Photo Credit: Chris Nash, from the work Disappearing Acts

Masterclass description

Flexer & Sandiland will be leading a workshop exploring some of the themes and newly created repertoire from "Imagining Otherwise" a digital dance work they have been researching through Oct 2020. Delivered on Zoom the workshop will begin with improvisations and a short technique class led by Artistic Director Yael Flexer followed by repertoire taught by one of the company dancers and adapted to fit small places. The "Imagining Otherwise" project reflects on our online experience of parallel time zones, places & lives, exploring our imagined wishes for the future & the actuality we find ourselves. Organic digital projections evoke qualities shifting between landscape & the body which, together with spoken text, evoke & question a sense of be/longing & memory.

Directed by award-winning choreographer Yael Flexer and installation artist Nic Sandiland, Flexer & Sandiland create live and digital installation work (for theatres, galleries, screens and large outdoor spaces) alongside an extensive programme of commissions and tailor-made training for youth, community groups & professional companies.

Yael and Nic’s work centres on the generating of a sense of intimacy in live performance and digital installation, in a way which acknowledges the physicality and presence of the viewer. Works blend intricate, fast-paced & space-hungry choreography with text, wry humour & interactive digital environments.

Flexer & Sandiland are Align Artists 2020 at South East Dance, Brighton. Recent projects & productions include: research for new works Imagining Otherwise & Acting Our Age in the UK & Israel (2020). Curiouser (2019-2020) an immersive work for ages 3-6 and their families or carers, touring extensively in the UK and Norway including Brighton Festival, The Lowry, The Place & Yorkshire Dance and commissioned by Sandnes Kulturhus, The Hum (2017-2019) a sited audio app for smart phone users, commissioned by Brighton Festival touring nationally also with Without Walls festival network, Disappearing Acts (2016) an internationally touring immersive live performance, Weighted (2016) a gallery based digital installation & Weightless (2014) an internationally touring live performance celebrating the company’s 20th Anniversary. Live & Digital commissions include: The Barbican, Sadler's Wells, South East Dance, Woking Dance Festival, Trinity-Laban, Hull Dance, Motus Dance Festival, National Youth Dance Company Scotland, E-Werk Tanz Festival (Germany), Maslool (Israel), Stavanger University (Norway), Edge- The Place, Scottish Dance Theatre, Ludus Dance, Mapdance, Lila, Freefall, Encore East & Three Score Dance Companies. Flexer & Sandiland's digital work Trip Hazard will be on view on the street of Bournemouth in 2021, presented by Pavilion Dance South West

Yael Flexer is an award-winning choreographer based in Brighton, UK. Her work is primarily concerned with interaction, connecting with an audience on a human and visceral level. The work has a subtlety and intimacy that is apparent in the movement choices, wry humour and informal on-stage dialogue between performers. Works blend fast-paced intricate movement with digital technology, dry humour and text often written by collaborator Wendy Houstoun.

Yael originally formed the company as Choreographer in Residence at The Place Theatre, London. To date she has created 13 full-length productions, touring throughout the UK and internationally. Company commissions of live and/or digital works include Brighton Festival, Brighton Digital Festival, Woking Dance Festival, Sadler’s Wells, The South Bank Centre & Barbican Centre, London.

Health and Safety

Dancing in your own home means that YOU are responsible for your health and safety as such, please read and follow the guidance below before agreeing to dance along with the live dance sessions.

* Ensure you wear appropriate clothing and footwear when dancing at home.

* Ensure your dancing space is safe. Where possible, move furniture out of the way to ensure you have ample space to move.

* If there are pets or small children in the house, please ensure they remain in another room as they may present a hazard.

*Please note attendees will be sent masterclass Zoom link the day before*