Full Length Commission – HELD

Company of Others is a dance theatre company based in the North East of England, founded and led by Artistic Director and Choreographer Nadia Iftkhar. They co-create work which highlights and shares stories of the human experience from a diverse perspective to create dance theatre which ‘uncovers the stories that share the silence’. In 2019 their most recent co-created production Crackle. Dust. toured across the North, moving audiences in theatres and community centres.

“Anger transformed into art. Conflict into beauty. Keep changing the world.” Audience Member, Crackle. Dust.

 

About the work

HELD (working title) will be a radically gentle movement installation co-created with women who are Refugees and Asylum Seekers living in Gateshead. The work will investigate how we hold on to ourselves, each other and our culture when we have to leave so much behind and what we let go of in order to stay whole. With a cast of uniquely individual performers, live sound and 360˚ projection HELD will feel like a womb like experience that compassionately unsettles, captivates and calls for action.

‘I love bringing incredible collaborators together to tell stories in ways that audiences can feel rather than simply see or hear. HELD feels urgent…I hope one day, we won’t need to tell these stories.’ Nadia Iftkhar, Artistic Director & CEO, Company of Others.

 

Crackle. Dust Research and Development, film by Rūta Vero.

HELD created by Company of Others, captured by Luke Waddington.