Dance Revolutionaries
THE BRIEF: The Yorke Dance Project, an award-winning independent dance company, has performed Kenneth Macmillan’s Sea of Troubles at the Royal Opera House and across the UK many times since it was first performed in 1988, and produced a film version shot on location at the historic Hatfield House. Inspired by Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the highly acclaimed ballet is a tale of grief and revenge from Hamlet’s perspective. YDP was interested in exploring how they could take this project to cinemas as well as an earlier film created of Robert Cohan’s Seven Portraits, a series of solos that were made for the stage but, due to lockdown, ended up being filmed at stunning locations.
They commissioned Mustard Studio to help position the project and introduce the film to exhibitors for event screenings.
‘Mandy’s passion and understanding of why these films are so important has driven this project forward, her ability to understand and relate to an art form that is in great need of being shared with a wider audience means that Mustard Studio has been a perfect match for us. In an industry we are not familiar with, Mandy and Kate instantly built trust with us and their belief in our project has created a wonderful partnership.’
We wanted to make the event a theatrical experience. This involved taking two world-renowned choreographers' films and creating a double bill.
We combined Sea of Troubles with Portraits, reducing it to five solo dance performances, to make a 90-minute cinema package called Dance Revolutionaries. As a package, we could show this to exhibitors looking for new and fresh work as they work hard to invigorate audiences. A recent New York Times article, “What if Dance Could Change The World" by Gia Kourlas, claims that dance is cool right now and that ‘Dance can say what words often can’t.’ This is exactly what Dance Revolutionaries sets out to do.
Dance Revolutionaries brings together the work of two pioneers, Robert Cohan and Kenneth MacMillan. These two choreographers changed the shape of modern dance and ballet. Shot in stunning locations rather than on stage, the audience is invited into a world of human emotion, frailty and triumph.
We recognised an opportunity to reach new arts audiences who would be intrigued by contemporary themes and the accessible running time and developed a topline campaign based on this to introduce the project to exhibitors. The project was presented at the Event Cinema Association annual conference on 28 November 2023, and you can access the presentation here.
Duration: 12 - 24 weeks.
Services: Distribution, Marketing
If you want to find out more or to book the film, contact us here.
MORE ABOUT DANCE REVOLUTIONARIES
Dance Revolutionaries is a 90-minute visual journey through a visceral, emotionally-charged world of dance set in stunning locations. Portraits, a portmanteau of five solo, contemporary dances screens in tandem with a ground-breaking production of the ballet, Sea of Troubles. This visual tapestry captures the raw emotion and trailblazing spirit of two dance visionaries, Robert Cohan and Kenneth MacMillan, who revolutionised how we perceive and connect with dance.
In Portraits, Robert Cohan creates a series of intimate solo portraits of five dancers he knew well, working with each of them via Zoom during the pandemic.Completed when he was ninety-five years old, Cohan's lifetime of experience is intricately woven into each dance.
Kenneth MacMillan’s Sea of Troubles takes its inspiration from Shakespeare, capturing Hamlet’s grief, anxiety, suspicion and the consequences of loss. MacMillan stunningly portrays the intensity and universality of these visceral elements of the human condition.
Produced and performed by Yorke Dance Project - with guest artists, Romany Padjak from the Royal Ballet and award-winners Dane Hurst and Jonathan Goddard - Dance Revolutionaries offers audiences an unparalleled, up-close-and-personal immersion in the works of these two visionaries.
ROBERT COHAN was a British-American dancer, choreographer, and teacher who shaped the lives of generations of dance artists. Cohan compelled his dancers to use their technical prowess to express deep, human truths. His work sought to capture, in his words, "the inner vibration that makes movement necessary." No one has had a greater impact on British contemporary dance. Portraits is his last work, which he choreographed during lockdown and over Zoom.
KENNETH MACMILLAN was the artistic director of the Royal Ballet for 20 years and then their principal choreographer. His ballets marked decisive changes in the development of twentieth-century dance. He challenged perceptions that ballet was restricted to familiar stories and pretty divertissements. He saw ballet as theatre, capable of expressing complex emotions felt by people caught up in real-life situations. He revealed his characters’ inner lives by the way they moved, eliciting sympathy for their flaws. He dared his dancers to adapt their formal training to favour psychological truth.
