5 SOLDIERS – The Body is the Frontline

A New Commission by choreographer Rosie Kay, co-commissioned by International Dance Festival Birmingham and Warwick Arts Centre and supported by DanceXchange.  Rosie Kay is Associate Artist of DanceXchange.

5 SOLDIERS is a timely, controversial, thought provoking and moving exploration of war in modern times. A dance theatre work with four male and one female dancers, it looks at how the human body is essential to, and used in, warfare. 5 SOLDIERS explores the physical training that prepares you for war, as well as the possible effects on the body, and the injury caused by warfare.

Featuring Kay’s trademark intense physicality and athleticism, 5 SOLDIERS weaves a story of physical transformation, helping us understand how soldiers are made and how war affects them.

Rosie Kay Dance Company ‘Five Soldiers’ from Article19 on Vimeo.

5 SOLDIERS is a timely, controversial, thought provoking and moving exploration of war in modern times. A dance theatre work with four male and one female dancers, it looks at how the human body is essential to, and used in, warfare. 5 SOLDIERS explores the physical training that prepares you for war, as well as the possible effects on the body, and the injury caused by warfare.

Featuring Kay’s trademark intense physicality and athleticism, 5 SOLDIERS weaves a story of physical transformation, helping us understand how soldiers are made and how war affects them.

Rosie Kay on BBC Radio 4′s Today Programme, 23rd April 2010

http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_8639000/8639412.stm

Recent Press Quotes

“This astonishing work that takes no stand on war except to present it as it is now for the soldier. Rosie Kay’s dancers get right inside the skins, the minds, the very souls of the five as they progress from the rigours of training to the breath-holding intensity of the frontline. It’s highly charged and it screams authenticity… Warfare here isn’t about weapons and armour, but about the physicality and dexterity of the human body, the punishment it can give and the abuse it can take… The final scene leaves you shocked and sobered, with a new humility and a fresh understanding of what gallantry really means. Awesome.”  THE STAGE

“Rosie Kay’s new work is an honourable attempt to understand the effects of war on the bodies of soldiers. Kay so wants us to identify with what her five-strong cast is experiencing that she rubs our faces in it…  As the lone female Tilly Webber strips off her combat gear and, after powdering bare limbs, oozes over the stage oblivious to the wolfish men assisting her… The most revealing scene is a muscular yet tender duet that underscores the ambiguous bonding that can occur in the theatre of war.” THE TIMES

5 SOLDIERS is a unique collaboration between award winning choreographer Rosie Kay, visual artist David Cotterrell and theatre director Walter Meierjohann. It follows an intense period of research, where Rosie learnt battle training with The 4th Battalion The Rifles and David spent time in Helmand Province with the Joint Forces Medical Group. The piece has an original sound score by Annie Mahtani and dramaturgy by Petra Tauscher.

“We are surrounded by the images of Britain at war; the war in Iraq, the war in Afghanistan. Can we see beyond the stereotypical soldier and try to understand their lives? How can you possibly put yourself and your body at such risk as part of your job?

I wanted to look at how the physicality of a soldier’s job defines them –like a dancer, the soldier is drilled, trained, their responses becoming automatic, but can anything prepare you for the realities of war? It is young soldiers and their bodies that are the ultimate weapon in war – their strength and weaknesses may win or lose a battle, their ability to harm or injure others is key to victory. While war is surrounded with weaponry, uniforms, history and ceremony, the real business is human, dirty, messy, painful and happening right now.” Rosie Kay

“I rate Rosie Kay as one of the brightest and most enterprising young choreographers currently at work in the UK. Her choreography is definitely rooted in the body, but it also conveys a sharp, sound sense of the theatrical along with a conceptual savvy.” Donald Hutera, freelance writer for The Times

BBC News 29th January 2010

The dancers are Tilly Webber, Tomasz Moskal, Chris Vann, Michael Spenceley and Chris Linda. The research and development phase beings at Warwick Arts Centre in December 2009 and the work will move to DanceXchange Studios in January. 5 SOLDIERS will be presented as a ‘work in progress’ at British Dance Edition, and then premiere at the 2nd International Dance Festival Birmingham on the 23rd and 24th April before touring nationally.

“Rosie Kay’s new work pulls no punches. While there is laughter there is also incredible pain and realisation that more than simply innocence can be left on the battlefield… Kay’s choreography is strong in physicality with much of the dance replicating the fighting itself, blurring the edges of identity.” BIRMINGHAM POST

“The contemporary dance world has had little to say so far on the subject of war, which makes Rosie Kay’s stark and brilliantly uncompromising 5 Soldiers, The Body is the Front Line all the more remarkable… In 5 Soldiers, Kay poignantly explores the physical and emotional effects of warfare, inviting us to consider not only the concept and tragedy of war, but the individuals involved… For all the bleakness and violence associated with war, Kay is careful not to make this the sole focal point. We are also offered glimpses into the laborious periods of boredom between action, alongside the humour and camaraderie that provide comfort in such a surreal environment… It is difficult not to be utterly draw-in by the palpable intensity the dancers so aptly embody, particularly in the final scene… Perhaps what is most commendable about Kay’s work is that it has successfully brought together the polarised worlds of the military and dance, striving to remind us that ultimately, war is about the people involved, not the politics.” Fiona Campbell London Dance.com

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Rosie Kay Dance Company produces striking dance work with intelligent and thoughful content and athletic physicality. One of the more enterprising dance companies in the UK (The Times), Rosie Kay Dance Company’s work marries explosive drama with technical precision (Scotland on Sunday)

Recent Quotes

‘Outstanding Partnership of the Year’ chosen by Mary Brennan in Dance Europe’s Critics Choice of the Year. Outstanding Partnership: Rosie Kay and Morgan Cloud in the feindishly challenging Double Points:K- Kay’s own classical take on the synchronicities of an early Emio Greco | PC work, Double Points:Two”

Supernova and Double Points: K

Double Points: K is a duet choreographed by Rosie Kay in a unique collaboration with Emio Greco | PC. Taking inspiration from the use of breath and extreme physicality, Rosie Kay and Morgan Cloud dance to the edge, in this work of pure dance. Music contrasts Bach concerto in A minor with Dub Step, Electro and an original composed score.

Supernova is a work of beauty and fragility as five female dancers translate concepts of the universe and the internal. Music combines a commissioned score by Annie Mahtani and Vivaldi’s Grosse Concerto in D minor. See touring works for more details.

The Wild Party

The Wild Party was a smash hit at Edinburgh Festival 06 and toured between 2007 and 2008 in the UK, including Belfast Festival, Lichfield Festival, Warwick Arts Centre and The Place, London. Named as the Cultural Highlight of The Year by The Sunday Herald. See reviews on the right for more information. The Wild Party was based on the 1928 poem of the same name and combined the talents of director/ choreographer Rosie Kay with dramaturg Ben Payne and composer Hans Koller.

Asylum and Other Stories

Asylum and Other Stories toured the UK in 2005-2007. It received outstanding reviews and was presented as part of Dance Umbrella 2007 at the South Bank Centre. Asylum was based on intensive research with refugees and asylum seekers and showed dance can be political and moving.