BA Degree Devised Performances 2023
Thurs 29th June-1st July
A warm welcome
Welcome to our BA Devised Performances 2023.
We hope you enjoy the devised pieces crafted and performed by our wonderful BA students.
Tonight’s performance will be opened by our Foundation Degree Year 1 students in their ensemble. Directed by Michaela O’Connor.
Cast: Tula Alred, Ellie Beale, Amelia Bridgwater, Oskar Brightman, Tomas Briones Rojas, Ruby Buchanan, Parker Calvert, Rosie Carr, Alice Collins, Drew Feely, Macy Fenwick, XĂ©lia Froidevaux, Jonathan Goh, Becca Inel, Amelia Laughlin, Freya Lindeck, Freddie Maw, Emma Moon Pechey, Lucy Potter, Willow Saville-Hippely, Alfie Sherwood, Chrys Shipley, Clementine Tonkin Wells, Grace Tonkin Wells, Emma van Buuren, Katie Williamson, Daria Zubilewicz.
As you will know, this has been a challenging year for National Centre. Please feel free to make a donation here and thank you as always for you continued support.
Enjoy the show!
The man in the moon
Who is he?
Does he dance among the stars
Or is he like you and me
A human with human problems
Does he stay up there and watch us from up high
Or maybe he’s the drunk guy you pass on a Friday night
Too wasted to know if he lives on the streets or in the sky
Alex Richardson-Vokes
Discipline: Hula Hoop
Aftermath
A selfish deep dive into self reflection. Over 2 years in London I’ve had to relearn my position in this world and the effects of being surrounded by more than a simple village. From exploring pre-made decisions that are put upon me to the views I must believe about how I look and who I am. A goal was made at the end of second year and that was to prove there is always more to understand, we aren’t always simple and set in a way forced on us.If this was my world, it would be nonsense
This piece is a twist on the white rabbit from Alice in Wonderland. I have created a world of nonsense where nothing is normal. I would love to bring you on this adventure with me. Let’s take a trip down the rabbit hole into this new world.What a dream!
“Where am I? Who are you? Do I need to pee? Why are you staring at me? Don’t look at me! Am I dreaming? Stop laughing! Are YOU dreaming? Stop crying! Yep, I need to pee. Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!”
Ania Gianattasio Blanco
Ania has trained at NCCA for 3 years and previously did a 2-year course at Carampa Circus School in Madrid.
Majors in Aerial Hoop & Hair Hang.
Other Skills include: Clowning, Silks, Juggling, Contortionism.
Instagram: @ania_msb
Just one more chapter
To the girl,
Who reads by flashlight or hidden at work,
Seeing not words but strange worlds as she sits on a train,
who knows magic is real between sips of her tea,
and who falls for the winged faerie, vampire or wolf,
Who is completely lost now,
Or perhaps she is found.
In this strange paper world
Far from the ground.
This is for you.
Lauren McDonnell
Lauren has trained for 2 years at NCCA and prior to this, graduated with a First Class BA Hons Degree in Drama with Musical Theatre and Aerial Dance from Edge Hill University. Lauren has a background of cheerleading and gymnastics, as a Level 6 flyer, competing at World championships and other international and national competitions. Lauren has 16 years’ experience as an elite gymnast at Harrow School of Gymnastics.
Majors in Single Point Trapeze.
Other Skills include: Single Point Trapeze, Doubles Trapeze, Acrobatics, singing & dancing training.
Instagram  @laurenmcd.circus
Longarms
Longarms was aptly named after being born with much too long arms for a baby.
It started off slight, finger tips reaching the ends of her toes then growing and growing until she could almost touch the sky.
You know what they say about people with long arms? They can give big hugs.
But only, there is no one for her to hug.
Ashamed of their long armed baby her parents sent her off to a clinic to be studied for her anomaly. And this is where we meet her.
Locked up in white walls and kept warm by her own wrapping arms, Longarms lives out her day unknowingly under the watchful eyes of all of you out there. Observing.
Danyna Mearns
Dani Mearns is a contemporary circus artist who has been training and performing for 6 years. She specialises in Aerial Straps and Aerial Hoop, and comes from a martial arts, and dance background.
Majors in Aerial Straps.
Other skills include: Aerial Hoop, Contortion, Acrobatics.
Instagram: @dani.mrns
Where did they go?
A piece inspired by everyone’s most feared Doctor Who creatures, the weeping angels. A demonstration of the fear response you may feel when confronted by these beings, will you fight, will you freeze or will you get out of there as quickly as possible? Exploring how tension can be built with sound and lighting or lack of.
Sophia Dennis
Sophia’s past training includes competing in Artistic Gymnastics for over 10 years before coaching and competing in Cheerleading for 7 years.Â
Majors in Chinese Pole.
Instagram: @sophiaxdennis
Discombobulate
Molly’s devised piece is based on the chaotic persona and inner workings of the brain of the one and only Sherlock Holmes.
SHHHHH
SHUT UP
SHUT UP EVERYBODY
Don’t move
Don’t speak
Don’t breath
I’m trying to think…….
Elementary, my dear Watson
Molly Ashby
Molly is a dynamic static trapeze performer at the National Centre for Circus Arts. Molly originally trained in Nottingham at Tuyo Circus Arts. She is a generalist and dancer who has performed across the UK.
Majors in Static Trapeze.
Other skills include: Aerial hoop, Dance Trapeze, Aerial Silks/Rope, Aerial Loops, Acro Dance.
Instagram:@ashby_molly
HollowÂ
Broken? Abandoned? Lost?
No one knows what happened for sure
A porcelain doll, strangely obscure
Her cracked complexion, scarring her skin
Hardly hinting at what’s within                                                           Â
What lies behind those glassy eyes?
Is what you see just a disguise?
She’s empty inside, discarded, misplaced
A vacant expression upon her face
Emotionless, blank and upsettingly hollow,
Who knows what else could possibly follow?
Emily Odunsi
Majors in Aerial Hoop & Teeterboard.
Other skills include: Teeterboard, Aerial, Tumbling and Gymnastics.
Instagram: @odunsi.circus
Knot
Have you ever gotten lost in your thoughts, letting your mind wander into daydreaming without any sense of time passing, and then suddenly, a bunch of thoughts flood your mind over and over again? This piece reflects a personal experience. How does the process of getting lost in a moment daydreaming of playfulness, a duet with your thoughts, a dance in partnership? How that can be affected by the overthinking process getting tangled in your mind? Where worries and concerns repeat over and over again.
I would like the audience to come with me through this process using the interaction and manipulation of objects to reflect this connection, and fight against your mind creating a path of images during the act.
Alvaro Grande Casillas.
Majors in Juggling.
Other skills include: Aerial Silks.
Instagram:@alvarograndee
Synergy
Eric is an interdisciplinary circus artist and will be collaborating with a live musician. He will be crossing the borders between the art forms, bringing a performance where the beat of the drum amplifies the rhythm of his movement quality. It will be a dance between musician and circus performer. By collaborating with the musician, it will be a tool to harness the feelings of anxiety/restriction and transferring these emotions towards love and surrender.
Vida Blenkhorn
Discipline: Silks
You're not here
I watched from the side lines, too young to understand, to help. Too scared to be anything but a fly on the wall. I watched you count down your days as you tired to numb the pain. My screams are silent as I watched you hide the best parts of yourself, a flutter of hope when they came out in little pieces. When you wanted a hot chocolate or when you were giggling about jokes only we understand. You numbed the pain and lost yourself completely. I watched you find the courage to fight on, I watched you win. I wonder if you remember your addiction the way I do.
Luna Reid
Discipline: Aerial Hoop
Azura
Breathe me in. Lose yourself in my eyes, my tongue, my kiss. But be sure to hold onto that breath.
Your eyes, so full of lust, overflowing with desire. You have me right where you want me.
Deeper, we venture. You become undone.
Faster, we sink. Down, down, down to the deep blue depths.
Are your lungs burning yet?
You reach for me, drunk just from one kiss. Desperate for more.
I am to be your demise. Not so clever now. Panic glistens in your eyes because I can still rise, right up to the surface. But you’re stuck down here, ready and waiting to be devoured.
Amma Dixon
Discipline: Rope
Daring To Follow The Tide
Imagine you’re in the ocean and your toes are only just touching the floor, and every time a wave hits you it goes up your nose and into your mouth and you feel like you going to drown. But the water isn’t inherently bad, if you have a flotation device, or just learn how to swim.
After years of straightening your clothes and trying to look like everyone else, you realise maybe you’re just not made the same way, and if you learn to embrace the things that make you different, you can create things that make you very proud.
Cuba Blenkhorn
Discipline: Links
National Centre Staff
Production Team
Tom Albu– Production Manager
Katherine Arnold– Producer
Matt Burch– Head Rigger
Craig Byrne – Sound Designer
Mark Dymock – Lighting Designer
Louis Gift- FD1 Acro Consultant
Sunni Jolly– Deputy Tech Manager
Aime Neeme – Company Stage Manager
Emily May Sions – Costume Designer, BA Design Consultant
Bex Snell – Deputy Stage Manager
BA (Hons) Teaching Team
Katharine Arnold
Mick Barnfather
Neus Gil Cortes
Will Davis
Alexander Dobrynin
Inaki Fernandez Sastre
Ruby Gaskell
Louis Gift
Lydia Harper
Leo Hedman
Ian Marchant
Charlotte Mooney
Amy Panter
Hauk Pattison
Jacob Smart
Higher Education Team
Adrian Porter- Head of Higher Education Delivery
Stevie Taylor – Head of Academic Administration
Martha Harrison – Programme Strand Manager
Amy Welbourn – Programme Strand Manager
Michaela O’Connor – Programme Strand Manager
Antigone Exton-White – Student Support Manager
Joanna Young – Admissions and Registry Manager