Zoetrope Digital Programme Please note: Audio description is available at all venues – talk to the theatre about accessing a headset or you can download a MP3 file which you can play on our phone on your own headphones Audio Description Welcome to this performance of Lea Anderson’s Zoetrope. This is the first time National Dance Company Wales has made work specifically for young people and families. It has been an honour to work with Lea Anderson MBE and the rich collaborative team who have brought Zoetrope to life. Lea is an icon of British contemporary dance, delighting audiences for decades with her distinctive approach to dance-making. We are proud to welcome this work into our repertoire. Zoetrope is just one aspect of the dance we make and share with people across Wales and the world. From dancing with people who live with Parkinson’s to inspiring young people to try dance for themselves, we dance to enable people to express ideas beyond words. If you share a passion for dance, join us here. Transcript of all text in Lea Anderson's Zoetrope Legendary chorographer Lea Anderson MBE has been working with the talented dancers of NDCWales to create their very first show especially for families. Inspired by the Victorian fun fair, circus and early animation, expect to see the small cast of performers leap and cartwheel across the stage dressed as Chimps, lizards and skeletons and move through clever illusions made by light, sound and costumes. What is a Zoetrope? A zoetrope is a pre-film animation device that produce the illusion of motion by displaying a sequence of drawings or photographs showing progressive phases of that motion. Meet the NDCWales Dancers: Length: 50 minutes Dancers: 5-7 Choreographer: Lea Anderson MBE Composer: Steve Blake Designer: Simon Vincenzi Lighting Designer: Marty Langthorne Costume Supervisor / maker: Deryn Tudor Costumer Maker: Danial Thatcher, Elizabeth Catherine Chiu Props Maker: Johanna Lloyd Production Team Technical Team: Geraint Chinnock, David Enos, Harvey Evans, Will Lewis Artistic Director: Matthew William Robinson Executive Producer: Chris Ricketts Rehearsal Director: Victoria Roberts Chief Executive: Paul Kaynes and the rest of the NDCWales team. Lea Anderson MBE Lea Anderson is an independent artistic director and choreographer based in North Devon. Lea is a co-founder and artistic director of The Cholmondeleys and The Featherstonehaughs companies. As well as touring extensively throughout the UK and overseas, the companies are renowned for their pioneering work in non-theatrical spaces and venues. In 2002 Lea was awarded an MBE for her services to dance, and in 2006 was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Arts from Dartington College of Arts. In 2014 Lea was appointed Regents Professor at the University of California, in Los Angeles. Lea’s notable recent work includes: 2022: Shuffle: touring interactive dance work that sees the audience take part as voting club-goers. Part performance, part game 2020: Elvis Legs (Quarantine Mix): a distanced ensemble dance work, funded using Kickstarter and filmed on Zoom during the Covid lockdown. 2019: Los Amores de Marte y Venus: commission for Danza Contemporanea de Cuba, Havana, Cuba. 2019: Laberinto: commission for Compania Danza PUCP Peru 2019: The Alien’s Guide to Dance Gone Wrong, commission for Maiden Voyage, Belfast (2019). Duckie Loves Fanny, a commission by Duckie 2019 More about Zoetrope Legendary chorographer Lea Anderson MBE has been working with the talented dancers from National Dance Company Wales to create their very first show especially for families, which will premiere in Cardiff this December. Lea’s inspiration for Zoetrope started during her residency at the Bill Douglas Film Museum where she became fascinated with pre-film animation devices such as Zoetropes – also known as ‘Wheels of Life’. To bring those ideas to the stage, Lea is working with designer Simon Vincenzi to create a cast of brilliant creatures from different periods in evolutionary history with costumes based on the black and white drawings used in zoetrope machines. The cast changes costume on stage, with outrageous outfits that represent the evolution of man all the way from the first cell, through to lizards and monkey masks to atom-inspired headdresses and eventually to long boney fingers and skeleton heads where that wheel of life ends, before beginning again. "“I don’t speak down to younger people, because they’re just like me. I always make work that I would like to see…… it’s got something in it for everybody… I’ve tried to make something that’s very open and a great deal of fun” Zoetrope is not just a performance: Parents will also have access to fun and varied activity sheets about Zoetrope to make and do at home, whilst schools will be provided with specialised flexible lesson plans incorporating various subjects such as science and art, as well as dance, which is now a part of the National Curriculum for Welsh Schools. "There is going to be so much stuff, interactive with sound, movement and light which is going to be beguiling and surprising. It will be a circus style performance, full on to the audience. I’m trying to entice them to a lifetime of coming to shows and live events." Simon Vincenzi: Designer Simon Vincenzi is a London based theatre director, designer and artist. He has designed for new and experimental theatre, opera and dance throughout Britain and Europe. Companies he has worked with include Impact Theatre, English National Opera, Nottingham Playhouse, the ICA, the National Theatre, Scottish Opera, Rose English, the Royal Court, Duckie as well as The Cholmondeleys & Featherstonehaughs. This is his 10th collaboration with Lea Anderson. Simon also produces his own performance work in large theatres, hidden spaces, "I like to work with experts in their field who bring something that I can’t imagine. Simon is clever enough to bring a new thing to the piece." Lea Anderson Steve Blake: Composer Musical Director/Composer/Musician/Copywriter/Film Editor with Lea Anderson for 35 years. He is a dance accompanist at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music And Dance and sings and plays fiddle and 5-string banjo with his own band THE OLD TIME WASTERS, with ceilidh/square dance band CUT A SHINE and contra dance band OLD TIME CONTRA BAND. He also teaches fiddle/ banjo/uke/guitar/drums. Marty Langthorne - Lighting Designer Marty’s work spans theatre, dance, installation and live art. As Part of the Duckie collective he has designed many of their theatrical club events such as Princess, Gay Shame, Servants Ball and Border Force. As a light artist he creates installations investigating human response to colour in the natural world. If you have 5 minutes we'd love you to take our survey and then Join our Mailing List Thanks for buying a ticket and supporting National Dance Company Wales. 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