NEWS
Read the latest news about opportunities, announcements, auditions and much more...
ADULT COMMUNITY DANCE WORKSHOP
Date posted - 05/09/2023
As part of the Coalfield to Landscape project, Eliot Smith Dance (ESD) is hosting an Adult Community Dance Workshop.
The workshop is open to adults living in Northumberland, Newcastle, Gateshead and surrounding areas. No previous dance experience is required.
The workshop will be led by two ESD professional dancers alongside creative director Eliot Smith and guest Danish-based composer Liv Vester Larsen and involve a warm-up, followed by movement and choreography exercises.
This unique workshop will explore the sustainable transformation from coalfields to the landscape of Northumberland — an area of outstanding natural beauty.
Date: Saturday 14 October 2023, 10.00 am - 11.30 am
Location: Woodhorn Museum, QEII Country Park, Ashington NE63 9YF
This workshop is free and spaces are limited. Participants are required to register no later than 07 October 2023.
If you have any questions or access requirements, please contact ESD at info@eliotsmithdance.com before 07 October 2023.
Coalfield and Landscape is funded by the Danish Arts Foundation and Arts Council England in partnership with Julie’s Bicycle.
NEW CHAIR OF ELIOT SMITH DANCE
Date posted - 21/08/2023
The Board of Directors of Eliot Smith Dance (ESD) has unanimously appointed Steph Edusei as Chair.
Steph began her tenure as Chair of the ESD Board on 09 August 2023, and follows the recent appointments of three directors, Heather Corlett, Angela Reay, and Anthony Robinson alongside founder and creative director of ESD, Eliot Smith.
Steph is also Chief Executive of St Oswald’s Hospice and Non-Executive Director of Newcastle Hospitals.
She is the recipient of the Transformational Leader award at the Northern Power Women 2022 awards. Steph is a strong supporter of the arts, culture, and community development and is a strong advocate for equity, diversity and inclusion.
Steph takes on the role of Chair at an exciting time for ESD as it embarks on its autumn season of events featuring a London performance, a European collaboration, an outreach programme for children and adults in our local community and more to come!
She says, “I’m so thrilled to take on the role as Chair for ESD which already has a strong reputation for outstanding work. It allows me to marry my love of dance and performance with a strong commitment to community and equity and I’m excited to see what the future will hold for ESD”.
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Eliot Smith, creative director of ESD says, "Steph's appointment as Chair comes at an exciting time for ESD. Steph joins us at a pivotal moment as we evolve and expand across the North East and beyond with a renewed focus and vision. I look forward to working with Steph and the fellow Board of Directors and furthering our mission of creating unforgettable contemporary dance experiences that inspire".
WELCOME WORK PLACEMENT DANCER
Date posted - 03/08/2023
Continuing our commitment to supporting young dancers who have recently graduated, Eliot Smith Dance (ESD) is delighted to welcome Daniel Bennett to ESD as part of a Work Placement w/c 07 August 2023.
Born in Kingston upon Hull in 2004, Daniel Bennett (He/Him) attended Northern Academy of Performing Arts (NAPA) and Anlaby Studios. He spent five years at Northern Ballet's associate programme as well as taking part as a senior associate at Ballet Boost. At the age of 16 Daniel attended Central School of Ballet in London and graduated in July 2023 with a BA (Hons) in Professional Dance and Performance.
WELCOME NEW DANCERS
Date posted - 03/08/2023
We’re overjoyed to announce and welcome three new gorgeous dancers to Eliot Smith Dance (ESD).
Rowan Parker (She/Her)
Click here to find out more about Rowan.
Charley Mitchell (He/Him)
Click here to find out more about Charley.
Olivia Kirk (She/Her)
Click here to find out more about Olivia.
You can watch ESD’s incredible new dancers in action, on stage this month!
ANNOUNCING AUTUMN 2023 SEASON
Date posted - 04/08/2023
ESD are excited to share our autumn 2023 season with you.
More than ever, it is important to acknowledge how dance and the arts in general can be a vehicle to bring us together and explore our human connection on this planet.
ESD's autumn season features a London performance, a European collaboration, an extensive outreach programme for children and adults in our local community and more to come!
ESD believe this season will bring you a richness of creativity and ideas in contemporary dance. Further details and information on how to purchase tickets to our upcoming events is available on our events webpage by clicking here.​
ELIOT SMITH DANCE AWARDED SEED FUND TO COLLABORATE WITH DANISH BASED ARTIST LIV VESTER LARSEN
Date posted - 04/07/2023
Eliot Smith Dance (ESD) is excited to have been awarded SEED fund by Danish Arts Foundation and Arts Council England in partnership with Julie’s Bicycle following participation in the International Touring and Environmental Responsibility programme 2023.
Originally in spring 2023, 20 artists and companies (10 from England, 10 from Denmark) took part in a three-month interactive, online programme exploring key touring challenges, with provocations, frameworks, and practical approaches to reducing their carbon and environmental impacts.
Following the programme, participants were invited to apply for funding in partnership with one another. Three projects were awarded up to £20,000 to seed fund concepts originating from the programme.
England-based contemporary dance company, ESD and Danish-based artist Liv Vester Larsen were one of three successful partners.
Their project, “MERGE” will bring ESD and Liv Vester Larsen together to create an interdisciplinary contemporary dance work created and performed at what was once the largest pit village in the world, Ashington (England). The work will highlight the sustainable transformation from coalfields to the landscape of Northumberland — an area of outstanding natural beauty.
This project will include high quality dance and music workshops tailored for all ages and abilities in the local community to participate and engage in the dance.
This project will also enable ESD to pilot the first “International Dance Organisation Environmental Action Group” online in early 2024.
More details will be announced in August 2023.
ESD JOINS THE SECOND EDITION OF THE INTERNATIONAL TOURING AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY PROGRAMME
Date posted - 03/03/2023
Eliot Smith Dance (ESD) is pleased to share that we are one of twenty artists and companies based in England and Denmark invited onto the second edition of the International Touring and Environmental Responsibility (ITER) programme, led by Julie’s Bicycle and funded by Arts Council England and the Danish Arts Foundation.
ITER aims to foster relationships between artists and companies based in England and Denmark, supporting them to develop new, environmentally responsible approaches to international touring and collaboration.
Travel and touring are essential to the arts, but they come at a cost. As the urgency of the climate crisis increases, so does the need for the arts sector to fully understand its touring footprint, and to develop a means of sharing art which supports the transition to a global low carbon future.
The twenty artists and companies will participate in a three-month online programme from March - May 2023 looking at the challenges posed by international touring, and finding ways to reduce the carbon and environmental impacts of their tours.
"As COP27 comes to a close, there is a renewed sense of urgency for climate action and we must harness the power of the arts and culture to innovate, influence and inspire change. Building on the success of last year’s programme developed in partnership with Arts Council England and Danish Art Foundation, we hope to drive forward sector knowledge on sustainable touring and empower organisations to move towards an environmentally responsible creative sector."
– Alison Tickell, Founder & Director, Julie’s Bicycle
November 2022
"ESD is excited to take its high quality and accessible dance works to an international audience. But this comes at a cost, which is not merely financial. As the urgency of the climate crisis increases, so does the need to understand our touring footprint. The opportunity to participate in the ITER programme will not be taken for granted. ESD looks forward to sharing what we've learned from the programme with the wider dance sector. ESD hopes to unlock innovative environmentally conscious thinking in relation to touring dance internationally."
– Eliot Smith, Founder & Creative Director, Eliot Smith Dance (ESD)
March 2023
The invited artists and companies from Denmark are:
Aaben Dans
Den Selvejende Institution Swinging Europe
Foreningen BIRCA Residency
Creative - without Nature?
Aarhus Festuge
Lydenskab
Kunstneren Tæt På and AREA-network
Himherandit Productions
Between Music
Ars Nova Copenhagen
The invited artists and companies from England are:
Asian Arts Agency
Eliot Smith Dance
China Plate Theatre
Askonas Holt Ltd
Sage Gateshead
Pavilion Dance South West
Sam Redway
Dance Consortium
Orchestra for the Age of Enlightenment
Actors Touring Company
ELIOT SMITH DANCE WINS THE GREEN DANCE AWARD
Date posted - 31/10/2022
Eliot Smith Dance (ESD) wins the first ever Green Dance Award at the prestigious One Dance UK Award. This award celebrates any form of work that uses dance as a tool to spotlight and respond to the environment and climate crisis.
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Eliot Smith says,
All of us at ESD are shocked and overjoyed to be awarded the first-ever ‘The Green Dance Award’ at the One Dance UK Awards 2022. We are grateful for ESD being one of the recipients of this important award.
But, it is not just ESD who is the winner. It was a team effort from the dancers, creatives, artists, composer in residence, musicians, climate activists, local environmentalists, leaders, mentors, audiences, supporters, funders, theatres, local community centres and absolutely everyone who has experienced ESD the past 12 months. We are a part of the global movement of children, young people and adults of all ages and backgrounds who have decided to act in defence of our planet and ESD share this award with them.
We congratulate fellow shortlist nominees Johnny Autin and Motion Control Dance including all those shortlisted and those of you who received an award.
Thank you to everyone who continues to support ESD. Together let’s make our planet greener and use the power of dance to make that change, especially during these challenging and trying times in the arts sector.
ESD CELEBRATES THEIR FIRST PRIDE MONTH
Date posted - 30/07/2022
Dance Unites Us!
On 22 July 2023, ESD for the first time participated proudly in the Northern Pride March in Newcastle upon Tyne.
Pride Month originally began after the Stonewall riots, a series of gay liberation protests in 1969, and has since spread outside of the US.
ESD acknowledges the support from Friends of ESD for sponsoring ESD's banner.
Help and Advice? Information and support for LGBT+ communities and their allies. Contact Stonewall's Information Service FREEPHONE 0800 0502020 Lines are open 9:30 - 4:30 Monday to Friday.
Visit: www.stonewall.org.uk