A blistering and brutal, sometimes achingly tender new work by ex Phoenix dancer Douglas Thorpe. Exploring the experience of schizophrenia, a mind as beautiful combines the trademark speed, rhythm and precision of Thorpe’s choreography with a moving spoken-word narrative.
CHOREOGRAPHY: DOUGLAS THORPE
PERFORMANCE: Tiziana Fracchiolla, Maria Olga Palliani, Shahla Tarrant, Philine Janssens
Project Manager: Sarah Shead/ Mad Dogs Dance Theatre
Running time: 20-25 min; Number of Performers: 4
Tour Dates
| 02 MARCH | LIVERPOOL, UNITY THEATRE |
| 06 MARCH | BATH, ICIA ARTS THEATRE |
| 10 MARCH | GUILDFORD, PATS DANCE STUDIO |
| 13 MARCH | CAMBRIDGE, THE JUNCTION |
| 17 MARCH | BARNSLEY, THE CIVIC THEATRE |
| 26 MARCH | DERBY, DEDA |
| 27 MARCH | NOTTINGHAM, LAKESIDE ARTS CENTRE |
| 29/30 APRIL | LONDON, THE PLACE |
Biography
Douglas became interested in dance at Harehills Middle School in Leeds. He went on to train at London Contemporary Dance School in 1982.He joined Phoenix Dance Company in 1987 and spent four years with the company, during which time he worked with choreographers including Michael Clarke, Philip Taylor and Tom Jobe.
After taking a nine-year break from performing, Douglas returned as a guest dancer in RJC’s Krazy Spirit in 2000 and choreographed left-a-lone for RJC’s Soma 2003 tour. Douglas rejoined Phoenix in December 2003 for another 3 years working with choreographers such as Darshan Singh Bhuller, Henri Oguike, and Javier de Frutos.
In 2004 Douglas co-founded RODA, a research and development project, which has been running for the past 5 summers. Douglas took part in Resolution! 2008 with his piece “Dry Toast” and 2009 with his piece “Beast”. Phoenix Dance Theatre will be touring “ Beast” Autumn 2009. ‘Beast’ was also chosen to be performed as part of Decibel Performing Arts showcase. This summer Douglas made a new work for ACE Music and Dance Company, which will be touring nationally and internationally.
Dancers
Maria Olga Palliani
Graduated from The Place in 2003 and is trained in classical ballet, modern, contemporary dance. Maria toured in Italy from 2000-2005 working with various dance companies including: Opas Teatro, Botega and CAT. She as also worked with Retina Dance Company of Filip Van Hauffel in Belgium and in England for the production and touring of Me:Mo (2003-2004), than for Bare Bones, DanceXchange in Birmingham, UK performing works by Helene Blackburn, Wendy Houston, Hans Tuerlings, William Tuckett (2005). Maria has been a member of the Stadttheatre St Gallen in Switzerland, directed by Philipp Efli, enabling her to work with several international choreographers including: Stain Celjs, Charles Linehan, Andrea Boll, Uri Ivgi, Johan Graben, Eva Karczag, Nick Hobbs, Michael Parson and Jennifer Lacey.
In 2009, Maria has been working in Milan with A.I.E.P dance company of Ariella Vidach and in London with Tom Dale Company for the production of ROAM and in July 2009 she joined the company Mad Dogs Dance Theatre of Douglas Thorpe in Leeds, for the creation of his new upcoming production ‘A Mind as Beautiful’.
Shahla Tarrant
Shahla works in the UK and Europe as a freelance dancer, teacher and choreographer. Originally a gymnast, she graduated from the London Contemporary Dance School and has since worked with a number of choreographers and companies including: Stijn Celis, Jonathan Lunn, Amir Hosseinpour, Mark Bruce, Joanne Fong and Jochen Heckman and the dirctor Ingrid Wantoch von Rekowski. Opera work includes productions with David Alden, Pierre Audi, David McVicar, Nikolaus Lehnhoff, Christof Loy, Amir Hosseinpour & Nigel Lowry and Amir Nizar Zuabi.
Recent choreography work includes assisting Jonathan Lunn on his UK tour of ‘Reading Room’ and Amir Hosseinpour on ‘Castor et Pollux’ at the Dutch National Opera. Shahla made ‘Where The Humans Eat' for Resolution! 2009 and has since toured to Cambridge, Bath and the Edinburgh Fringe. She is collaborating on a number of photography, theatre and dance projects for the coming year.
Tiziana Fracchiolla
Tiziana is Italian born in South Africa. After having completed her training in South Africa she then joined the State Theatre Dance Company (SA). Since then she has worked with Phoenix Dance Theatre, Danish Dance Theatre, Mute Comp Physical Theatre and performed works by numerous choreographers including Ohad Naharin, Itzik Galili, Moses Pendelton, Aleksei Ratmansky, Jane Dudley, Tim Feldman, Arthur Pita, Javier De Frutos and Stuart Lynch. Tiziana has choreographed for the short film The Madness of the Dance, she has created two new works for the Copenhagen International Ballet and was the assistant choreographer for Show Boat at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Tiziana has taught at The Place, YYD and delivered workshops at over 150 schools in the UK.
Philine Janssens
Philine trained in contemporary dance and ballet.She recently worked for Stijn Celis at the Vlaamse Opera (Antwerp) and with Yasmeen Godder in Jaffa (Tel Aviv). Philine now lives and works in Belgium (Compagnie Artonaut, Studio Indigo...) but she used to live in London where she performed at the Royal Opera House (Turandot, choreography Kate Flatt), as a soloist for the English National Opera (AIDA, choreography Jonathan Lunn) and for In the Wings productions (UK tour Peter and the Wolf, choreography Didi Veldman). Other work include contemporary choreographers Lara Stefansdottir and Yael Asher, physical theatre performances with BoXd production, contact-improvisation performances with SnapDragonDance and Contact Impro London as well as stage-fighting and acting for short film company The Alpha Channel productions (UK) and the ateam productions (Brussels). Previous work in Belgium include Trespass company (Ken Hioco), Studio Wambach and the Royal Ballet of Flanders. Philine was commissioned as a choreographer for the Place Prize 2008 (sponsored by Bloomberg) and has an MA in Choreography and in Dance for the Screen.
Biography of Piece
a mind as beautiful explores the experience of those who suffer with schizophrenia and of those who love them and care for them. Sometimes brutal, sometimes achingly tender, it is a startling physical portrait of the erratic, irrational mind in a domestic setting made terrible with frustration and loss.
Informed by Thorpe’s research into the science and history of schizophrenia, the trademark speed, rhythm and precision of his choreography combine with a moving spoken-word narrative to create dance at its most expressive and visceral.
