company history

F F I N D A N C E was founded by Artistic Director Sue Lewis in 2003 as a result of a growing demand for high quality dance in Wales. In July 2006, the company was delighted when Dilys Price OBE, became its patron.

After having performed to a sell-out audience at the prestigious Resolution! season at The Place, London and wowing the audience at The Open Space, the company is now touring its work to a larger field having completed a successful tour of North and South Wales venues in Spring 2007.

The work created by Ffin is inventive and entertaining and appeals to all ages and tastes.

Trained in Performing Arts and Physical Education, Sue has vast experience of working in schools, colleges and in the professional theatre. Over the last 25 years, she has created many pieces of work and is currently a freelance choreographer and advisor in contemporary technique, physical theatre and choreography.

Since founding F F I N D A N C E in 2003, Sue has been able to further her love of choreography and share it with a wider audience.

Greatly inspired by the work of Siobhan Davies and Richard Alston, Sue's work mixes improvisation methods with a love of musical form.

In 2006, Sue Lewis was granted a training bursary by the Arts Council of Wales to undergo a Choreography Mentorship with Siobhan Davies. This saw a great turning point in the way the company worked. SDDC were making In Plain Clothes at the time which is constructed using fragments of dance giving unlimited connections; watching this process took our choreography in a completely different direction.

resident company

In November 2007, F F I N D A N C E became Resident Company at The Met. Located in the centre of Abertillery, The Met has been transformed into a superb cultural and conference centre. Originally constructed in 1892 by Charles John Seaborne, the centre has been imaginatively restored to its former Victorian grandeur, retaining many of the original features such as the timber vaulted ceiling and the iron columns and decorative panels.

aims

This season, F F I N D A N C E will:

  • Create a triple bill of work BIRDS OF A FEATHER that is artistically innovative and withholds our usual high quality. There will be 2 NEW PIECES OF WORK CREATED BY SUE LEWIS, THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR DURING THIS PERIOD
  • Provide an opportunity for an apprentice dancer to learn repertory and perform with the company. This dancer was placed with FFIN DANCE last year when she was in vocational training. Since then, she has been undertaking project work in London (with FFIN dancer Lisa Hood in Elddup at the Sassoon Gallery, Peckham) and training at The Place, and will return to Wales in the spring of 2008 to work with FFIN DANCE. She was a member of The Move, Blaenau Gwent Youth Dance Company and began her training in Blaenau Gwent Arts Development Community Dance Classes. This will make a total of 2 dancers who began dancing in this way and have progressed to professional level and returned to the Borough to work as a professional dancer
  • Provide opportunities for artists wishing to work alongside community dance organisations and specific groups working with young people. During the audition process, Ffin declares its interest in working with such groups. The dancers whom we select are those who want to work alongside young people and community groups. The Director provides training for Ffin dancers during the workshops and classes. The director has taught in schools, colleges and the community for 25 years and has a vast knowledge and skill in this area of work. The company has become Dance Company in Residence at The Met, Abertillery and will be providing professional dance services to the Borough of Blaenau Gwent
    Work with venue managers to raise the profile of dance in venues by taking part in performance platforms sharing the space with other Wales based dance artists
  • Provide work experience placements during the rehearsal periods for suitable students who are interested in a career in dance
  • Provide guidance and support for dance graduates wishing to gain experience of working with groups in the community

 

the met

 

"athletic technical contemporary dance" Sarah Smith (Resolution! 2008)

"Taking literal dance cues from Thomas's text, Lewis and her boiler-suited brigade engagingly set the scene, sketching out an array of eccentric characters"  Keith Watson (Metro)