KiN: Connected – new online initiative to connect artists and audiences through dance.

National Dance Company Wales (NDCWales) will be launching its new online programme, KiN: Connected, on Thursday 16 April across its website and social media channels as part of the Company’s desire to create a community for dance online with audiences, participants and the sector.

At this critical time, how we tell stories through dance is fundamentally important.  KiN: Connected will be an online programme which will include some of the most popular, and previously unshown works, as well as running dance classes for adults and children, and the launch of a new commissioning opportunity to support the sector and freelance artists at this time of creative need.

National Dance Company Wales makes brilliant dance with and for all kinds of people in all kinds of places, touring across Wales, the UK and Internationally.  With innovation and imagination, NDCWales wants to widen the spectrum of what dance can be so that more people can make, watch, participate in and learn about dance in Wales and across the world.
 

KiN: Connected is part of the Company’s digital ambition to support artists outside of the studio as well as reach different communities. Over the last 12 months NDCWales has been exploring new ways of using digital as part of their work, such as dancers working remotely with international artists; developing ideas as part of the experimental platform, Laboratori, as well as being a part of the BBC Dance Passion digital day.  In response to Covid-19, NDCWales has accelerated the launch of its digital programme to support and engage artists and audiences in self isolation, and help connect communities through creative movement.

KiN: Connected consists of 4 basic strands: Watch Together, Dance Together, Create Together and Learn Together, with content in each strand for Adults, Children and Professional or training dancers.

KiN: Connected launches on Thursday (16 April) with a first ever live streamed performance of all 8 company dancers and 2 apprentice dancers in isolation from their own homes, coming together to give a re-worked version of Alexandra Waierstall’s 2067: Time and Time and Time, which was originally created with the company for its Spring 2020 tour. This first social distancing live dance piece will be performed via YouTube on Thursday 16 April at 2pm.

On Thursday (23 April) there will be a short dance film inspired by Ed Myhill’s Why Are People Clapping!? in response to the weekly ‘Clap for Carers’ as a thank you to the NHS and Key Workers on Thursday evening which will be shared online after the national clap at 8pm.

NDCWales is also working in partnership with BBC Culture in Quarantine and BBC Cymru Wales to help reach those self- isolating over the next few weeks. The first event will be broadcast on BBC iplayer on Friday 17 April, 11am when NDCWales’ daily class will be shared across Wales and the UK. This week a ballet class will be taught to the company dancers in isolation, and viewers can also join in from home.  In the next few weeks the Company will also be launching its new initiative, Progression Routes Wales, which will be a new commission for freelancers.

NDCWales is known for its open-door access to its studios during classes and rehearsals and has an ethos of making dance as accessible as possible. The online programme is a progression of some of the existing programme, and feedback from audiences and artists online on what they would like to see. In their first week of isolation Company dancers honed their creative skills by creating, composing and editing a short film “Dancing Together, Apart” as part of Wales Arts Review’s #Digithon, which helped raise over £6500 for Freelance artists who lost work during the lockdown.

Chief Executive, Paul Kaynes said: “Dancers communicate in a way that is important for the world right now – by telling stories through visual movement, fusing fitness with creativity. We’re inviting people to join us by watching and dancing themselves: dance is one of the brilliant ways we can feed our artistic sides, and in the process keep fit in our living rooms.”

Full details of the KiN: Connected can be found at ndcwales.co.uk and on social media channels over the next week @NDCWales