This summer East London Dance and Hofesh Shechter Company, in partnership with Historic Royal Palaces and LIFT, present East Wall – a large-scale spectacle of dance and live music directed by the world-renowned choreographer Hofesh Shechter. The project is in collaboration with four newly-announced choreographers, and will take place at the Tower of London in the week commencing 16 July. LCF is the costume design partner for the event through its Collaborative Unit, with support from the Performing Arts Department at the University of East London.
All images by Michelle Marshall, Mireia Ludevid Llop and Suki Lui.
-
- Designer: Lou Bennetts. Photography Michelle Marshall
An open call for participants took place in March of this year at University of East London’s University Square Stratford Campus. Although the project is a celebration of east London, groups from across the city applied – schools, community and youth dance groups of up to 30 dancers aged between 13 – 25, across a diverse range of movement and dance styles.
East Wall will see Hofesh Shechter working in collaboration with up and coming choreographers, Becky Namgauds, Duwane Taylor, James Finnemore and Joseph Toonga in a large-scale performance uniting dancers, musicians and community participants to celebrate east London’s rich cultural heritage. Each of the four choreographers, whose dance styles range from krump to contemporary, will work closely with the young participants to create expressive and dynamic dance works that will be weaved together by Shechter. Costumes worn by the dancers are designed by Louise Bennetts working with MA Costume Design for Performance students at LCF. This was offered as a project for the Collaborative Unit, where all LCF Masters students are given the opportunity to collaborate in cross-disciplinary groups on industry or self-initiated projects of their choice. The idea is that these groups more closely represent how graduates would be working in the industry, and give students the opportunity for professional development and to enhance their creative networks.
Hofesh Shechter said:
I have had the pleasure of working with each of these choreographers in the lead up to East Wall and know that they will bring a unique sensibility, style and energy to the project which I can’t wait to share with a national audience on this grand and historic stage.
LCF students involved in the project are from MA Fashion Cultures, MA Costume Design for Performance, MA Fashion Media Production and MA Fashion Photography. For more information on the project follow @eastwall_sidelines and stay up to date with the process and interviews with some of the dancers, choreographers and designers involved.
- Buy tickets for the show
- More about MA Fashion Cultures
- More about MA Costume Design for Performance
- More about MA Fashion Media Production
- More about MA Fashion Photography