My creative time with the company dancers making my new work has come to an end in the studio. RISE is now ready to be refined, polished and staged and will be premièred at our beloved home The Beaufort Theatre

The last section of RISE is titled rewritten as we look with hope to a rewriting of the fate of the gossip and the victims taken from characters in Dylan Thomas’ “Under Milk Wood”

We selected 3 of our FFIN DANCE Youth dancers to perform alongside us in this section in the première on April 6th. They are essentailly what we have fondly called them – mini mes

Our company dancers Catrin, Georgina and Louis have spent some time in the studio during the half term school holiday making work with them that follows the rewriting of the character’s fates. The young dancers are the last image that we see in the piece as they exit the space which imitates a school line in single file.

We had great fun working with them and we hope they had a great experience working in this way; so lucky to be working alongside professional dancers in the studio on a one to one basis.

So now as I hand over my creative “baby” to my trusty dancers, we look forward to sharing the finished work with you.

In addition to presenting RISE in the theatre, we will also be touring this around schools, groups and festivals with accompanying workshops. If that’s something you would be interested in hosting, please get in touch with Catrin on this email ffindancecl@gmail.com

Until I see you next, thank you for accompanying me on this journey …
sue lewis

My second day in the studio with the company dancers, Catrin, Georgina and Louis.

My new work which will be premièred on 6 April 2024, draws inspiration from a variety of sources including Dylan Thomas’ play for voices “Under Milk Wood”
Today, we explored the psychology of why people gossip.

Aptly titled RISE, the piece discovers what it takes to rise above being hurt by others and not to be controlled by external influencers.

Hannah Rose says this about gossiping:
“It’s a behavior that I can still struggle the most with. I get so easily pulled into the toxicity or drama of another’s life and feel this internal urge to chime in, agree, or give my two cents about certain life decisions of another person. Every time, without fail, these behaviors or life choices have absolutely nothing to do with me or my life”
We all do it in the guise of sharing a bit of news, but do we stop to think of the victim of our casual chat?

Tomorrow, we look at the victims and the toxicity of throwing casual remarks to judgement.

Join me for my next blog and continue my choreographic journey …
sue lewis

I am exceptionally excited to share with you the musings of my new work for the company – RISE

It’s been a while since I have had the luxury of spending time with our company dancers to create a new piece of work and I am so very happy to be able to share my time with you.

Over the next two weeks, I invite you to take this journey with me and read all about my choreographic process, highs and lows and join in the final product on stage at our home theatre

see you tomorrow …
sue lewis

We are delighted to share our good news with you that we have secured funding from the UK Government Levelling Up Shared Prosperity Fund

We welcome three new members of staff to our team:

Catrin | Community Coordinator for FFIN DANCE
Louis | Events & Volunteers Coordinator for The Beaufort Theatre
Andrew | Innovation Coordinator for FFIN DANCE

They start post in June and July 2023 and will be taking our organisations forward and will most certainly be getting in touch with you!

We are pleased to invite you to our new work by Tess Letham at our home theatre The Beaufort Theatre & Café Bar on April 15th 2023

Traces:we are all just passing by

The work explores concepts of how the memories of those no longer present in our physical lives linger on: how these people have influenced and shaped us. Whether their presence was fleeting or enduring, their traces have become an integral part of our personal histories, like tiles in a mosaic, forming a unique and intricate pattern that makes us who we are. And how we embody these patterns in our present, showing up for those around us in the here and now.

Tess, an Edinburgh based Dance Artist describes her work:

“My creations focus on human experience – constructing both obscure and deeply authentic environments, inviting the audience fully into an intriguing theatrical world.
I have spent extensive time studying the methods of Flying Low and Passing Through, created by David Zambrano, a main focus of my teaching practice. I am an ambassador for sharing this work across the UK and further afield. This has also become a vital part of my individual movement practice and philosophical understanding of what dance represents in the wider context of community and culture. Within my whole practice I seek an open and encouraging environment, nurturing the possibility to share, discuss, feedback and discover ideas with others”

Take a look at rehearsals here

So, as we set off on another creative journey, I’m delighted to welcome Tess Letham to our beloved home studio at The Beaufort Theatre & Café Bar

Tess trained first at the Scottish School of Contemporary Dance, then went on to Northern Contemporary Dance securing a prized Post Graduate apprenticeship with Motion House.
Her creations focus on human experiences – constructing both obscure and deeply authentic environments, inviting the audience fully into an intriguing theatrical world.
Having spent extensive time studying the methods of Flying Low and Passing Through created by David Zambrano, Tess is an ambassador for sharing this work across the UK and further afield.

We start our creative period on Monday January 30th with Tess and our company dancers Catrin, Georgina and Louis
Louis has joined us for his first season as a professional dancer with FFIN DANCE having previously danced with us as a child and then a youth in our community classes and more latterly as a valued member of our teaching team.

The process for the new creation will unite a specific movement practice together with narratives developed through improvisational exercises that explore physical storytelling.
The narratives within the work will be created from solo, partner and group exercises and tools which focus on the physicality of clarity and memory, character and states, transformation and instant adaption, presence, breaking habitual performance tendencies, and encouragement to explore alternative/atypical dynamics and interactions.
The work will explore characterisation, blending physical theatre, dance and storytelling to create a landscape of imagination and surprise.

The company dancers will be working alongside Tess to create the new piece which will be premièred on April 15th 2023 (please see here for tickets)
We then tour the work which will be accompanied by a full community workshop package for schools and groups. Please contact Catrin ffindancecl@gmail.com to get involved.

sue lewis