Greenwich Dance Moving Eltham. Photo by Roswitha Chesher.

London Theatre News Today: Friday 29 January

By Kitty Underwood First Published 29 January 2021, Last Updated 1 February 2021

New dates for Here Come The Boys

Here Come The Boys will now run from 7 Apri to 15 May at the Garrick Theatre. The dance extravaganza will see sees Strictly Come Dancing superstars Aljaž Škorjanec, Pasha Kovalev, Robin Windsor and Graziano di Prima battle it out against a cutting-edge soundtrack of dance-floor anthems, club classics and guilty pleasures to be named ‘King of the Dance’. 

Grab your tickets through the link below!

New mentorship scheme to support British East and South East Asian artists

 A new pilot scheme has been launched to provide mentoring for British East and South East Asian (BESEA) artists in the performing arts. The Tidal Rising Mentoring Scheme has been established by a new collective of BESEA artists, creative practitioners working in the performing arts. Our collective is cross-disciplinary and has worked across different media. They came together because they believe that artists, creative and technical practitioners of BESEA heritage face specific barriers and obstacles in the performing arts industry. They are passionate about securing a better future for the next generation and building a supportive community.

The scheme is supported by Arts Council England, New Earth Theatre, the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts, Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, East 15 Acting School, the London School of Musical Theatre, Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, the Musical Theatre Academy, the Oxford School of Drama, the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts and Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.

Fifteen mentoring partnerships will be set up and run over six months. All participants – both mentors and those receiving mentorship – will be of BESEA heritage and will receive training to ensure they can make the most of their relationship. The scheme is open to artists, creatives and technical roles in the performing arts and will be free of charge.

The aim of the scheme is to help combat the historic and systemic prejudices that BESEA artists face in the performing arts and wider UK society. There has been a 300% increase in hate crimes towards people of East Asian and Southeast heritage in the UK since the pandemic began. Applications are now open on the Tidal Rising website and will close at 23:59 on 15 February 2021.

New initiative launched to help touring dance productions

This spring, Greenwich Dance will launch ArtsUnboxed, an innovative new way to safely create, produce and tour work in 2021.
Funded by the Culture Recovery Fund, administered by Arts Council England, Greenwich Dance has commissioned six artists to develop new dance work that can be packaged as a virtual blueprint and sold to venues, festivals and dance organisations across the country. Those purchasing the works will then be able to deliver them using local artists, with a royalty going to the original creatives.

Designed to kickstart creativity in dance following the devastating impact COVID-19 has had on the sector, ArtsUnboxed also offers a more sustainable and environmentally friendly way of touring ideas rather than people and creates more opportunities for cultural employment at a local level.

Melanie Precious, Chief Executive Officer of Greenwich Dance said: “As we reimagined our performance programme last year, we could see patterns emerging in the work we created as well as that of other organisations. We could hear the heart-breaking voices of artists falling through the gap in Government support and knew we had to act.

“At its most basic, ArtsUnboxed is a way for creatives to develop a recipe for new dance work that can be replicated by artists in local settings around the country. This ground-breaking initiative is the latest example of how we have continued to provide opportunities for artists to create and audiences to engage with dance work in a safe environment, while also supporting employment in the sector and offering hope for the future.”

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Garrick Theatre here come the boys

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