Theatre-Rites

Theatre-Rites Announces TMA Award

10/27/08

Press Release

Theatre-Rites Announces

TMA Award for achievement in Dance

Monday 27th October 2008 

Children's theatre company Theatre-Rites today announces that its production Mischief has won the TMA award for achivement in dance.  The award was presented by dancer Richard Winsor (seen recently as Dorian Gray) to Sue Buckmaster, Artistic Director of Theatre-Rites and Arthur Pita, choreographer for Mischief at the TMA Awards ceremony at Hampstead Theatre on Sunday 26th October.  Mischief is a unique, contemporary dance theatre production aimed at family and schools audiences, which toured middle-scale venues throughout the UK in 2007.  A collaboration with Theatre-Rites Artistic Director Sue Buckmaster,  choreographer Arthur Pita and visual artist Sophia Clist, it was the first family production to be commissioned by Sadler's Wells.  The tour was presented by The Dance Touring Partnership and performed throughout the UK including Sadler's Wells' Peacock Theatre, Warwick Arts Centre and Nottingham Playhouse.

"This award is a great honour.  Mischief was a work of true collaboration and we believe that this recognition makes it clear that creating dance or theatre for children and families can be as rewarding and sophisticated as any work made for adults".  

Sue Buckmaster

The additional collaborators included lighting designer Guy Hoare; contemporary dancers Claire Cunningham, Robin Dingemans, Maho Ihara and Matthew Morris; hip hop dancer James Painting; physical theatre practitioner Laura Cubitt; puppeteer/performer Mohsen Nouri and composer and live on stage musician Charlie Winston. Bursting with energy they used a colourful array of foam lines that transformed before the audiences eyes into magical forests of foam and giant hip-hopping puppets.  Their enthusiasm and joy in finding a uniting language shines through in the spirit of the piece.

"No matter your age (Mischief) should leave you feeling stimulated, rib-tickled, lighter than when you walked in and glad to be alive" 

The Times ***** 

Notes  

Mischief was in a category with Cloudgate Theatre of Taiwan and Rambert Dance Company.

Theatre-Rites plans to re-tour Mischief nationally and internationally in Autumn 2009.

The original tour of Mischief was supported by Grants for the Arts and the Paul Hamlyn Foundation.

The TMA Theatre Awards are presented in association with The Stage.

Theatre-Rites has been creating innovative theatre and site-specific performances for young audiences since 1995.  All productions are created using a fusion of artforms and skills and prior to Mischief all traditional theatre productions were performed in studio spaces.  As Artistic Director Sue Buckmaster was keen to expand her vision and skill into a larger proscenium theatre space but within theatre this was offered only through the work of adaptation and script.  This held little relevance to her visually inspired process and it was only when Emma Gladstone from Sadler's Wells approached her, asking whether the increased choreographic element in her work might mean that she would be interested in helping Sadler's Wells create a children's dance piece, that Sue's imagination took flight.

Coming Next  

Theatre-Rites is currently preparing for its circus inspired collaboration Hang On with aerialists Ockham's Razor; a co-production with Lyric Hammersmith in association with York Theatre Royal for Easter 2009.  Featuring the 3 aerialists from Ockham's Razor, a juggler and an actor/improviser the production will mix contemporary circus, movement and humour with live Japanese percussion from Nao Masuda.

For further information on Theatre-Rites, Mischief or artist's biogs please contact

Claire Templeton

Executive Producer

claire@theatre-rites.co.uk

0207 953 7102

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