Instant Dissidence
One Last Dance — An Chéad Damhsa
Presented by The Lowry + Word of Warning as a WTF Wednesday
In Brief
Rita Marcalo is saying goodbye to her home-country of 24 years. An emotional journey, she hopes to transform her sadness around Brexit into gratitude for many beautiful times. In a final love letter to the UK, she will dance her way from Guildford (her first UK home) to Cloughjordan in Ireland (her home-to-be).
Accompanied along the way by other EU citizen-choreographers, Leentje Van de Cruys will join the Salford leg of this perambulating, itinerant, accumulating dance work.
Read Rita’s interview and rehearsal post about One Last Dance in performingborders; now that it’s over, read her follow-up article.
Venue + Booking Details
Date: Wednesday 10 October 2018, 8pm
Venue: The Lowry (Aldridge Studio), Pier 8, Salford Quays, M50 3AZ
Tickets: available to reserve from Friday 7 September, Pay What You Decide in person on the evening. Please note the WTF Wednesday ticketing policy below.
Box Office Tel: 0843 208 6000 (The Lowry)
Access Information
Age advisory: parental/guardian discretion. Duration to be confirmed. Features a combination of spoken text, movement, composed sound + film. For specific age + access information please email info@habmcr.org or call 0161 232 6086.
More
“As I dance my way through the UK I will meet and stay with other EU citizens, who will walk/dance part of the way with me. Each EU citizen will choreograph a section of One Last Dance, and choreographic sections will then be linked to one another via linear accumulation. I will encounter dance/arts organisations, festivals and venues which have been part of my work in the UK over the past 24 years. At each of these encounters I will perform One Last Dance to the accumulative stage that it will be at. As I enter the island of Ireland, the work shifts into its next stage: An Chéad Damhsa, which in English means My First Dance. Eventually I will reach my final destination (Cloughjordan), where I will finally perform the entire accumulated choreography and audio testimonies.
I expect…
That the walk will be physically exhausting.
That engaging with the testimony and fears of those EU citizens who, by choice or need, are staying in the UK will be emotionally exhausting.
That saying goodbye to the country which was my home for so many years will be an emotional journey.
I fear…
That I might encounter some antagonism towards me throughout the walk.
That I won’t physically be able to do it.
I doubt…
That I won’t physically be able to do it.
I wish…
That the work will have contributed to an increased awareness around the Home Office’s hostile environment policy towards immigration in general, and more specifically to those EU citizens who will acquire settled status in the UK.
That my sadness around Brexit will have transformed into gratitude for the many beautiful years I have had in the country.
That by the end, the work will feel like my final love letter to the UK.”
For this encounter at The Lowry, Leentje Van de Cruys is the guest EU citizen-choreographer; she will also present her own response to the work:
Belgian Waffling
A Belgian mother and her three bi-national children ponder language, cultural difference and the challenge of Brexit via the medium of waffles.
Who are they?
A UK/Ireland-based company directed by Rita Marcalo, Instant Dissidence is her way of bringing different artists together, in different combinations, to realise different ideas — through Instant Dissidence she invents ways of offering other people art experiences.
Rita’s practice began in dance/choreography but she eventually became more interested in communicating concepts than in sticking to a particular art form. She began collaborating with others to create work in different media, and today brings in people from different areas to solve creative problems.
Instant Dissidence’s is also a socially-engaged practice where the company foregrounds the role that dance/choreography can play as a social engine: they are ‘artivists’ who believe in the power of connecting art and social consciousness.
Belgian actress and theatre-maker Leentje Van de Cruys has been making quirky solo performances about domesticity and women’s identity for the last 14 years — past shows include Kitsch’n Sync, HORSE, The Best Party Ever + Knitting to Worry About. She regularly performs and tours with contemporary theatre companies including Quarantine + Reckless Sleepers plus Plane Performance + Proto-type Theater. Leentje has also been a guest lecturer and supervisor at Manchester Metropolitan University, Lancaster University + University of Salford.
What people have said about them
With tears in my eyes I end this dance. With tears in her eyes Rita thanks me for dancing with a stranger.
Lisa Stertz, Incident Magazine on Dancing with Strangers: from Calais to England
…an artist doing what artists are supposed to do: creating work that is surprising, challenging, transgressive and exciting.
Allan Sutherland, The Guardian on Involuntary Dances
Credits
OLD—ACD supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England; produced by Instant Dissidence; additional project funders + presenting organisations can be found on the tumblr below.
Websites
onelastdance-ancheaddamhsa.tumblr.com | Instant Dissidence on Facebook | @RitaMarcalo
WTF Wednesday ticketing policy at The Lowry
As this is a Pay What You Decide event, we know some people who book tickets won’t turn up on the night so we send out more tickets than there are places. We do our best to get the numbers right but we advise you arrive early to ensure you get a seat! We don’t often have to disappoint people but if we can’t fit you in we will try to offer you tickets to another show in The Lowry that night.