Sadler’s Wells announces winner of global online dance contest
Sadler’s Wells has announced that 26 year old Taiwanese choreographer, Shu-Yi Chou has beaten competitors from 34 different countries across the world to win the theatre’s first ever online Global Dance Contest.
Voted for by members of the public since September 2009, from a final shortlist of 10 entries, Shu-Yi’s piece titled (1875) Ravel and Bolero is an original contemporary dance work for 12 dancers set to Ravel’s famous music and dedicated to the fleeting nature of time.
As the winner of Sadler’s Wells’ inaugural contest, Shu-Yi and his company receive a cash prize of £2000 and the chance to perform their piece as part of the star-studded line-up at the theatre’s critically acclaimed dance taster weekend Sadler’s Wells Sampled in January 2010. The theatre will cover travel and accommodation costs for the group to come to London for the performances and will provide technical and artistic support for the piece to be adapted to the world class stage.
Sadler’s Wells Sampled is the theatre’s annual sell-out showcase weekend of the best in international dance. On Saturday 30 and Sunday 31 January 2010, Shu-Yi and his company will perform on the main stage at Sadler’s Wells to an estimated audience of 3,600 people. Star-studded line-ups over the three years since Sampled’s inception have included American Ballet Theatre, hip hop from Franck II Louise, contemporary dance from Wayne McGregor - Random Dance and Rambert Dance Company, tap from Jason Samuels Smith and flamenco from Eva Yerbabuena and Maria Pagés.
Tickets for Sampled go on sale on Monday 7 December 2009, at £10 for seats and £5 for standing.
Alistair Spalding, Artistic Director and CEO at Sadler’s Wells says “As the world’s leading venue for dance, Sadler’s Wells’ mission is to present the widest possible range of dance in all its forms, and to support new, imaginative work from across the globe. As a young choreographer in the early stages of his career in dance, it is a huge achievement for Shu-Yi to have beaten so many entries from countries as far afield as Nigeria, Venezuela, China and Australia. As well as being able to offer each year’s winner the chance to perform alongside world class artists at our critically acclaimed event Sadler’s Wells Sampled, this contest has also given Sadler’s Wells the opportunity to reach a wider group of dance makers than ever before, which is incredibly exciting.”
Sadler’s Wells Director of Marketing and Communications, Kingsley Jayasekera comments “Dance is globally one of the most popular art forms and the wealth of talent and breadth of styles that exists is just incredible. Sadler’s Wells is already well known for its use of multi-media technology and in particular video to reach audiences. The Global Dance Contest is an exciting new development that not only uses the reach of the web to give a wider window on the world’s emerging dance talent, but also allows us to present the best of that talent to our audiences.”
26 year old Taiwanese choreographer Shu-Yi Chou has presented work at the Taiwan National University of Arts Young Choreographer's Project and at Cloud Gate Dance Theatre’s Seed Choreographers Project. In 2005 Shu-Yi and several young choreographers founded Taiwan's first all-male dance company, Horse, and in 2008 the company collaborated with French choreographer Thierry Bai to choreograph Bones, performing at the Joyce Theater in New York. Shu-Yi has also performed with Taiwan's Lafa Dance Company, and has created multimedia works at the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Art in Taichung, and with French sound artist Yannick Dauby.
In 2008 he joined the International Choreographer Residency program of the American Dance Festival in North Carolina, and went on to join a six-month Asian Cultural Council residency programme in New York, ending in September 2009. In October 2009 he joined the three-month residency programme Cité des Arts in Paris.
Launched in March this year, Sadler’s Wells set out to discover new dance talent from across the globe with its first ever online Global Dance Contest. Open to anyone aged 18 and over, in six months 170 applicants from 34 different countries submitted their own original dance clips via YouTube onto the competition website globaldancecontest.com for the chance to win a cash prize and perform live on the main stage as part of Sadler’s Wells Sampled, the theatre’s yearly dance taster weekend, showcasing the best in international dance.
The initial 170 entries ranged from performances in a living room, and on a beach, to a back garden, and on a convertible VW Beetle as well as in studios, and spanned every conceivable dance style, from flamenco to streetdance, contemporary to tango.
Shu-Yi Chou’s (1875) Ravel and Bolero was one of a shortlist of 10 videos selected by a prestigious panel of judges who included choreographer Arlene Phillips, UK broadcaster and journalist Miranda Sawyer and Artistic Director and CEO of Sadler’s Wells Alistair Spalding. The 10 shortlisted pieces were assessed in terms of their creativity and originality, performing skill and entertainment value.
Put forward for public vote via the competition website from 1 September to 13 November 2009 the shortlist represented a diverse mix of dance works from Korea, USA, South Africa, Israel, Taiwan, UK and Australia, and included a street-dance quartet by Northern Irish group Bad Taste Cru, from the US an energetic solo entitled The Clean State by a choreographer whose dance history includes working alongside Pina Bausch’s Tanztheater Wuppertal, and the work of Liberation Dance Theatre, a collective who see dance as a way to achieve social change.
The contest runs annually for the next four years. At the end of four years in 2012, the collective winners of the annual competition will be invited to perform their work in London during the Olympic year.
To see the winning entry go to sadlerswells.com/screen
For further details about the Sadler’s Wells online Global Dance Contest go to: globaldancecontest.com