Oct 22. Weld side story / Open presentation and talk. Weld Company + Jeanette Bolding
This fall Weld Company will be presenting a series of works drawn from a jointly investigated theme, Weld side story. The title as it appears, resembles the 1950´s musical and film, and is in this context made into a toolbox for artistic ideas and investigations, each carrying layers of complexity and richness in many aspects and dimensions. Weld Company tries to open up some of these complexities and continue to explore the history and heritage of dance and choreography through extended practices and artistic outcomes, this time inviting guest-choreographers from a variety of genres.
Music is the choreographic focus this fall. The Prologue is a few minutes extracted from the legendary film above. Through altered methods, each invited guest-choreographer is going to work with these thought- and context provoking tunes, approaching it as the symphonic, rhythmical, enigmatic music it is, pulped from its narrative context. But if you know the original story (the West side), you cannot remove the narrative from its tunes, both historical and present, the never ending violence and racial issues intrigued by love. Amongst our collisions also intrigued by love, we confront the development of American dance in the 20th Century through making a cross reading of the American Jazz dance tradition and the Martha Graham Technique, letting our bodies delve into both. We invite further guests to collide with The Prologue and we invite the possible failure of dancing a dance our bodies are not used to invite.
Invited guests
We have invited two much appreciate and legendary teachers who have worked for more than 35 and 45 years respectively in Stockholm and who are part of Swedish dance history, having taught hundreds of students. Each one will contribute with a choreography to The Prologue drawn from their particular artistic genre.
The first process will be conducted by Jeanette Bolding, a much loved contemporary teacher and dancer at who was educated at the Julliard school and Martha Graham school in New-York. After having worked in international contexts as a dancer, she later moved to Stockholm to teach at Balettakademien. Jeanette will choreograph Graham technique to the music of The Prologue.
Charles Moore is a legendary Swedish Jazz dance teacher and choreographer. With his cool fast style he has choreographed and taught almost every single jazz choreographer in Sweden. He came to Stockholm and settled here, and has made a huge impact on the Stockholm dance scene as teacher at Balettakademien.
The company will also work with young Norwegian choreographer Inés Belli, whose work has been inspired by Yvonne Rainer and Anna-Theresa De Kaersmaker, and addresses the question “What would happen to jazz dance if it moved along with the Postmodern idea?” This is a topic she explored in her work “Postmodern Cool” and which she will now continue to explore with Weld Company.
Musician, dancer, choreographer and thinker Marcus Doverud is already presenting a work at Weld this fall, which combines singing and choreographic embodiment of music, sharing interpretations and analysis of popular songs. With Weld company he will continue his musical exploration, this time through our chosen musical theme.
Nasim Aghili, a Swedish-Iranian artist based in Stockholm, will also be choreographing The Prologue, approaching the task from her own perspective. Aghili creates performances and installations, often in public spaces, that address experiences of living in various kinds of exile. Her work often takes the form of healing rituals, exploring the potential of a collective creation of the possibility for grieving.
We have also invited JUCK to contribute and share practice with us.. JUCK is a practice of its own that works with and on the basis of contemporary debates about gender, sexuality, femininity and ethnicity in a norm creative and interactive format. With their dance-technical roots in streetdance, JUCK explore the field of contemporary performance and move freely between different influences. The group was initiated 2011.
WELD COMPANY
Weld Company is aiming to rediscover and revaluate the old institution of Dance Company and is updating the Company form through a collective work conducted by one of Weld clearly given structure. Dancers and choreographers from different backgrounds share a common, daily and physical practice. The Company will work with invited choreographers; self-made works and instigate the Swedish dance history. The members contribute with and are involved in selecting the content. Weld Company could be seen as an enabling structure where new constellations and ideas become. The main focus is on the space freed to practice the art form. To become the dancing body, the dancing community and through this pose questions about dance and choreography today. Yearly a book is being produced with the name ”No Talking No Props”.
Dancers in Weld Company autumn 2020 is Sybrig Dokter, Per Sacklén, Robin Dingemans, Anna Westberg, Disa Krosness, Andrea Svensson, Hanna Strandberg, Robert Malmborg, Caroline Byström, Noah Hellwig and guest dancer Bianca Traum.
Due to Covid-19
Currently we have limited seats with safe distance. Only pre bookings is valid. Be on time!
For everyone’s sake, we ask the audience to keep their distance from each other and avoid queuing.
Weld is supported by Stockholms Stad, the Swedish Arts Council and the Stockholm County Council.