Friday, 31 October 2014

Delhi

The British Council is delighted to present 'The Black Album' by Avant Garde Dance as part of Impulse 2, the season of the best of contemporary dance from the UK, and The Park’s New Festival 2014. 

Avant Garde Dance is a London-based company pushing the boundaries of hip-hop and contemporary dance. They tour India from 31 October to 19 November 2014 and perform in Kolkata, Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai. The company also has a range of activities planned with dance organisations in India and young people across the country, including workshops, master classes and networking events.

The dynamic performances of the Avant Garde Dance company have musicality at their core and explore a myriad of styles, themes and media. Their mantra 'Innovate Never Replicate' is evident throughout their portfolio of work, and led by Artistic Director Tony Adigun they are committed to producing artistic work that is entertaining and challenging.

Avant Garde Dance tour will perform in Delhi on Thursday, 14 November 2014 at Shri Ram Centrem Mandi House at 7.00 pm. The partners for the tour are The Park Hotels and Prakriti Foundation. Passes are available at the British Council, 17 Kasturba Gandhi Marg, New Delhi. 

Rob Lynes, Director, British Council India said: “Over the past three months the British Council with its partners have been delighted to present Impulse 2, the new season of the best of contemporary dance from the UK. Built around performances by leading UK dance companies —Hofesh Shechter Company, Scottish Dance Theatre and now Avant Garde Dance. Our aim is to help showcase exciting new work in the arts, facilitate collaborations, promote arts education, encourage cultural skills development and convene valuable forums for artists, directors, producers, festival organisers and arts managers from India and the UK to engage in mutually beneficial projects.”

The Black Album is a triple-bill in which three distinctly different hip hop choreographies are woven together like a concept album. In Omega (25 minutes) five dancers and five columns of light improvise and respond to experimental DJs Jazzanova. Classical Break (20 minutes) presents a humorous and cheeky partnership between breakdance and the music of Beethoven, Mozart and Prokofiev. The language of breaking and the detailed choreography accentuate the orchestral score resulting in a number of magical musical moments. Dark Matter (20 minutes) is abstract and visually captivating, and unleashes the inner darkness of eight powerful dancers. Prowling the perimeter of the stage and playing amongst the shadows, the dancers make you see the music you cannot hear.

Avant Garde Dance tour, India schedule:

  • Friday 31 October 2014, 19:00, Kala Mandir, Kolkata
  • Thursday 6 November 2014, 19:00, Tata Theatre, NCPA, Mumbai
  • Monday 10 November, 19:00, The Shri Ram Centre, Delhi
  • Wednesday 12 November, 19:00, Shilpakala Vedika, Hyderabad
  • Friday 14 November, 19:00, Chowdiah Hall, Bangalore 
  • Tuesday 18 November, 19:00, Museum Theatre, Chennai

Notes to Editor

About Impulse

Impulse Season 2 is a three-month long celebration of UK dance and is part of the British Council’s Re-Imagine Arts initiative. It features three leading dance companies from the UK during September, October and November 2014. Scottish Dance Theatre returns to India after Impulse Season 1, while Hofesh Shechter Dance Company and Avant Garde Dance make their debut in India.

In addition to the performances scheduled across major theatres in six cities, the company dancers and musicians are looking forward to participating in a range of outreach activities — workshops, lecdems, masterclasses and collaborative sessions — with practitioners and students across the country.

Re-Imagine Arts is a five-year initiative that was launched in 2013 to develop stronger cultural ties between India and the UK with an objective of showcasing, providing Arts education, enhancing skills development, fostering research and insight, and bringing about creative collaborations in various art forms. The initiative covers all the art forms including music, dance, theatre, film, literature, design, and the visual arts.

In 2012, Impulse included successful showings and a gamut of educational outreach projects with Akram Khan Company, Scottish Dance Theatre, Aakash Odedra Company, Protein, and Champloo in seven cities over eight months. 

About the British Council

The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for educational opportunities and cultural relations. We work in over 100 countries worldwide to build engagement and trust for the UK through the exchange of knowledge and ideas between people. We work in the arts, education, science, sport and governance and last year we reached over 128 million people. 

The British Council is recognised across India for its network of 9 libraries and cultural centres. We offer a range of specialised projects in arts, education, exams, English language and society to audiences across India and more than 100,000 members. We also provide access to English language training and learning for both students and teachers, offer UK qualifications in India and enable opportunities to study in the UK.
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