Hi Everybody,
Sophie from Dance Consortium here! I assist in looking after Dance Consortium’s website and Social Media channels and being relatively new to the Dance Consortium team, and Cedar Lake being my first tour working with the company, I thought I would give you a round-up of how the tour went.
Cedar Lake Triple Bill. Photo by Jane Hobson
Last weekend we finally waved goodbye to Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet as they hopped back on a plane to New York after completing their first ever tour of the UK.
Cedar Lake’s arrival in the final week of September, after taking a short pit-stop to perform in Turin, Italy on their way over here, means that on their departure back to New York they had performed 12 shows in total and in 6 different cities and have become fully acquainted with life in the UK.
With their debut performance in the UK being only in October 2012, Cedar Lake were excited to return to tour around the country and reach a wider audience with a thrilling triple bill performance. Beginning in Sadler’s Wells, London we took the company out to Cardiff and the Wales Millennium Centre and then drove up through the beautiful countryside to the Edinburgh Festival Theatre. We then turned around to visit Bradford and the Alhambra Theatre and finished in the Midlands at Curve in Leicester. The company were so excited to bring three pieces of work to the UK; two of them being UK debut’s and they were just as excited to get in some UK site seeing along the way.
Cedar Lake go sight-seeing
Cedar Lake were thrilled to receive such a positive response in every venue throughout their UK tour, highlighting the popularity contemporary dance still holds all around the country. Many audiences begged the company to return again shortly, and contacted us to share their thoughts on the performances and the company in general.
Cedar Lake Tour Voxpop
At Dance Consortium we loved showing Cedar Lake around the UK and to spend more time with such a warm and welcoming company. Having met the company back in June in Baden Baden it was with excitement that I waved them into the UK at Gatwick Airport. Due to the tour schedule, Cedar Lake were able to spend a week in London where they rehearsed at Pineapple and of course at Sadler’s Wells and got to take some time to see the sights. It was an honour for me to watch company class and coming from a dance background meant the opportunity to watch tech rehearsals before opening night was an exciting one. I also got to take the company for cupcakes and a big gossip about the best places to go shopping – not that they needed my help, they’d already got a well-planned and devised list of where they wanted to go. I just pointed them in the direction of the tube! A personal highlight for me was to watch Cedar Lake perform in my home town of Leicester where I learnt to dance; it was wonderful to watch such a technically fantastic company on my own doorstep.
Overall it was a fantastic tour for Cedar Lake, Dance Consortium and for myself personally. Keep your eyes peeled for future appearances of Cedar Lake in the UK, if you missed them this time you certainly do not want to make the same mistake twice! In the meantime Dance Consortium are bringing you France’s Compagnie Käfig and their show Boxe Boxe next Spring. You’ll be able to find out all about it on our Website, Facebook and Twitter and I’ve just ordered my boxing gloves so I can fit in when they arrive!
Until next time,
Sophie x
