Now in its 35th touring year, Transitions Dance Company provides a platform for the next generation of international contemporary dance performers can showcase their talents.
Comprising 14 dancers, the company has just hit the road on an international tour where it will present a triple bill of specially commissioned works by three internationally renowned choreographers - Richard Chappell from the UK, Helsinki-based choreographer and performer Jarkko Partanen, and award-winning Israeli choreographer Hagit Yakira.
Among the company of dancers is Birmingham-born Kieran Lee Covell. Kieran joined in 2017 and is excited about being involved with Transitions as it celebrates its 35th year of touring. "I feel very fortunate and lucky to be a part of this fantastic company,” he says. “It’s been a fun and exciting experience creating the three pieces for our tour, and I look forward to seeing what’s in store when we set off.”
Graduating from Birmingham Ormiston Academy (BOA) with a Professional Diploma in Contemporary Dance, Kieran’s performance repertoire includes acclaimed Motionhouse production The Voyage, Charles Lineham’s Transfer Laban at Canary Wharf, Camilla Isola’s Unravel Ei Bolero at The Place and Matthew Bourne’s Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake, both at Birmingham Hippodrome.
On returning to showcase his talents in Birmingham, Kieran says: "Performing in my own city has always been important to me, not just as a dancer but as an artist. The experiences I had in this city have shaped who I am today and got me to this point in time. I’m really looking forward to going back and seeing just how much the dance industry has changed, and also reminiscing about my own journey that started in Birmingham.”
Transitions is promising 'an engaging and enjoyable night out' - but what more can audiences expect from the triple bill? “They can expect energy, relationships and a clear sense of story-driven movement material,” says Kieran. “Each company member has embodied the three pieces with their own artistic voice, so it will be interesting to see how each performance evolves over the length of the tour."
In Richard Chappell’s When Running Starts And Stops, the company fuses classical ballet with martial arts-influenced movement style, using animalistic physicality to explore themes of community, fear, violence and migration.
Jarkko Partanen’s Lovers, meanwhile, marks the choreographer’s first collaboration with the company. Exploring connection, commonality and individual expressions, Partanen organises the performers in such a way as to allow them to act, understand and continue only through touch. The result is a work that’s bizarre, comic and poignant.
Completing the triple bill is Kieran’s personal favourite, Hagit Yakira’s The Ar/ct Of Moving Forward. A ‘simple yet mesmerising’ piece performed by the entire company, it uses the literal and poetic act of forward movement, travelling and time as its focus, and is performed to an original score composed by long-term collaborator Sabio Janiak. "Yakira’s unique and vibrant personality, along with her extensive choreographic knowledge, have not only made me enjoy the piece and process of making it, but inspired me to think about how I can use my own voice to perform, and what performance means for me," says Kieran.
So with 10 UK dates and several international performances, what is Kieran most looking forward to about touring the triple bill? "Travelling to different locations and experiencing the different atmospheres of each place. I’m also looking forward to experiencing how a professional company tour works, and the different roles and responsibilities that everyone will have during the processes."
Transitions Dance Company perform at The Old Rep, Birmingham on Tuesday 27 March and Albany Theatre, Coventry, on Friday 18 May.
Now in its 35th touring year, Transitions Dance Company provides a platform for the next generation of international contemporary dance performers can showcase their talents.
Comprising 14 dancers, the company has just hit the road on an international tour where it will present a triple bill of specially commissioned works by three internationally renowned choreographers - Richard Chappell from the UK, Helsinki-based choreographer and performer Jarkko Partanen, and award-winning Israeli choreographer Hagit Yakira.
Among the company of dancers is Birmingham-born Kieran Lee Covell. Kieran joined in 2017 and is excited about being involved with Transitions as it celebrates its 35th year of touring. "I feel very fortunate and lucky to be a part of this fantastic company,” he says. “It’s been a fun and exciting experience creating the three pieces for our tour, and I look forward to seeing what’s in store when we set off.”
Graduating from Birmingham Ormiston Academy (BOA) with a Professional Diploma in Contemporary Dance, Kieran’s performance repertoire includes acclaimed Motionhouse production The Voyage, Charles Lineham’s Transfer Laban at Canary Wharf, Camilla Isola’s Unravel Ei Bolero at The Place and Matthew Bourne’s Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake, both at Birmingham Hippodrome.
On returning to showcase his talents in Birmingham, Kieran says: "Performing in my own city has always been important to me, not just as a dancer but as an artist. The experiences I had in this city have shaped who I am today and got me to this point in time. I’m really looking forward to going back and seeing just how much the dance industry has changed, and also reminiscing about my own journey that started in Birmingham.”
Transitions is promising 'an engaging and enjoyable night out' - but what more can audiences expect from the triple bill? “They can expect energy, relationships and a clear sense of story-driven movement material,” says Kieran. “Each company member has embodied the three pieces with their own artistic voice, so it will be interesting to see how each performance evolves over the length of the tour."
In Richard Chappell’s When Running Starts And Stops, the company fuses classical ballet with martial arts-influenced movement style, using animalistic physicality to explore themes of community, fear, violence and migration.
Jarkko Partanen’s Lovers, meanwhile, marks the choreographer’s first collaboration with the company. Exploring connection, commonality and individual expressions, Partanen organises the performers in such a way as to allow them to act, understand and continue only through touch. The result is a work that’s bizarre, comic and poignant.
Completing the triple bill is Kieran’s personal favourite, Hagit Yakira’s The Ar/ct Of Moving Forward. A ‘simple yet mesmerising’ piece performed by the entire company, it uses the literal and poetic act of forward movement, travelling and time as its focus, and is performed to an original score composed by long-term collaborator Sabio Janiak. "Yakira’s unique and vibrant personality, along with her extensive choreographic knowledge, have not only made me enjoy the piece and process of making it, but inspired me to think about how I can use my own voice to perform, and what performance means for me," says Kieran.
So with 10 UK dates and several international performances, what is Kieran most looking forward to about touring the triple bill? "Travelling to different locations and experiencing the different atmospheres of each place. I’m also looking forward to experiencing how a professional company tour works, and the different roles and responsibilities that everyone will have during the processes."
Transitions Dance Company perform at The Old Rep, Birmingham on Tuesday 27 March and Albany Theatre, Coventry, on Friday 18 May.
For full tour information visit trinitylaban.ac.uk/transitionsdc