Studio Sessions is a presenter programme, introducing dance artists based in England to promoters from the UK and abroad, with the ambition of brokering new relationships for international co-commissioning and future touring. Studio Sessions is a collaboration between Dance Umbrella and FABRIC that has been running since 2018.
Three companies, SAY, Tom Cassani, and Jo Bannon will be sharing works-in-progress of new performance presented in partnership with The Place.
Attendees will also have the option to attend a preview performance of Mathroo Basha, a new solo by Hetain Patel, which will be presented at the Barbican Pit.
This is a great opportunity for industry professionals to find about these four new works, as well as network with a range of artists, producers and promoters whilst attending Dance Umbrella.
Attendance is welcomed by presenters who are interested in the work of these artists. FABRIC International, funded by Arts Council England, offers financial support for attendance by international presenters.
If you’re interested in attending the event, please email [email protected] to reserve your place or enquire about financial support.
About the works
Jo Bannon, The Dirty Work
The Dirty Work is a live performance that explores the showmanship, crip expertise, and everyday performativity of visual impairment (VI). Highlighting the techniques and labour employed by Blind and VI folk to navigate the world through senses other than sight, the work critiques and celebrates the skill and misdirection required to perform or ‘pass’ in a society organised around the primacy of vision.
Tom Cassani, Side-Show
This new work provisionally entitled Side-Show explores the public/private body and hidden labour intrinsic in embodying deception, taking skills from the world of magic and circus such as sword swallowing and hair suspension into new choreographic modes and contexts. The performance intends to deconstruct skills Tom has learned that are often presented as momentary or virtuosic and re-present them as acts of corporeal contemplation and choreography.
By dissecting the capabilities of Tom’s body and a relationship with the thresholds of what is possible, true and real this work asks what are the political implications of embodying illusion in the 21st century?
SAY, HOT IN HeRe
HOT in HeRe offers a bold, slick, and seductive experience that takes the principles of a highly successful stage show celebrating male bodies and transferring it to a cast of female and nonbinary performers while maintaining a masculine edge. This production allows the performers to reclaim the concept of being ‘hot’ in a manner traditionally associated with men, challenging and redefining societal norms around sexuality and performance.
Hetain Patel, Mathroo Basha
Following the passing of a number of first-generation immigrants in his family, British-born Hetain reflects on what is lost and what is transformed, revisiting rituals rooted in his family’s working-class Brit-Gujarati experience.
Responding physically to audio interviews of women from his family speaking in Gujarati about inheritance, loss and the future, Hetain delves into the emotional realities of generational change through personal movement explorations where his body becomes the conduit.
About the artists
Jo Bannon
Credit Paul Samuel White
Jo is an artist working in performance, choreography and film. Her practice is concerned with how our specific bodies, identities and sensory perceptions impact how we experience the world around us, and how this sensory experience can or cannot be conveyed. Her work is informed by her identity as a disabled woman with albinism and attempts to unpick the ways we look, hear and sense our immediate environment in order to rethink or make unfamiliar these intrinsic human behaviours. Bannon’s work is led by form and so manifests in various mediums including intimate encounters designed for single or small audiences, staged performance, dance, film and installation.
Tom Cassani
Credit Laurie Brown
Tom is a UK based performance maker working with choreography, magic and live art. Tom’s practice draws on an expanded approach to Performance Magic. Using the body as a site of deception Tom’s work explores the construct of performing the impossible.
SAY
SAY was founded by Sarah Golding and Yukiko Masui in 2019. As a duo they have created a dance film SAY: AF with Dance Umbrella, have recently been featured dancers in The Marvels and were dance captains and performers in the Commonwealth Opening Ceremony 2022. SAY was commissioned to create a piece for NDCWales, SAY Something which toured nationally and internationally. SAY have recently worked on The Effect at the National Theatre and The Shed, NY and Romeo & Juliet starring Tom Holland directed by Jamie Lloyd at Duke of York’s Theatre as Movement Directors.
Hetain Patel
Credit Camilla Greenwell
Hetain Patel is a London-based artist and filmmaker known for his work in various mediums including films, performances, and photography. His art has been showcased worldwide in venues such as Tate Modern, Venice Biennale, and Ullens Centre for Contemporary Art. His work, exploring identity and freedom, has been viewed over 50 million times online, including his 2023 TED talk Who Am I? Think Again.
Hetain has received several awards such as the Film London Jarman Award and the Best International Film award at Kino Der Kunst Festival. He is a patron of QUAD, Derby, and serves on various committees. Patel is represented by Chatterjee & Lal in Mumbai.
Venue & Access +
Venue
Address
The Place
17 Duke’s Road
London WC1H 9PY
Public Transport
The nearest Tube stations to The Place are Euston (Victoria Line, Northern Line, London Overground and National Rail services) and King’s Cross St Pancras (Victoria Line, Northern Line (Bank branch), Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan Lines, National Rail services and Eurostar).
The nearest bus stops to The Place are British Library (services 10, 205, 30, 390, 476, 59, 73, 91, N73, N91) and Upper Woburn Place (services 168, 59, 68, 91, N91).
The nearest Santander Cycle Hire docking stations are Endsleigh Gardens, Euston and Cartwright Gardens, Bloomsbury.
For journey planning and live travel updates, visit the Transport for London website.
Parking for bicycles, cars and motorcycles
There are bicycle racks outside The Place’s Flaxman Terrace entrance.
There are metered parking spaces in the roads around The Place (free after 6.30pm weekdays, 1.30pm Saturdays and on Sundays) and dedicated spaces for Blue Badge holders outside each entrance.
There is motorcycle parking on Duke’s Road.
Nearby car parks include Euston Station (Melton Street, off Euston Road, NW1 2EP) and St Pancras Station (Pancras Road NW1 2TB).
Access information
Access facilities in the theatre
Entry to the theatre is from the Duke’s Road entrance. In standard set up, the theatre has a range of seating options including four wheelchair spaces which are all are accessible via the lift. They also have step-free access both upstairs and at stage level. The theatre has a Sennheiser induction loop system with pre bookable head sets. These amplify the sound through ear pieces with volume control or neck bands, which transfer the amplified signal to your hearing aid when switched to the T position. If you have any other accessible seating requests please speak to a member of box office staff who will be able to advise you. You can also request a large print programme.
Seating: In the theatre, all seats have non-removeable armrests. The space between armrests is 43cm wide. Seat depth at its deepest is 46cm. At the narrowest point, legroom is 22cm, with better legroom on Row A and on aisle seats. We have four removeable access spaces for wheelchair users.
Assistant Dogs
Your assistant dog is welcome to join you in the auditorium; The Place will always let you know if they expect sounds or special effects that may cause your dog discomfort. If there are effects that may upset you dog or if they are not so keen on watching dance they may be left with staff in a quiet office.
Mobility Scooters
You are welcome to leave your scooter in the box office area for the duration of your visit as the lifts and wheelchair seating areas are not suitable for these vehicles.
Booking Tickets
Tickets can be booked in person, telephone (The Place are happy to receive and make calls via the text relay service) and through the website.
Wheelchair users can book themselves and a free companion in for performances by adding the promo code ACCESS to the bottom of the seating plan page and then selecting the wheelchair patron space and companion space marked with wheelchair and star icons.
Other Facilities
Accessible Toilets
There are accessible toilets on levels 1 and 4 of our theatre and can be reached via the lift.
Baby Changing Facilities
This can be found on Level 1 and Level 4, accessible via the lift.
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