What if - a five day festival of arts

  

MEDIA RELEASE COURTESY OF: SIOBHAN DAVIES STUDIOS

A festival of dance, film, live and visual art is taking place at Siobhan Davies Studios, London SE1 on 7-11 April 2010

What if… is a five day festival drawing from work in film, video, dance, live and visual art taking place throughout London’s Siobhan Davies Studios. The festival responds to recent thinking about choreography as something that can be separated from dance and dancing and that involves unique ways of thinking. It runs at Siobhan Davies Studios from 7-11 April 2010.

The festival begins with a rare screening of an early Sally Potter film, The Gold Diggers (1983) and will also include a film work by Cornelia Parker, newly commissioned performances by Augusto Corrieri alongside the UK premiere of work by invited artists from Berlin (Christina Cuipke, Nik Haffner), live installations by Sheila Ghelani and Simon Vincenzi and the London premiere of film work by the curators.

What if… will be punctuated by lively discussion, intervention and debate, and writers from a range of fields - from anthropology and science as well as film and dance - have been invited to respond to the work.

What if… is co-curated by five artists with a background in dance, visual art and film-making: Lucy Cash, Becky Edmunds, Claudia Kappenberg and Chirstinn Whyte along with Gill Clarke from Independent Dance.

Invited artists include the artist-curators and: Simon Aeppli & Nic Sandiland, Clio Barnard, Christina Ciupke, Augusto Corrieri, Rachel Davies, Tim Etchells, Sheila Ghelani, Nik Haffner, David Hinton, Jaki Irvine, Joe Lawlor & Christine Molloy, Rosemary Lee, Eva Meyer Keller, Graeme Miller, Cornelia Parker, Rosie Pedlow & Joe King, Miranda Pennell, Sally Potter, Adam Roberts, John Smith, Simon Vincenzi, Lito Walkey, Fiona Wright, Marisa Zanotti.

The What if… programme at Siobhan Davies Studios:

Wednesday 7 April
What if… the screening 7pm

Screening of Sally Potter’s The Gold Diggers (1983) followed by discussion and Q&A. Tickets: £5 | £15 freedom pass for all events

Thursday 8 April
What if… private/press view and drinks 6-7.30pm

Invitation only.

What if… the curators talk 7.30pm
The curators talk about the curatorial ideas behind What if…, introduce the selected work and respond to questions.

Tickets: £5 | £15 freedom pass for all events.

Friday 9 April
Installations open from 12noon

What if… the writers respond 7pm
Ten writers with different interests and backgrounds (from anthropology to science, literature, film and dance) have been invited to write, construct, perform and compose a response to the work throughout the weekend. Tickets: £5 | £15 freedom pass for all events

Saturday 10 April 12noon – 9pm & Sunday 11 April, 12noon – 5pm

What if... the weekend
Live performance, single screen and film installation work around Siobhan Davies Studios building using architectural features as well as the studio spaces. Throughout the weekend, the writers will accumulate and deposit interventions, poetic responses, treatises and altercations.

Tickets: £10 per day | £15 freedom pass for all events. Tickets to individual events on Wednesday to Friday evenings are £5. Tickets for Saturday & Sunday are £10 each day. Freedom pass for all events: £15.
Tickets can be booked in advance through Siobhan Davies Studios 020 7091 9650 and enquiries made via Independent Dance info@independentdance.co.uk
Venue:Siobhan Davies Studios, 85 St George’s Road, London SE1 6ER
Nearest tube: Elephant & Castle, Lambeth North

What if… is co-produced by Independent Dance, Artsadmin and Siobhan Davies Studios.

Independent Dance (ID) is a resident company at Siobhan Davies Studios. Established in 1990 it is an artist led organisation dedicated to supporting the ongoing development of professional dance artists. Its year round programme offers opportunities for learning, exchange and dialogue through classes, workshops, talks and performances.

Founded in 1979, Artsadmin is a producing organisation for contemporary artists working in theatre, dance, live art, visual arts, and mixed media. Based at London’s Toynbee Studios since 1995, the organisation offers a free advisory service for artists, mentoring and development programmes and a number of bursary schemes.

Siobhan Davies Dance is one of the country’s most outstanding and innovative dance companies and choreographer Siobhan Davies advocates for the wider recognition of dance as a significant and extraordinary art form. The Company’s RIBA award-winning building, Siobhan Davies Studios in Southwark, South London, provides a local, national and international resource for learning about movement and dance, and a meeting ground to discuss new ideas. It presents a varied programme of events, performances, talks, artists’ sharings and visual art exhibitions.

What if… is the second in a series of festivals initiated by Independent Dance. The first in the series, What Now, in 2009 presented experimental work by a new generation of dance artists in a range of media at Siobhan Davies Studios.

What if… is supported by the National Lottery through Grants for the Arts, South East Dance through the Flourish professional development programme, the Goethe Institut, Siobhan Davies Studios, University of Brighton, Artsadmin and Independent Dance.