used dance, mime and slapstick rather than complex, spoken narratives.  The performances have always needed to be very visual, loud and simple to enable a large, assembled crowd to follow what was going on.

Why street theatre?

Street theatre is often used to make social comment.  The companies often choose to perform on the street as they are able to engage people of all ages and backgrounds, taking their stories to local communities far and wide.  These shows aim to make people think, to talk about the social issues of their time.  Street theatre is often funny and entertaining, giving it power to reach large crowds of people and raise awareness of the issues in the show.     

Bellevue Hotel

Bash Street’s new show, Bellevue Hotel, is set around a small, run-down hotel.  It tells the story of the hotel landlady and her battle with the gangster boss of the ice cream factory next door who is determined to buy her property.  But the landlady will not give up without a fight!  She and her hotel guests do battle with the nasty neighbour – and even with the demolition men when they arrive to knock down her hotel.

The show has live piano music, silent comedy, magic and some hair-raising action!  It is performed in the silent-film, comedy style that Bash Street has become famous for.  In a very entertaining way, it talks about one of the social issues of our day.  It looks at the challenges that many people face when a developer moves into their neighbourhood, and the fight they have on their hands to stay in their property.

So, this modern-day street theatre is really no different to the outdoor London performances of Shakespeare 400 years ago.  What a tradition!

Come and see Bash Street Theatre on Saturday 22 June at Bell Square.  The show starts at 3pm.

And let us know what you think, using #BellSquareLDN

You have told us previously that you would like to be able to look up more information about the artists and follow them on social media.

Bash Street Theatre can be found at www.bashstreet.co.uk

And you can follow them on Twitter @bashstreet and on Facebook @bashstreetco

A View from our Artistic Director: The Story of Icarus brought to the Street

Southpaw Dance Company present their stunning show, Icarus, at Bell Square on Saturday 8 June. The show brings the ancient Greek myth of Icarus to a contemporary audience on the street.

Southpaw is a well established dance company based in Newcastle in the North East of England. It is led by choreographer Robby Graham, who has developed a strong style of contemporary dance which has the spirit of hip-hop at its heart.

Robby works with Southpaw and other companies, making dance shows for both indoor theatres and outdoor spaces. In 2017, he was the Movement Director for the National Theatre's production of Angels in America - and it was during this time that he had the idea of making a show about Icarus. The National Theatre made a remarkable set of angel's wings for their show and Robby spent much of the rehearsal time helping the actor to move gracefully with these enormous wings! Having done this, he was inspired to make another show using these fabulous wings - and what better a story than Icarus to do that!

The story of Icarus

The story is set on the Greek Island of Crete which, in Greek mythology, is ruled by King Minos.

Icarus is the son of Daedalus, a much admired craftsman and inventor who works for King Minos. The king asks Daedalus to build him a huge labyrinth where he can secretly keep the Minotaur, a huge half-man half-bull creature. It is a secret because most of the islanders do not know about the Minotaur.

Once the labyrinth is built, the King imprisons Daedalus and his family in a tower at the palace so that they cannot tell anyone about the King's secret.

Daedalus is determined to escape and flee the island. However, he knows that the King's army guard the shores of the island so he would not be able to leave by sea. The only possible way to escape would be by air.

Daedalus, being a brilliant inventor, created some gigantic wings - made with tree branches, stuck together with wax, and covered with birds' feathers.

He taught his son, Icarus, how to fly. Before they set off, Daedalus told him not to fly too low as his wings would get wet with sea water, and not to fly too high as the heat of the sun would melt the wax in his wings.

When the day came, Daedalus and Icarus managed to fly up into the air and escape the island. But although he had been warned by his father, the young Icarus was so excited by the thrill of flying that he soared higher and higher into the sky. As his father had told him, the heat of the sun melted the wax and his wings fell apart - and Icarus fell into the sea and drowned.

The story of Icarus has fascinated audiences for centuries, especially perhaps the desire to go beyond human limits and the tragic consequences that brought.

Southpaw's telling of the story

The show starts with Icarus trying on his wings and trying to fly. When he is ready to attempt the flight to escape the island, he and his accomplices embark on a ritual as if trying to invoke the gods to help him.

Finally, he is lifted into the air and flies. As he goes higher, giddy with the euphoria of flying, he barely notices the appearance of the golden sun goddess. As Icarus comes into the full heat of the sun, his wings fall apart, and he falls amid clouds of smoke, to his death.

Come and see this stunning, theatrical telling of the story of Icarus on Saturday 8 June at Bell Square. The show starts at 9.00 pm as dusk falls.

From our Artistic Director: Stories of the World at Bell Square

If you read this blog regularly, you will know that, for me, the shows at Bell Square are about the stories that affect us all. As the UK struggles with Brexit and how in future we will connect with the wider world, culture can help bring us together, build a shared identity in our community, and help us stay connected with the perspectives of others in our increasingly globalised world.

So, the Bell Square shows this year come from across the UK but from many other countries, too.

Teatr Biuro Podrozy: Carmen Funebre (31 Aug 2019)

In the spring and summer season, we have artists from Newcastle in the far north of England to Penzance in the far south. We have dance from the Midlands - from Birmingham – and we have a show made here in Hounslow. We also welcome artists from Spain and Catalunya, and from Poland and Israel.

All these artists will share their stories with us. Different ideas, perspectives, cultures. Maybe they’ll make us question what we think we know - possibly make us look at our world a little differently. When we have a wonderful mixed community like we have in Hounslow, and we share these experiences together in our public space, I believe it brings us together and helps us understand each other better. Wherever I am in the world, absorbed in a great outdoor performance, I always feel more connected to the people I’m there with.

We will see many artists and companies coming to Bell Square for the first time in 2019 – and we’ll welcome back others who have brought us memorable experiences before.

I hope you will join us at Bell Square this year. We start on Saturday 25 May and will be there every other Saturday through to December. Here’s a taste of what’s to come in the spring and summer.

May

The new season starts on 25 May with a visit from Birmingham-based dance company, Humanhood, with their latest outdoor show, Orbis. Orbis is about our relationship with the moon and the mystical place it holds in the history of human culture. This is beautiful, contemporary, ritualistic dance.

June

Southpaw: Icarus (Sat 8 June 2019)

In June, we welcome back Southpaw Dance Company with Icarus, a dramatic and powerful performance of the famous Greek myth in which the young Icarus is obsessed with the desire to fly. As he flies too close to the sun, his soaring ambition leads ultimately to his tragic, untimely death.

Later in June, Bash Street Theatre bring their new show, Bellevue Hotel, to Bell Square. Bash Street is one of the oldest touring street theatre companies in the UK. Whilst their traditional style with live piano accompaniment is enchanting, their show unpicks an everyday battle of our modern world when a developer tries to destroy a much-loved community asset for their own profit.

July

Joli Vyann at Bell Square in 2017

On 6 July, Bell Square hosts the very first performance of a brand new show by Joli Vyann. You may remember their thrilling show, Lance Moi en l’Air, in July 2017.

The company will be in residence at Watermans making their new show, Anima, in the weeks leading up to this performance. ‘Anima’ is Latin for breath, life and soul. Joli Vyann’s new show is about the simple act of breathing and how it connects us all. The show will feature their beautifully integrated dance and acrobatic style and for the first time, include a live musician.

Later in July, London will celebrate becoming the world’s first National Park City. National Park Cities celebrate nature, the environment and outdoor living. As part of this London-wide celebration, we will have our own National Park City Weekender in Hounslow on 20 & 21 July. On the Saturday, Zum Zum Teatre from Catalunya will perform Hippos at Bell Square. Looking at the relationship between humans and animals and making the point that ‘they will survive if we let them be’, this is nevertheless one very unusual show. Three blue hippos will be dancing at Bell Square. Believe me. Then on the Sunday, our friends at Creative People & Places will host one of their great TW3 Creative events with lots of fun and opportunities for participation.

August

In August, we have 3 events and go completely international!

Ofir Yuilevitch: Gravitas (Sat 3 Aug 2019)

First, we welcome acclaimed Israeli choreographer, Ofir Yudilevitch, with his first London performance of Gravitas. The show uses extreme physicality, capoeira and acrobatics on an enormous inflated mattress, with the performers crashing and hurtling through the air, testing the notion of gravity.

Next we have Jesus Rubio Gamo and his Madrid-based company with a contemporary Spanish take on Ravel’s famous Bolero. This is strong, gripping dance set to the remorseless, throbbing beat of the Bolero.

And our final summer performance on 31 August is by stunning Polish theatre company, Teatr Biuro Podrozy. Their previous shows at Bell Square – Silence in 2017 and Winter’s Tale in 2018 – have been highlights for audiences, and for me, too. Their shows are honest – and uncompromising about the things that go wrong in our world. In 2019, they return with Carmen Funebre – or Funeral Song – which looks at the impact of war on civilians. This show is possibly the most legendary piece of outdoor theatre ever made. Created over 30 years ago, it has toured continually, throughout the world, ever since. It has not been seen in London for nearly 10 years.

So we have age-old stories about the moon, and fables about over-ambition, which are as fresh and relevant today as they were hundreds or thousands of years ago. And we have stories of our contemporary world – of war and migration, of animal conservation, on a global scale - and determined resistance to the threat of development on a small local community.

I look forward to seeing these performances with you – and thinking and talking about the stories they tell.

Come and see us at Bell Square on Saturday 25 May - we can’t wait to be back with you!

And in the meantime, huge thanks to Arts Council England and the Mayor of London for their funding of these events!

From Our Artistic Director: Magical Moments from 2018

After the last event of the season and as we look forward to the new year, it is always tempting to think back to our favourite moments of the last year.  Here are our 10 Magic Moments of 2018!

1         The season opened with Akademi’s classic, Sufi Zen – beautiful, reflective mix of Bharatnatyam and contemporary dance

 2         Fillage – amazing new circus and live music from young Belgian company, Sur Mesure

3         Strong hip-hop dance on a cage from Cie Dyptik from Marseilles

4         Powerful and political retelling of the events that sparked the Arab Spring by trailblazing Catalan company, Insectotropics 

5         Gorgeous aerial circus and live music at dusk by young French company, Cirque Rouages

6         The night the moon fell out of the sky (according to one young audience member)

7         Dramatic, affecting dance about what happens when mental illness takes hold of someone close – from Manchester-based Company Chameleon

8         Man and machine.  Dancers and a digger.  Unforgettable.

9             The annual Winter Lights parade when Hounslow comes together to light up the dark nights

10          Dinosaurs – prehistoric beasts on Hounslow High Street.  Magic.

Huge thanks to our wonderful resident photographer, Vipul Sangoi, for most of these images.

Also to John Montgomerie for the photo of Witness This by Company Chameleon

And an even bigger thank you to our incredible stewards and tech team who brave rain, shine, wind, hail and everything in between to bring great outdoor arts to Hounslow.

Over and out and see you next year!

#BellSquareLDN

From Our Artistic Director: Return of the Saurus

The last time giant prehistoric beasts walked the earth?  Not sure.  The last time they walked on Hounslow High Street, though, I do know – August 2012.  It was a blazing hot day during the London 2012 Games.

Those who were around that summer will remember that, alongside the Olympic and Paralympic sport, there was a London-wide cultural festival that was just as impressive.  For me, one of the highlights of that programme was Showtime, a festival of outdoor arts that visited every borough in London.

Suarus was one of the acts that came to Hounslow.  These 5 metre high dinosaurs, manoeuvred by invisible puppeteers on stilts, put on a stunning display with their thunderous roars and long sweeping tails.  Even though I knew what was coming, I was still overawed by the sight of these giant creatures running wild in our High Street!

The life-size silver beasts are obviously starving and storm noisily along the street looking for food.  Once they have eaten, though, they become playful and sociable before, eventually, a magical song calms their wild forays.

Saurus, by Close-Act, is one of the finest walkabout shows in Europe.  The company was set up in Tilburg in the Netherlands 27 years ago by a group of actors, dancers, choreographers, designers and musicians.  They are famous for their unique style of ‘visual creations’ and the way that they perform in, between and above the public.  They aim to ‘move, draw and carry you into the world they create’.  Close-Act have toured with many shows across Europe, North and South America, Asia and the Middle East, but Saurus has been a firm favourite with audiences wherever it goes.

And they were certainly a hit when they came to Hounslow in 2012!  Saurus was one of the shows that created such a buzz in the town centre that summer.  Although it’s the opposite side of London to the Olympic Park, we had music gigs, amazing Japanese drummers, the Torch Relay, circus, theatre, and a Big Dance event when 10,000 people danced in Hounslow High Street!  2012 was a truly fantastic summer!

And then a few months later when plans started to be made for a major revamp of the town centre, the popularity of the outdoor arts programme that summer inspired everyone involved to include a permanent space for outdoor arts.  And so, Bell Square was born!

These wonderful, giant Sauruses won everyone’s hearts that summer and surely played a part in making Bell Square a possibility.  So I, for one, welcome them back with a warm heart and open arms.  Even if they can be a bit naughty and eat the treetops, or forage in people’s bags sometimes...

This is the last event of the year on Saturday 15 December.  There are 2 performances – the first at 1.00pm which will be great, and the second at 4.00pm, when it will be dusk and perhaps even more exciting!

Let us know what you think about Saurus, and all the other shows this year, using the #BellSquareLDN hashtag.  You will surely have some amazing photos to share!

To find out more about Close-Act, have a look at https://closeact.nl

And follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @CloseAct

From our Artistic Director: Come and be tickled pink!

The next Bell Square show is a little bit different.  A group of pink aliens will be beamed down into Hounslow town centre – and they are very curious and sociable and will want to get to know you.  However, these immigrants who arrive on our High Street have some quite different codes and conventions in how they relate to others - so you have been warned!

Who is Ljud?

Ljud is a collective of performers and artists from all over Europe who are based in Ljubljana in Slovenia.  They say that they are a group of idealists who came together in 2006 to change the world.  Their work focuses on different ways of interacting with their audiences, and especially on direct interaction with people in public places.  Most of all, they like to engage people to become part of the performance - rather than just watching it.  So, their shows are like games, rituals or a social event.

What is The Invasion?

Ljud’s show, The Invasion, comes to Hounslow town centre on 1 December.  It is certainly not a typical theatre show.  I would probably call it an ‘interactive theatre experience’.  A group of aliens - strange creatures, painted head to toe in pink – crash land in the High Street.  They are seeing humans for the first time and they want to get to know us, and our planet, better.

Their arrival provokes shock and disbelief at first – but it soon turns out that their mission is a positive one.  They just want to get to know our world and customs and, in return, they offer to share their habits and rituals!

Every alien in the group has their own story, their own way of communicating, and each one challenges the public in different ways.  Their presence and actions generate some really quite ‘electric’ interactions with the public.  And every individual reacts and responds to them differently. 

The performers love it when people react spontaneously and play with them.  Whilst they may not conform to our sense of ‘normal’ interaction, they are pink – so hopefully no-one will take them too seriously!

What’s it really about?

This is a very funny show - but it also gently questions how we live in a multicultural society like London.  It looks at the conventions of behaviour in public places amongst different communities.  And in doing so, it questions our attitudes to others, especially to minority groups.   Although the performers are pink and playful, the show challenges us about how we welcome new people into our community.   Underneath it all, it looks at issues of communication and acceptance of diversity in our towns and cities.

It makes me think about how we all use the High Street.  Some people just come to do shopping and pass through quickly.  Others meet, sit on the benches and chat for hours.  Others meet friends at the coffee shops and use it predominantly as a social space.  The various groups and communities use it in very varied ways.  I love this about Hounslow High Street as you get to meet so many different people that you might not otherwise get to know.

It also makes me think about how we all react to different people in our community – not to mention what new people think of us!  I often wonder what people from other places must think on the train in the mornings, when everyone sits there in absolute silence.  This feels like such a London thing.  Or when they hear the tinkly music of an ice-cream van in the summer – I’m sure this is a (completely bonkers) British thing – where else would you get this?  I also remember when I lived in the US and found it almost unbearable that people didn’t queue (properly!) in shops.

So what will our pink visitors be like?  I’m sure they will open up very unpredictable exchanges with people on the High Street.  Just imagine their fascination with what you are buying at the market!  And those big red things going along Bell Road.  And…. none of us are pink.

A review of this unusual street spectacle (in Fiesta Cultura magazine in Spain) described it as ‘Authentic madness’, which I’m inclined to agree with.  But you decide for yourself….

Ljud will be landing in Hounslow High Street on Saturday, 1 December – at 1.00pm and again at 3.00pm.   Let us know what you think, using #BellSquareLDN

Note:  In some recent audience conversations, you told us that you would like to be able to look up more information about the artists and follow them on social media.  So, I am starting to include their information for you.

Ljud can be found at http://www.ljud.si/slo/?lang=en

And you can follow them on Twitter @KudLjud

From our Artistic Director: Dancing With Diggers!

What makes a dance company perform with a JCB?  And how do you turn a giant machine into a graceful dance partner?  Motionhouse dance company do just that in their new show, EXO, at Bell Square this week, and tell us a little more about it below.

Motionhouse

Motionhouse are one of the UK’s most established dance companies, having produced both indoor and outdoor shows for 30 years.  They have an athletic, high impact style and regularly mix dance with circus, physical theatre and music.  

This was the company that brought BLOCK to Bell Square in 2016 - dancers and circus performers leaping off giant Jenga blocks, high in the air, all performed to a pulsating sound track! 

But Motionhouse are probably most famous for their performances with JCBs – dancing with diggers!  They have been making these unique shows since 2004.

Dancing with diggers

Chatting with their Artistic Director, Kevin Finnan, I asked him what had initially attracted him to the idea of bringing a JCB into a dance piece!  He said, ‘I was very interested in where we are going in the future as a species.  I wanted to look at how, in the future, humans will be integrated with machines.  Everybody thinks about the film ‘Minority Report’ or having your body physically augmented, but I was fascinated by how a massive machine and a human could work as one – and I knew it would be exciting to watch: a dancer, a machine (and a driver).’

This combination of ‘man and machine’ has continued to stimulate his imagination ever since.  ‘Just like with a dancer, with a machine, you have to discover its movement language.  With every show we do, we learn more about what dancers and machines can do together.  Every show moves us on in the language and the relationship between the two.  New exciting possibilities every time!’ 

I remember seeing one of these shows back in 2011.  It was called Waiting Game and the JCB acted as the waiter for a couple at a table in a restaurant.  It was an amazing show with playful interactions between the digger and the dancers, and beautiful moments where the dancers were carried in graceful arcs high in the air.  But in the new show, EXO, created this summer, the dancers and the JCB do seem truly connected – dancers and machine as one.

The shows are equally exciting for the dancers and the JCB drivers.  In an article for The Guardian (20 August 2015), JCB driver Kev Burrow talked passionately about the process and possibilities of the collaboration.  ‘As a JCB operator who has worked with machines for most of my professional life on construction and demolition sites, I thought I knew what they were capable of.  But collaborating with the dance company Motionhouse has opened my eyes.  It’s made me truly understand the beauty of dance – and broadened my JCB operating skills.’

‘The contrast of scale between machine and human, as well as the aerial versus ground-based work, is a beautiful combination.  Turning a machine that is often perceived as oversized and ungainly into a graceful dance partner is inspiring – especially when I see that the audience are genuinely moved; from where I sit in the cab, I can see their reactions and emotions.  The machines become gentle giants that extend their mechanical arms to lift and hold the performers.  This tender relationship is what makes it so poignant.’

Making a new ‘digger show’

When Motionhouse look for a new dancer, they want people who are brave, skilful and willing to try things out.  All of their dancers have added to their skills whilst working with the company – whether it be aerial performance, acrobatics or hanging off the bucket of a JCB digger!  Kevin wants his dancers to be part of the creative team, so they can be fellow artists who create and develop the show with him.  Whilst the idea for a new show always comes from Kevin as the choreographer, he then works closely with the team to develop the idea and create the different elements, including the dance, the costumes and the music.

And this collaboration also includes the JCB driver.  Kev Burrow says, ‘I’ve known Kevin Finnan, the Artistic Director of Motionhouse, since 2005 when he first asked me to be involved in a show.  I was impressed by his eye for detail, his creativity, and his ability to see potential in everyone, including me.  He has always treated me as one of the team.  I’m made to feel like an artist and the company’s kindness and support is extremely touching.  It’s like being part of a family; you gain each other’s trust which is so important in this kind of work.’

I talked to Kevin about how, as Artistic Director, he brought the dancers and the digger together in making the latest show, EXO.  He says, ‘I now have experienced dancers and very experienced drivers who have worked together before, so I allowed the performers to experiment together on material, and then I just fashioned it into what I wanted to say.  The machine shows are a lot of fun, we all enjoy them!  They are so pleasing to such a wide audience – from grandparents to grandchildren and everyone in between.  They are a pleasure to make!’

And audiences all over the world have proven that they are also a pleasure to watch!

Come and see EXO by Motionhouse at Bell Square on Saturday, 3 November.   There are 2 performances, at 1.00pm and again at 3.00pm.

And let us know what you think on social media using the #BellSquareLDN hash tag!

From our Artistic Director: Powerful Dance for Mental Health Month

The phrase that underlines much of the programme at Bell Square is ‘stories that affect us all’.  It’s well known that 1 in 4 people will experience a mental health problem at some point in their lives, so it’s clear that almost all of us will have some experience of mental illness, either ourselves or in someone we know.  And we shouldn’t be afraid to talk about it. 

So Witness This, on 20 October, turns the spotlight on mental health in a moving and emotional portrayal of how loved ones cope when mental health problems take hold of someone close.

Witness This is a powerful and very personal dance piece that tells the story of choreographer Kevin Edward Turner following his journey and struggle with Bipolar. 

Kevin founded Manchester-based Company Chameleon in 2007 with his friend Antony Missen.  He believes his own mental health problems started when he was a teenager but he did not recognise it as depression.  Five years ago, he had a crisis and was sectioned in hospital in Manchester.  It took almost a year to recover his mental and physical health and return to the company.  Devising Witness This was part of that recovery process. 

Kevin says, ‘I’d hit my rock bottom and I had to put all the pieces back together.  What helped me most is my family and friends.’  The show looks at the impact of mental health on individuals and relationships along with the crucial role of support and understanding on the road to recovery.  He says, ‘The work embodies what I witnessed, both real and imaginary, in my ill-health, and also what my loved ones witnessed whilst I was ill.’

 The dancers in the piece create a sense of the world around him, as he struggles between the real and the imagined.  Their world is also filled with many emotions – the company describe the piece as touching, sad, funny and absurd.  But overwhelmingly, the piece is about the love that those close have for him. 

Witness This introduces ways of talking about how mental health problems like this can affect us all.  Kevin says, ‘In making this work, I want to contribute towards the debate and understanding of mental health problems, and challenge preconceived notions of what is still, in some ways, a taboo subject.  I would also like people who are still struggling out there to realise that things can change, and it is possible to find happiness and health again; that it can be managed.  If I can get better, so can anyone.’ 

He also says, ‘I hope the work encourages people to share, talk and have a better understanding of their mental health.’ 

After the first performance of Witness This on Saturday, 20 October, there will be an informal workshop called Share This.  It is a session about self-expression through writing.  Kevin, the choreographer and one of the dancers, will talk about his own experience of making the show.  There will then be a response to the performance from local poet, Quddous Ahmed of Poetical Word, and some top writing tips from blogger, Eva Koegan. 

Witness This will be performed twice on Saturday 20 October, at 1pm and 3.30pm at Bell Square.  It lasts 30 minutes.  No booking required – it’s free.  Just turn up! 

Share This runs 1.30 – 2.15 pm (at Bell Square). It’s free and you can just turn up, but it would really help us if you could book your place here in advance.

This event is part of ThriveLDN Culture, a festival developed by the Mental Health Foundation and the Mayor of London, to enable Londoners to share their experiences and perspectives on mental health.

From our Artistic Director: A Stunning Production of The Winter's Tale

The Winter's Tale is the latest show in 30 years of stunning, large scale outdoor performances from Teatr Biuro Podróży.  Their focus on social and political themes flows dramatically into this powerful production about delusional jealousy and its terrible consequences. 

I saw this show in Coventry last October.  It was part of the Festival of Imagineers, an annual showcase of art, design and engineering which includes a focus on the outdoors.  There was a particular buzz in the air at the time, as Coventry made the final preparations in its bid to be UK City of Culture.  A few weeks later, it was announced as the winner for 2021.

 I'd gone to Coventry that day to see a number of shows in the festival.  But the main attraction for me was to see the first performance of Teatr Biuro Podróży’s new show, The Winter's Tale.  The company has collaborated with this festival for 20 years so if it were not to be in their home town of Poznan in western Poland, Coventry was a fitting location for the premiere of this show.

If you saw their previous show, Silence, at Bell Square in September 2017, you will know that Teatr Biuro Podróży has a highly visual, dramatic style.  And The Winter's Tale is no exception - this is big drama!

If you're not familiar with the story of The Winter's Tale, you can read a summary here.  But essentially, the show tells the story of a jealous King who mistakenly suspects his wife of having an affair with his lifelong friend.  Ignoring everyone around him, he insists she is tried for treason and put to death.  (It does lighten up a bit after this - and actually wraps up with a happy ending!) 

The production is stunning to watch.  Teatr Biuro Podróży's huge stilt walkers lead us through the streets with the Queen's coffin.  Their white make-up and long white costumes lend a ghostly presence, with the startling red ties perhaps suggesting spilt blood.  Led by the stilt walkers, we follow and become part of the funeral procession. 

Similarly, when the Queen is found guilty of treason, we are the crowd at the public trial, shouting out - 'guilty' or 'not guilty'.  As a member of the audience, I felt completely 'in' this performance, absolutely a part of it.  This is really immersive theatre, made all the more potent by experiencing it in the streets at night. 

When I saw the show in Coventry, it lashed with rain throughout the entire performance.  The company carried on, and the audience was too hooked to leave.  Somehow, it just added to the drama. 

I remember getting home from Coventry, still drenched, at 2.00 in the morning.  Looking back recently at the notes I made on the train home that night, the last comment I had written was, 'It would be amazing to have this in Hounslow!'

So, I can't wait for 6 October - and I really hope you enjoy this as much as I did when I first saw it last year! 

The Winter's Tale, by Teatr Biuro Podróży, starts at 8.00pm on Saturday 6 October at Bell Square. 

Let us know what you think about it on social media using the #BellSquareLDN hash tag