Ahead of their perofrmance at Theatre Severn in Shrewsbury Richard Alston talks about how he makes work with the Company and what has inspired the programme of dance for the autumn tour.
What does a typical day for you involve when you are making a new work with the company?
I often stay at home in the morning and listen to music, or gather my energy just by being quiet. Now I‘m in the middle of making the piece it’s quite easy for me to come in and talk to you, but in the first days of rehearsal I would probably only come in just few minutes before the rehearsal, then go into the studio – ba-boom – something happens. I don’t know what it’s going to be, I don’t work long hours, I make movement very fast. I throw it at the dancers and see how they do it and then take off from what they do. Sometimes I give myself an hour or hour and a half and start working on different little sections. I don’t work from beginning to end. I find a point where I think I might know what I want to do but I’m not quite sure, and think to myself “let’s see what happens”.
Can you tell me a bit about the programme for Theatre Severn?
Our tour programme covers a broad range of music. The magnificent Baroque of Jean Phillippe Rameau who wrote music of joyously springing rhythms, accompanies Brisk Singing. Mazur, a duet for two male friends who are pining for their own country. Chopin’s country was Poland, from which he was exiled and his Mazurkas express all his longing for home. A thrilling new dance by Martin Lawrance is Stronghold, dark and brooding, driven with urgent speed. The full Company dances to a score by New Yorker Julia Wolfe for no less than eight double basses! The dance doesn’t have a story as such, but picks up brilliantly on all the turbulence and tension in the music.
Richard Alston Dance Company perform at Theatre Severn, Tue 10 Nov, 7:30pm
- Tickets: £17.50
- Box office: 01743 281281 / www.theatresevern.co.uk/shows/dance/richard-alston
- FREE Pre-Show Talk with Richard Alston, 6.30pm
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