Reckless Sleepers brought their internationally acclaimed work A String Section to Torbay in June 2019 as part of (Extra)ordinary, 10 days of original work commissioned by Eyeview, Torbay’s Great Place Scheme Cultural Programme.

Dance in Devon and Eyeview co-produced the creation of a site-sensitive performance ‘Take a Seat’ – a dance performance by a newly-formed company of regional dance artists, exploring the simple everyday object of the chair, as a response to ‘A String Section’ led by Mole Wetherell and Rachel Piekarczyk from Reckless Sleepers. Take A Seat looked at what is possible for a human body to do in, on, with, or around a chair, and what the chair can mean: as a place of home, refuge, reflection, rest; but also as a place of separation and isolation.

Take a Seat worked with SW Dance Artists: Jane Mason, Rosie Race, Kuldip Singh-Barmi, Kyra Norman and Salinda Nichols. More information on the artists can be viewed here.

The residency offered professional dancers from across the region a playful and collaborative opportunity to develop their practice. Exploring the conceptual approach taken by Reckless Sleepers in creating ‘A String Section’, they also drew on their own choreographic practice to create this original performance. The dance artists who took part in the residency and performance ‘Take a Seat’ were drawn from across the region including those living and working in Torbay.

Public performances took place on Saturday 15th June 2019 matinee and evening.

projectmanager@danceindevon.org.uk

Photography by Marco Kesseler for Eyeview (extra)ordinary

(extra)ordinary – A festival bringing together site-specific works and partnership projects by artists and communities that animate and take over extraordinary and unexpected places, cultural treasures and sites in Torbay’s unique natural environment.

Eyeview is a cultural programme – working with artists and communities to offer fresh perspectives on the places and spaces that make Torbay unique.

The Great Place Scheme is designed to pilot new approaches that enable cultural and community groups to work more closely together and to place heritage at the heart of communities.