Choreographers and Composers Lab

Phoenix Dance Theatre hosted its first Choreographers and Composers Lab between the 6th – 17th July 2015. The lab took place in the company’s new purpose-built dance venue, which is also shared with Northern Ballet and a stones throw from Yorkshire Dance in Leeds.

Led by Phoenix Dance Theatre’s Artistic Director & Choreographer Sharon Watson and Independent Music Director & Composer Ken Hesketh, the two-week intensive focused on collaborative approaches to creating work and has been designed as a professional development opportunity for both choreographers and composers. Participants took part in daily creative periods, respond to creative tasks, create and develop new choreographic / composition practices, and through workshops and lectures engage with visiting artists and other guest professionals. The spirit of the course was to provide a secure structure while remaining flexible and responsive to the needs of participants.We were a multinational crowd of 24 artists; four choreographers, four composers, four musicians and twelve dancers.

Claire had a chance to work closely with several composers, and developed the work in progress "is there a mistake around nowadays that's as big as the idea of the earth being flat" in collaboration with Nichola Scrutton. For more video documentation of the Lab, visit the watch page!