In celebration of the success of Retina Springs 2007, Retina is delivering a larger scale Springs 08 in collaboration with local organisations Lakeside Arts Centre, College Street and Dance4 funded by Arts Council England.

Retina will lead this dance festival in Nottingham over the Easter holiday for anyone over age 11, amateur and professional. Over the 8 days the participants will work in groups with Retina Dance Company to create a public performance for the final Friday evening at Sandfield Theatre, Nottingham on March 28th 2008. Divided in age and experience groups, the residency will be taught in different venues across Nottingham by Retina's exceptional team of dancers and artistic director/choreographer Filip Van Huffel.

An additional element to this years Springs 08 is a Choreographic Laboratory based at Dance4. As a professional development opportunity the Lab will offer time and space for two choreographers to develop their own work. Daily technique class will be followed by choreographic tasks, with the aim to create a piece of work to be shown in the culminating performance. The Lab will be open to two choreographers and eight dancers.

Both the residency and Lab provide the opportunity to develop personal skills, enjoy moving and perform!

Fee: £50
Places are limited

To apply download an application form here and return to admin@retinadance.com.

Springs residency application form in MS Word
Springs residency application form as pdf
Choreographic Laboratory application form in MS Word
Choreographic Laboratory application form as pdf

So to get you motivated for 2008, Retina has a participatory project for you to come and join us and dance….

RAUW www.rauwdans.be. From 4 to 9 February 2008, RAUW is a participatory project for anyone over age 14 up to professional dancer, based at ccBe in Antwerp, Belgium organised with Danspunt. A week intensive project with choreographer Filip Van Huffel and the Retina dancers, material will be created for a site specific performance in the whole building of ccBe, culminating on the stage.

Additionally there are three places available for placement students to assist the Retina company dancers and learn about the choreographic process. These places are only available to Dutch-English bilingual students.

RAUW
ccBe, Antwerp, Belgium
4 to 9 February 2008
Cost: 25 euro
There will be several groups working independently, depending on age and experience, so when registering please tick if you are available for the full time group from 10-4.30 each day or if you can only do the morning or evening sessions.

Places are limited, so please complete an application form as soon as possible.
Download an application form here

Application form in MS Word in Dutch
Application form in MS Word in English
Stagiair application form in MS Word in Dutch

Application form as pdf in Dutch
Application form as pdf in English
Stagiair application form as pdf in Dutch

As well as performing Retina is teaching workshops in schools and centres around each venue, giving participants a chance to work with the company to get an insiders view of the work, working with the same choreographic devices used to make the performances. If you are interested in booking one of these workshops then contact us to find a suitable date.

Keep an eye on Retina´s website calendar to see where we are performing so that you can catch a show near you.

5 October – The Byre Theatre, St. Andrews, Scotland – BOY

6 October - The Byre Theatre, St. Andrews, Scotland – BODY

9 October – Alsager Arts Centre - BODY

19 October – Stadsschouwburg Sint Niklaas, Belgium - BODY

24 October – Rose Theatre, Ormskirk - BODY

30 October – Olivier Theatre, Bedales - BOY

31 October – Roehampton University, London - BODY

7 November – Lincoln Drill Hall - BODY

13 November – Exeter Phoenix - BODY

Filip is also teaching a summer school in Belgium for Terpsichore in Bornem. For anyone from age 15 to advanced level/professional this summer school has 5 international teachers and continues Terpsichore’s tradition of providing high level summer workshops. For more info and registration please visit Terpsichore.

This is not a body takes its inspiration from surrealism. Six exceptional dancers, intricate choreography, projected visual art, contemporary classical music and percussion combine to form an exhilarating work that has astounded audiences at its Belgian and UK premieres.

PAGE1 - The boy who never grows old explores the changing world of dancers as they leave the cushion of childhood to enter a new world of decisions and responsibilities. Fast paced, light-hearted, bizarre solos and breathtaking partner-work make this work fun and accessible. The performance is followed by an enlightening and entertaining lecture demonstration where the audience get to choreograph on the company.

Retina, This is not a body and The boy who never grows old are supported by Arts Council England

Keep in touch with Retina´s website calendar for future performances.

Retina Springs was also a huge success, dancers from age 13 to 53 worked in three groups with the Retina company dancers to create a performance piece that was performed at the Sandfield Theatre. The two week long residency gave the participants an opportunity to learn repertory, improvise and create group work that Filip moulded into a performance with live music by local composer Matt Marks. All involved had a great time and are looking forward to next years Retina Springs!

So, the summer period has begun with two choreographic commissions for Filip. At the moment he is in Dundee making a work for the final year students at the Scottish School of Contemporary Dance, pictured above. Then it’s off to Hamburg to create a work for 5 young professional dancers as part of DanceKiosk for an August premiere.

Then there are a few summer schools in both Nottingham and Belgium before the whole company reconvenes in September ready for their autumn and spring tour of This is not a body and The boy who never grows old. The tour schedule will be on the event calendar soon, so check where we are performing near you.

If you are interested in booking a performance or workshop or want to join our mailing list for information about upcoming opportunities then go through to the contact page.

Natalie - So first up, what does collaboration mean for you in relation to this project?
Filip - Well for me the collaboration is with Axelle, Brian and Dave but also with six dancers and a massive screen, so there’s a lot of people and things to consider, its not just about my own thoughts, its also about everybody else’s thoughts and trying to fit them into the concept that I am working from.
Axelle - Filip, your basic idea and concept pushed me in a certain direction and after that I had the feeling that I could decide a lot for myself to create something, before coming together again.
Brian - I suppose for me its been over a longer period with Filip, and also responding to the music from Dave and Axelle, so for me its been a relationship with all the different people in a way.
Dave - For me collaboration is more about everyone owning the chaos all at once so that you can share the creative bone. You can bring your unfinished ideas to other people who can then make them into something else. That’s the great excitement of it because you don’t just finish something and hand it over, it’s a constant passing around of the idea and seeing what happens to it.

Only 2 weeks to go before Retina Springs! If you haven’t registered to be a part of this intensive dance residency then fill out the application form online now! If you like to dance, create and perform, are over 11 years old or a professional dancer, then come and participate in this festival of dance leading to a performance alongside Retina on April 13th 2007. Read on…