National Dance Company Wales takes a double-bill on its UK-wide Spring Tour 2017

National Dance Company Wales will kick off 2017 with a Spring Tour, performing two works; one by internationally renowned choreographer Roy Assaf, the other a brand new piece by the company’s artistic director, Caroline Finn.

The Green House is Finn’s second theatrical work as Artistic Director for NDCWales; a new, intense, at times melancholic but often romantic piece performed in solos and duets, which asks what happens when we prune ourselves – and our lives. Finn takes us on a nostalgic journey where, on a twisted TV set, characters are confronted with who they really are.

Profundis, by Israeli-born Assaf, is a provocative and sensual ensemble piece, challenging how we interpret the meaning of the work that we make and see. Featuring whimsical wordplay, vintage bathing costumes and an exotic soundtrack by Umm Kultum, Leonard Bernstein and Alva Noto, Profundis was first performed in a short NDCWales tour in Autumn 2016 and is Assaf’s first work in the UK. 

See the trailer .

Both will be performed by NDCWales’ core dancers; the very best contemporary dancers from all four corners of the globe; Josef Perou, Camille Giraudeau, Matteo Marfoglia, Àngela Boix Duran, Elena Thomas, Ed Myhill, Franklyn Lee and student apprentices Alexandra Pholien and Oliver Chapman.

Alongside the performances in Wales, the company will host a series of events and activities, to give curious audiences of all ages an opportunity to give it a try and offer newcomers an introduction by some of the best artists in their field.

Discover Dance performances are a perfect 90-minute introduction to dance for families and schools, in which audiences get a chance to learn some moves, get on stage with the company dancers, watch a short performance of Profundis and ask the dancers anything they’d like. For more information on Discover Dance, including ticket prices, contact the venue.

More information about this and other events and activities can be found on NDCWales’ website.

Caroline Finn joined National Dance Company Wales in September 2015 as its new Artistic Director. Her first creation for the company, Folk, toured the UK and internationally in 2016. She subsequently created Animatorium, a versatile piece which can be performed outdoors and in unusual spaces, and which premiered at Green Man festival in 2016. A winner of the Matthew Bourne New Adventures Choreographer Award 2014, she created a new work entitled Bloom for Phoenix Dance Theatre in 2015. As a dancer, Finn performed with Ballet Theater Munich under the direction of Philip Taylor; Ballet Preljocaj (France); Compagnie Carolyn Carlson (France); Jochen Heckmann and Johanna Richter.

Finn has been a freelance dancer and choreographer since 2009 and her acclaimed solo work Bernadette has toured internationally to festivals in Aix en Provence, Munich, Luzern, Berlin, Krakow, Paris and South Korea. Three years in a row she was commissioned to create new works for Theater in Kempten and she has created work for companies such as Tanz Luzerner Theater (Switzerland); Cross Connection Ballet (Denmark); Compagnie DIEM (France) and Teatr Groteska (Poland). Between 2013 and 2014, Finn presented three of her works at the Interdans Festival in Belgium. In 2015 she choreographed a new piece for the National Ballet of Chile based on Kurt Joos’ The Green Table. Finn has been a member of Tanztendenz München e.V. since 2013.

Roy Assaf was born in 1982 in the farming community of Sde Moshe in the south of Israel and has been dancing and creating since he can remember. He began formal training at 16 but two years later, was drafted into a paratrooper unit of the Israel Defence Forces and served there until completing his national service. In 2003 he met the internationally recognised choreographer Emanuel Gat and made his mark touring worldwide with Gat as both performer and Choreographic Assistant from 2004-2009. Since 2010, Assaf has been developing his own works independently.

NDCWales Artistic Director, Caroline Finn said: “We cannot wait to take The Green House and Profundis out on the road. They’re such distinct pieces – one is broody and romantic, the other is performed with more of a wink – but together they give a wonderful flavour of both the extraordinary talent of the company and the inventive and ambitious direction in which National Dance Company Wales is travelling.”

Spring Tour 2017 Dates: