Batel, Artistic Director of Neshima Dance Company, will be leading some vibrant rep classes through Ausform initiative and workshops as part of Neshima’s residency at DanceSpace.

The Rep Classes will be fast paced and energetic, focusing on rep from previous works See What You Say, specifically learning the Hebrew phrase. and Beyond Words, specifically learning the Chant section. In these classes you will have the chance to have more insight into Batel’s  movement styles and stimulus for the current tour.

The DanceSpace Residency Workshop will offer dynamic, fast paced and challenging contemporary technique class as well as explore creative choreographic tasks focusing on Batel Magen’s most recent dance theatre piece Beyond Words and new piece Accentuate.

 The dates are:

Sunday 27.05.12 Rep class from 2-3pm at DanceSpace - See What You Say Rep

Sunday 03.06.12 Rep class from 2-3pm at DanceSpace - Beyond Words Rep

Saturday 09.06.12 Dance Workshop from 10-1 at DanceSpace.

Come along, you will sweat, have fun, but most importantly DANCE!

More info about Neshima: neshimadance.com

Neshima Dance Company recently secured Arts Council funding and support from Bristol City Council enabling a forthcoming south west tour,SUBTEXT, alongside Swerve Dance Theatre.   

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Sarah Ruff returns to Ausform, this time with her first full-length show: Conference of Strange. In this psychedelic fusion of live art, Hand drawn animation and stand-up comedy. Sarah Ruff poses the question to the Audience: What is a Human?

Conference of Strange

10th of May

8pm

£6 adv (+booking fee) /£8 on the door

At the Cube Microplex

Set in a world full of modern technological contraptions, where the protagonist is a confused Cyborg. Sarah Ruff uses stand-up comedy, live Art and animation to describe a
personal dilemma. She struggles to understand her ability as a creature that is able to
reproduce. She explores this notion through part recorded, real and hilarious
telephone conversations with her mother who seems to her, to have lived and existed in a forgotten age. She believes that possibly her purpose in life is not to produce a dangerous, pointless and unfamiliar offspring because the world is over populated and full of danger, she is inadequate, and life, when broken down seems meaningless. At the heart of the work is a very human, comical and tragic response to the feeling of being disenfranchised to one’s own self and to the modern world.

Watch the trailer here

Conference of Strange was developed with support from Basement Brighton.

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It has been a week since the Platform and time for a little reflection... and photo sharing!

We had a fantastic time and are really happy to say so did the artists, the Cube always provides a welcome space where audiences are just in the right mood for some new performance. Thank you all who came and received the work with such open hearts.

See the full gallery on Posterous

Images by Sebastian King

Greg Wohead's I like the way you wear your hair got everyone giggling, taking us back to those awqward teenage years of trying to be a grunge kid and counting our rock collections on the window sill. Gregs performance was charming and disarming, simple storytelling with a lo- fi feel, building the stories locations within the theatre through the clever use of a pico projector.

CODA dance's You remind me of someone i once knew brought great energy onto the stage, i found the choreography beautiful in parts, particularly the solo's and moments of syncroncity. The feeling of struggle and disfunction was clear. I would encourage some times of silence, as i found the soundtrack a bit overwhelming, but overall i admired the dancers ability and commitment to a challenging piece.

Sleepwalk Collective tipped us into a sleepy roller coaster ride by taking over our aural sense. Wearing headphones the cacophony of sounds put me into a stooper. I could feel a change in my body as Iara's voice brought me to a point of relaxation. The work through its tact and text brings to light how sensitive we are, how we are flesh that can be controlled by touch, taste, sound, light, how we can be so easily amused. The work in progress is working with this interesting idea and then complicating it by bringing up exploitation and voyeurism in the theatre as Iara's performance flickers between sadness and madness. I felt myself change during this work, I felt vulnerable, I was taken to a few places through sound and encouraged to visualise them, I would have liked a few more of these trips and less teasing out of the actual moment. This work caused a lot of discussion in the bar afterwards, bringing up many more opinions to what i have just outlined. We at Ausform look forward to seeing AMUSEMENTS develop.

The following day at THE PARLOUR SHOP was a pleasant day and we had a good mix of audience from the previous night and passers by from the street. Much tea and cake was consumed, people were healed by Jackie Vitale and Intrigued by Matt Foster's sculpture (that came down much faster than it went up!). This was a new venture for Ausform and one i think we will repeat!

See the full gallery on Posterous

Images by The Ausform Team

Applications for the Autumn Platform are open now and will close early autumn. Selection is made early September. The application form is available at http://ausform.posterous.com/pages/platform

UPCOMING SHOW:

Conference of Strange

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So, the first of our pilot repertory classes commenced on Sunday, and even though the heavens were open and there were even hail stones (...!!) we were joined by lovely dancers and the class was led by the lovely Juliet Joung.

Just to say a massive thank you to Juliet for the first piece of choreography in the bag and to encourage other movers to come and join us on Sunday from 2-3pm! For more information check the Rep class secton of the website. We hope to see you on the dance floor!

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'We had such a lovely day. Thanks to everyone who came down!

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Hello all!

Just a reminder that Ausform Platform is this friday!

Doors will be open from 6pm at The Cube Microplex, with performances starting at 7pm.

Image: Sleepwalk Collective

Heres a reminder of the arousing, vexing, pleasing line-up!

7pm - Greg Wohead, I like the way you wear your hair. £5, 45mins

Autobiographical solo performance including projected illustration.

8.15pm - CODAdance, You remind me of someone i once knew. £4, 20mins

New choreography from emerging dance theatre company.

9pm - Sleepwalk Collective, Amusements, £5, 45mins

Work in progress showing of a new theatre venture from Sleepwalk Collective, Spain-Uk based company.

Combination Ticket - £10

Image: CODAdance

You can buy your ticket in advance at http://ausform.posterous.com/pages/events

Or if your planning on getting your ticket on the door, arrive early to avoid dissapointment.

The Platform will continue on Saturday 21st at The Parlour, College Green, with installation and interactive performance from Jackie Vitale and Matt Foster. 3pm - 7pm.

Image: Jackie Vitale

We look forward to seeing you there!

The Ausform Team.

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In July 2011 our Associate Producer Hannah Sullivan met Sleepwalk Collective whilst she was conducting research into international festivals at various festivals in the UK and abroad, Sleepwalk were beginning their tour of THE SIRENS, THE SIRENS which went on to be very successful. In the A.E Harris Building, Birmingham, amongst the bustle of BEfestival, Sleepwalk pondered over Hannah's questions and produced interesting thoughts on audience reception and the theatre space as a site-specific space. 

As Sleepwalk Collective will be bringing a work-in-progress showing of AMUSEMENTS to the Platform this April, we thought it would be a good idea to resurrect these words, as a chance for you to get 

to know the company a little better. 

Here is an extract from this interview...

An Interview with Sammy Metcalfe and Iara Solano Arana, from Sleepwalk Collective. 9th July 2011.

Hannah Sullivan – 

You say you often find yourself programmed within Performance Art Festivals as well as as Theatre Festivals, how do you find the reactions to your work differ?

Sammy Metcalfe - 

Its problematic at the moment, but may change, in Spain in particular, there are certain festivals that try very strongly to define what it is that the thing is, what the art form is, within both performance art and in theatre you find people who are very defensive, which means that the whole discourse breaks down around is it performance art or theatre which then leads into but it is art? Which is the least interesting question. This stops people approaching work on its own terms. 

I like work that doesn’t ask you to approach it in any other way than what it really is. Its good that people are really passionate about what they like, but we enjoy festivals when you are allowed to be a bit more hybrid. You can see a whole variety of work.

Hannah Sullivan - 

You have been performing a lot at festivals recently, why is this, opposed to theatre venues?

Iara Solano Arana – 

I find it exciting to perform for different audiences, every time, to meet people other people and see different counties. I personally love traveling so its like being able to two things I love at the same time. Its also about the work as well connecting with the audiences, pretty much every piece we have done is like a negotiation between the audience and whoever is on stage, and that is even more interesting in different countries, our work is quite universal it doesn’t have references, that is specific about an identity or place, or even a time, usually its about now, and who we are a human beings, for everyone to have an understanding. So maybe not consciously, but the work that we create is for very broad audiences, I think people from different audiences can connect and get something from it. 

Sammy Metcalfe – 

Getting as wide an audience

as possible is very important, particularly with experimental theatre, which is quite niche, Its easy to fall into thinking that the work just explains itself and it dosen’t matter who comes to see it, which is fine, but its not how we feel about it, for us, we love performing to a big audiences and we love performing to a real mix of people, we hope that our work is accessible, or at least it doesn’t feel like you need specialist knowledge, so part of the reason for touring is try and reach different audiences and also to try and find the best context for the work. Sometimes the place that you are performing sets up a whole load of expectations for the work that is difficult to work with.

Hannah Sullivan – 

Would you intend to move the work back into a theatre rather than these mixed bill festivals?

Iara Solano Arana – 

I think more and more, personally, I am liking to go back to the theatre, the theatre space.

Sammy Metcalfe – 

We still refer to ourselves as a theatre company, in a way a theatre is a site-specific space that we are interested in. We are making work for an audience to sit and take things in, I like a lot of participatory work, but the kind of things we are doing is stuff where people sit there and in the theatre you are in a sense alone, and the experience is very internal. For it to really get to you you need to be in a seat and allow yourself to go along with it. Everyone can be thinking something different, that for me, is the stuff that I love.

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On Friday 20th April at The Cube Microplex we are excited to present the Spring Ausform Performance Platform. Bringing new artists to Bristol to perform experiments in performance. To start of the evening Texan born Greg Wohead will be using autobiographical material and illustration to tell a story of butterflies and teenage passion. 

Greg Wohead on looking back in time, pico projectors and super-geeks!

I’ve just taken ‘I like the way you wear your hair’ back into the studio after a bit of a break, which has been totally refreshing. It’s an autobiographical piece, so it’s a story that I’m very close to, but it’s nice to keep looking at that story in different ways and to keep challenging my familiarity with it. Something that consistently surprises me about working with autobiographical material is how much it can change and grow. Like any memory, you look back at a life event through the filter of who you are at the present moment, so each time I perform ‘I like the way you wear your hair’, I have to visit the piece with the freshness of the present. It’s a constant back and forth negotiation with the 16-year-old me and the (now) 29-year-old me, which I feel is really the heart of the piece. Hopefully in some small way it will let each person in the audience visit his or her teenage self.

The other thing that has been exciting for me is playing with the pico projector. I use the projector in a deliberately lo-fi way, which feels right for the piece, but it’s exciting for me to communicate a story with its help. It allows me to overlay traces of memory onto the space and to invite the audience into the story in a way that lets the piece adapt to the physical architecture of the space.

I was a total super-geek when I was 16 (baby fat, glasses and dyed orange hair didn’t do me any favours), and the show is about me pursuing a girl I liked (and I mean liked), so revisiting that memory and sharing the details with a roomful of people is always good for a few laughs, gasps and cringes.

I’ve also been taking myself back to 1998 in Mesquite, Texas, which has involved listening to a lot of Paula Cole, Savage Garden and Da Brat.

I’m very much looking forward to sharing ‘I like the way you wear your hair’ later this month.

Greg's show is at our platform on the Fri 20th of April at the Cube at 7pm.

tickets available here http://ausform.posterous.com/pages/events

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Here is the trailer we tweeted a while back from the first scratch of AMUSEMENTS the new show from Sleepwalk Collective which is coming to Ausform's Platform in about two weeks...

We are mega-excited about this, not only because we love the Sleepwalkers, but because this is the first outing of the show in the UK and it's the first time we host a head-phones piece. So, you will be watching the stage, but you will wear headphones for sound.

Formed in London in 2006, the company is currently based in Vitoria-Gasteiz in the Spanish
Basque Country. As well as performing across Spain and the UK, we have also toured work to
France, Portugal, Italy and The Netherlands.

AMUSEMENTS/EL ENTRETENIMIENTO Trailer from Sleepwalk Collective on Vimeo.

About the show:

Like some backroom carnival ride/lo-fi sci-fi experimental pleasure-machine, AMUSEMENTS is
an insolent, tempestuous new solo piece for theatres. Intensely sensorial, with a complex blur of
live and pre-recorded text and music experienced through wireless headphones, the
performance rushes recklessly towards the limits of over-stimulation, with an open heart and a
head full of trouble.

"You are an audience. You are a machine for watching. Remember everything..."

In development 2011-12, Sleepwalk Collectives 4th full-length work and follow-up to the award-
winning AS THE FLAMES ROSE WE DANCED TO THE SIRENS, THE SIRENS take two key
elements from that piece - the minimal staging and the hypnotic layering of voice and music -
and carries them both to their logical extremes. Again a solo for iara Solano Arana, the
performance is a rich and emersive experience created for theatre spaces, and a plunge
into the depths of physical pleasure.

CREATED BY Sleepwalk Collective
PERFORMED BY iara Solano Arana
DIRECTED BY Sammy Metcalfe

ORIGINAL MUSIC BY Sleepwalk Collective

LANGUAGE English or Spanish
DURATION 45 minutes (TBC)

The making of the show has been supported by BE Festival, Factoria de Fuegos and BE Festival.

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This glum and rainy Tuesday evening whilst planning the platform and all brilliant shenanigans we thought seeing as it is Easter and all, we'd make it a bit eggy.

so here's a big happy easter from us!

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On Saturday the 21st April, The Parlour on College Green will be taken over by Matt Foster and Jackie Vitale. Both artists work in installation but with different materials and purposes. Matt will be building his pavilion whist Jackie will be making love potions. It will be an interaction and playful day, in which you can come and explore the artists work, both of which are fresh ideas in their first realisation!

a little more about... JACKIE VITALE

I come from a long line of women healers. When someone in town was sick, they found my great-great aunt, and then my grandmother, and now they find me. Healing is about intuition and compassion. But it’s also about feeling secure that you’ve got the power and the know-how to fight off whatever sickness you may meet with. That confidence was instilled in me young by the women who trained me, and I thank them for that.

The you that is unwell spends too much time laying in bed when the sun is shining.

The you that is unwell is longing for that cute neighbor but refuses to make eye contact on the stairs.

The you that is unwell repeats embarrassing moments from your past over and over again in your head.

The you that is unwell tries to take up as little room as possible on the tube so that the man sitting next to you can spread his legs comfortably.

The you that is unwell is the you that has lost power.

Where has that power gone? And how do you find it again?

By taking action. You find it by being bold.

The more i do my work, the more I wonder why that sort of power—that sense that one is an agent of change—isn’t instilled in everyone. Why shouldn’t we be in charge of our own wellbeing? When did we give up that control, and to whom did we give it? How do we place our wellness back into our own hands? How do we become brave enough to see what’s wrong and try and do something to change it?

These are some questions I ask myself.

I’m not sure I’d call the work that I do performance, but I thank the folks at Ausform kindly for bringing me to Bristol. I’m excited to see what the people of this fine city  can bring to my little exploration of agency and wellness.

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On Saturday the 21st April, The Parlour on College Green will be taken over by Matt Foster and Jackie Vitale. Both artists work in installation but with different materials and purposes. Matt will be building his pavilion whist Jackie will be making love potions. It will be an interaction and playful day, in which you can come and explore the artists work, both of which are fresh ideas in their first realisation!

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We are really happy that our associate artist Isabelle Cressy is part of Beyond by Karla Shacklock.

Beyond:  Physical raw performance, cutting-edge design, live sound - an extraordinary immersive event

Meet at the Bristol Old Vic and be taken out on a journey through dark shuttered corridors, into a world which goes Beyond the Looking Glass. Allow yourself to become absorbed in an exhilarating performance event created by award winning Choreographer and Director, Karla Shacklock.

Beyond. A world where experiences are created. 

Produced by Theatre Bristol, Bristol Old Vic and Circomedia, co-commissioned by Bristol City Council and supported by Arts Council England.

Take a look at the beautiful trailer:

Karla Shacklock presents BEYOND from Farrows Creative on Vimeo.

Buy tickets for Beyond here

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Our Ausform Platform artists are busy bee's this week! Both Greg Wohead and CODA dance have upcoming shows in London Town. 

So we would like to shout about them!

GREG WOHEAD at Sprint Festival, Camden Peoples Theatre

Starting Blocks, 25th March

From Greg's Blog.... www.gregwohead.com

For the past few weeks I’ve been working on a new performance idea as part of Starting Blocks with Camden People’s Theatre, which culminates in a work-in-progress showing as part of Sprint Festival on Sunday 25th March, 7pm. Come if you fancy it. Get your tickets here for a fiver.

As a work-in-progress night, expect roughness and experimentation with a few exciting artists. And get booking for Sprint—lots of great work on.

My Feet Are Killing Me

Greg has worn women’s clothes four times; two parties, one special occasion and once for fun. In this performance, he shares these true stories (and the accompanying outfits) in an exploration of what it means for a straight Texan male to cross-dress. Contains dancing, high heels and short shorts.

@gregwohead

CODA dance at PLATFORM A.D.

CODA dance are performing at The Actors Church, Covent Garden as part of A.D. Platform on the 28th/29th and 30th March

Platform A.D is a three night choreographic platform presenting dance from five dramatically different dance companies that showcases the best in new UK choreographic talent and performance.

For more information on this platform visit http://www.antiquedances.co.uk/page11.html

@codadance

GREG WOHEAD will be showing I like the way you wear your hair at Ausform Platform of Performance - 7pm, 20th April, The Cube Microplex.

CODA dance will be performing You remind me of someone i once knew at Ausform Platform of Performance - 8.15pm, 20th April, The Cube Microplex.

See the full gallery on Posterous

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Our Associate Producer Hannah Sullivan has been writing feature articles for Total Theatre and in this Spring's edition page 32 see's her sounding the horn for those enterprising regional venues programming contemporary theatre and performance in 'Black Holes and Shining Lights'.

Whilst based at Parabola Arts Centre, Hannah researched the topic of contemporary performance in regional venues by talking to inspiring producers from companies and venues such as China Plate, Farnham Maltings, ARC, Emerge and Beaford Arts.

It makes for an interesting read regarding the making, producing and receiving of innovative work in current times.

http://totaltheatrereview.com/magazine

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Ausform are big fans of Sideshow Circus and are delighted to be featured in the Circus News section.

link to original content: http://sideshow-circusmagazine.com/map/circusnews/ausform-launches-forge-associate-artists-jonathan-priest-isabelle-cressy

By John Ellingsworth on 21 March 2012 in Funding & Industry

The multiform Bristol organisation Ausform, a creative producing outfit that organises a biannual performance platform alongside other projects/events to support artistic development and research, has announced that it will be taking on two Associate Artists under the new scheme Ausform: FORGE. For the next year, the supported artists will be Jonathan Priest, a circus artist and corde lisse specialist who's currently Joint Head of Aerial at Circomedia in Bristol and a teacher at DOCH in Stockholm, and Isabelle Cressy, a contemporary dance artist and choreographer who formerly trained as a gymnast and aerialist.

Priest, who works as a soloist as well as with has his own company Fan-atticks (founded with Anja Duchko-Zuber) and other directors, is currently working on the solo piece Knots, based around the text of the same name by the psychiatrist R.D. Laing. Cressy, who works under the company name PINCH, will be focusing on the intersection between contemporary dance choreography and aerial practice. Ausform's artistic director Lina B. Frank says: 'Jonathan and Isabelle are at very different stages of their careers, but what's so special about them is what they have in common: they both have a wonderful sense of voice. They also both have a history in circus and strong, idiosyncratic movement languages. They create intelligent and conceptual performances driven by the desire to explore ways to marry ideas and narratives with movement – and it's these combinations that I find most exciting.'

Ausform, which started in September 2009 as a performance platform, is now 'an ideas-lead organisation which grows organically', and Lina explains this first year of FORGE is a pilot to test out different ways of working. It will involve 'R&D periods that integrate participatory projects, mentoring, collaboration, producing support, and “bodystorming” sessions to connect to the wider performing community'. There will be a number of work-in-progress showings throughout the year – some by invitation, some public. Dates are to be confirmed, but if you're interested in hearing more or attending then e-mail lina@ausform.co.uk

Ausform: FORGE is focused on supporting contemporary circus and dance, but the organisation also runs other projects to develop experimental performance and live art. The next Ausform Platform will be 20 & 21 April 2012 at Bristol's Cube Microplex (on the 20th) and the Parlour on College Green (on the 21st), with work from Greg Wohead, CODA Dance, Sleepwalk Collective, Jackie Vitale, and Matt Foster.

www.ausform.co.uk / www.twitter.com/ausform

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The team at Ausform are excited to announce...

The team at Ausform are excited to announce

Repertory Dance Classes
at DanceSpace, Bristol
Time: Sundays 12.30-1.30pm
Starting 22nd of April and run for the summer term!

We are looking for practitioners to leading these sessions. To teach inspiring choreography at a fast pace to participants from different disciplines and backgrounds. The dance floor is your oyster!  We look forward to hearing your suggestions of what you would like to do, inspired by national and international choreographers work.

Taking part in the classes will be a brilliant opportunity to give your brain a workout, learn new material and meet other dancers on a chilled out Sunday.

If you’re interested in leading an Ausform Repertory Class, please send us a short description (250 words max) or a link to the choreography online to parkey@ausform.co.uk

if you would like to know more info, such as payment details please contact parkey@ausform.co.uk.

Ausform is a company that promotes experiments in theatre and performance. We run a performance platform twice yearly, we present visiting companies and host events/parties throughout the year.

Image: Tilly Webber in 'Flog' by Isabelle Cressy, photo by John Railton

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The beginning of this exciting year that is 2012 has seen a lot of fireworks in terms of brain capacity from the Ausform Team.

Our twice yearly platform is next month, we have chosen two Associate Artist we will be working with for 2012/2013, we are starting a collaboration with Drawn in Bristol to create something truly special this summer, the wonderful Sarah Ruff will be returning to Bristol and Ausform as we bring Patternfight's performance the Conference of Strange in May and we have a new team member: Helen Parke - better known as Parkey. Parkey is a maker and creator on the ground and in the treetops and in the space between! Along with creating contemporary she likes to write and knit and always has a spoon full of honey in her tea. She's our new Production Assistant and will be doing everything from the earth to the moon!

And as if that wasn't enough we will be producing a performative screen event at Supernatural Festival in August. Though first out this spring is the platform and our new Ausform Repertory Classes held at DanceSpace Bristol.

The Platform is the 20th and 21st of April - with different work each day.

The 20th we'll see a jam-packed evening at the Cube (in our usual fashion) where you will meet Texas born Greg Wohead, London based up and coming CODA Dance. CODA Dance will also be leading the first rep class for us at DanceSpace on Sunday the 22nd of April from 12.30-1.30pm. And one of our all time favourites the Sleepwalk Collective (Spain/UK) will be bringing a limited capacity work in progress of their newest show.
The 21st we will be resident all day at the shop in the Parlour on Park Street where you will be able to visit Jackie Vitale's Apothecary, see the wonderful installations by Matt Foster along with some small surprises.
More on this after the weekend, when we will also release tickets.

We are opening an Associate Artist scheme where we will work with 2 artists for a year to develop their own work. These two artists are Jonathan Priest and Isabelle Cressy. You can read more about how exciting they are here. http://ausform.posterous.com/pages/associate-artists

Watch this space!

If you would like to run one or know more about the Ausform Rep Classes register interest by emailing parkey@ausform.co.uk
though will be posting more info about this in the next couple of weeks.

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