National Dance Company Wales tours life affirming double bill this autumn

Following sell out performances across Europe this Spring, National Dance Company Wales returns to UK stages with a double bill of dynamic dance. Frontiers will allow audiences to experience two different worlds; reflecting on of the world we live in today and looking towards the future.

National Dance Company Wales is known for its brilliantly crafted, life-affirming performances, which blend impressive choreography, stunning design and new music.

Frontiers is made up of two performances that mix awe-inspiring movement and meaningful stories. 

The double bill features the premieres of AUGUST by the company’s Artistic Director Matthew William Robinson and Skinners by Melanie Lane – an Australian choreographer of European and Javanese heritage.

AUGUST will be one of three of Matthew’s last works for the company before he leaves to take the helm as Artistic Director of ŻfinMalta in January 2025.

“There are moments in life where we find ourselves at the border between the known and the unknown. Frontiers captures the feeling of these moments capturing the feeling of stepping forward into the unknown, the thrill, the fear and the sense of discovery,” says NDCWales Artistic Director Matthew Robinson.

The first half of the double bill, a 30-minute piece called AUGUST, is a collaboration between Matthew William Robinson, the company dancers, composer Torben Sylvest and designers George Hampton Wale and Emma Jones. AUGUST showcases the athletic prowess of Wales’ dancers and is set to clever music that incorporates sounds of machinery. The dancers are clothed in deconstructed suits that glow impressively under sunset inspired neon lighting.

“AUGUST is about the changes that fling us together and tear us apart. The work is like a poem, a series of highly physical images that evoke and invite meaning. It has been a joy to create with the dancers of the company, they will take your breath away this autumn,” says Matthew.

The second half of the event Skinners by Melanie Lane will transport audiences to a digital landscape that blurs the edges of reality. Electronic music and lighting will flood the stage as dramatic costumes allow the dancers to glitch between two-dimensional pixelated avatars and human beings.

“I am delighted to welcome Melanie Lane to Wales and to NDCWales. Her brand-new work Skinners tackles our evolving relationship with ourselves in a digitally augmented world. Her work is intricate and powerful, a thrill to experience,” explains Matthew.

Alongside Frontiers, National Dance Company Wales will tour their popular schools and families show Lea Anderson’s Zoetrope. Zoetrope is an hour-long show which is supported by lesson plans for teachers. Zoetrope is available with audio description at all venues.

“Get in touch with us if you are a school interested in augmenting your expressive arts curriculum with a trip to your local theatre,” says Matthew.

Audiences experiencing the worlds created on stage by National Dance Company Wales come away exhilarated and inspired by the extraordinary talent of the dancers. Each performance will be followed by a post-show-talk where audiences can learn more about the work, and life as a professional dancer. A number of the talks will be supported by BSL interpretation. 

Frontiers tours from September to November 2024 visiting Cardiff, Hereford, Swansea, London, Brecon, Newtown, Bangor, Huddersfield and Aberystwyth.

To book for Frontiers or find out more about Zoetrope audiences can visit ndcwales.co.uk

NDCWales Frontiers, photo by elywel photography, design by hoffi