About FRESH

Join us at La Villette, Paris, in May 2024 for an extraordinary dance experience curated by The Place, London’s creative powerhouse for dance development! We are thrilled to bring you a captivating program that celebrates the talent, vitality, and diversity of the UK dance scene. Featuring five unique works, our showcase will dazzle you with incredible innovation and creativity, drawing inspiration from a variety of dance styles.

The event will be hosted by Jean-Daniel Brousse in both English and French, with a script co-written by Ben Duke. The show will introduce a generation of UK choreographers who draw from Hip-hop to Contemporary dance, Kathak and more.

Fresh from The Place will highlight Kesha Raithatha whose unique style combines North Indian dance with Contemporary dance; SAY, a dynamic duo who infuses the energy of music gigs into their choreographic work; and Jamaal Burkmar, who creates a dynamic fusion of music and movement to reimagine the formation of the universe. Additionally, Fresh from The Place will feature HAKU and Buddies Understood by third year BA students from London Contemporary Dance School, Samara Langham, Jude Vero, and Elvi Rose Christiansen Head.

About the choreographers

Kesha Raithatha

Kesha Raithatha is a dancer and choreographer who embodies Kathak and Contemporary movement. She creates work that is rich in detail and experimentally reconsiders contemporary South Asian dance. Her curiosity and exposure to a wide range of movement training informs and invigorates her dance-making vocabulary. Kesha trains and freelances between India and the UK and is one of the Associate Directors for Aakash Odedra Company.

SAY - Sarah Golding and Yukiko Masui

Breaking conventions of contemporary dance, SAY are bringing the infectious energy of music gigs to the dance world. In an explosive mix of everything that inspires them, the album is a fusion of great music, personal stories, and collaborations with a range of exciting new artists.

the album features fast-paced and slick dance routines to incredible music tracks from artists including UK beatbox champion MC Zani; the unapologetic and raw Juliana Yazbeck; stunning spoken-word artist Holly Williams; South Africa’s hottest new duo Tina Redmxn & L Tune ‘Chillin’ and more. This is where music gigs and dance collide, leaving you feeling hyped-up and inspired.

Jamaal Burkmar

Jamaal Burkmar reimagines the formation of our universe with collective human experience at its core. Through a collision of music and movement, audiences are invited to uncover the elemental joy at the heart of Extended Play’s practice.

Extended Play is known for embracing digital culture, with their JUKEBOX Reels series, available on Instagram. Since forming, the company has presented work at Birmingham International Dance Festival, The V&A and is supported by The Place and Arts Council England.

Samara Langham

Born and raised in London, Samara Langham is a dance artist and choreographer. She trained at The Royal Ballet Lower School and is currently in her final year at London Contemporary Dance School. Rhythmically and musically driven, her choreography is characterised by its magnetic quality and organic imagery. Her works Haku, as if almost erasing and Cilia have been performed at The Place theatre.

As a performer she has worked with choreographers Sharon Eyal, Botis Seva, Magnus Westwell and Sung-im Her, touring to venues Sadler's Wells Theatre, Southbank Centre and Brighton Dome. During her time at London Contemporary Dance School she has worked with Frauke Requardt, James Cousins and Divya Katsuri.

Samara is also immersed in the experimental music and interdisciplinary arts scene as a member of ‘life is beautiful’ collective where she performs and creates work for music venues including Cafe Oto and Ormside Projects.

Elvi Rose Christiansen Head

Elvi Rose Christiansen Head is a dance artist, performer and facilitator from London. With an interest in the arts from a young age Elvi was part of Centre for Advanced Training at The Place and National Youth Dance Company UK. Elvi is about to graduate from London Contemporary Dance School. Through her work Elvi endeavours to perform or create dance that exudes feeling and curiosity. She hopes to bring joy or questioning to an audience. Intertwining different art forms such as drawing, fashion, film and poetry into her practice is a growing part of her identity as a dance artist. Elvi deeply cares for others and is invested in facilitating spaces for communities and individuals to be empowered through dance. She believes it is crucial that dance is responsive to socio-cultural contexts on local and global scales and is open to collaboration with others to make change happen.

Credits

Cast and Creatives

Host: Jean-Daniel Brousse

Featuring performances:
HAKU by London School of Contemporary Dance

Choreographer: Samara Langham

Dancers: Elvi Rose Christiansen Head, Jessica Yeo, Brooklyn Sorensen, Rosin Salmon, Olivia Foskett, Lily Macdonald

Buddies Understood by London School of Contemporary Dance

Choreographers: Jude Vero and Elvi Rose Christiansen Head

Dancers: Jude Vero and Elvi Rose Christiansen Head

The Lost Breath by Kesha Raithatha

Choreographed and preformedby Kesha Raithatha

How To Build A Universe by Extended Play

Choreographer: Jamaal Burkmar

Dancers: Imogen Wright, Alex Gosmore, Pablo Reyero, Haizea Andueza Ibanez, Fern Grimbley

the album by SAY

Choreographed and performed by Sarah Golding & Yukiko Masui

Guest music artist: B4MBA

Lighting designer: Barnaby Booth

Technical Stage Manager: Alexandra Anzamberger

Produced by The Place. Supported by British Council as part of UK / France Spotlight 2024.