The End of Year Show starts tonight!

Hello everyone,

We are pleased to announce that the End of Year Show starts tonight! Take advantage of our special ticket offer: Buy 3 get one free. Bring 4 friends for the price of 3!

See you there!

The production team

Brief history of dances performed at the EOYS

Contemporary

Contemporary dance is a genre of concert dance that employs compositional philosophy, rather than choreography, to guide unchoreographed movement. It uses dance techniques and methods found in ballet, modern dance and postmodern dance, and it also draws from other philosophies of movement that are outside the realm of classical dance technique.

The term "contemporary dance" is sometimes used to describe dance that is not classical jazz or traditional folk/cultural dance^. The hallmark of contemporary dance is an awareness of the limitations of form. Sub-genres recently defined by dance critics include non-dance, conceptual dance and pedestrian contemporary^.

African

African dance refers mainly to the dance of Sub-Saharan Africa, and more appropriately African dances because of the many cultural differences in musical and movement styles. These dances must be viewed in close connection with African music, as many African languages have no word to define music.

These dances teach social patterns and values and help people work, mature, praise or criticize members of the community while celebrating festivals and funerals, competing, reciting history, proverbs and poetry; and to encounter gods. The most widely used musical instrument in Africa is the human voice.

Although nomadic groups such as the Maasai do not traditionally use drums; in villages throughout the continent, the sound and the rhythm of the drumexpress the mood of the people. The drum is the sign of life; its beat is the heartbeat of the community. Such is the power of the drum to evoke emotions, to touch the souls of those who hear its rhythms. In an African community, coming together in response to the beating of the drum is an opportunity to give one another a sense of belonging and of solidarity. It is a time to connect with each other, to be part of that collective rhythm of the life in which young and old, rich and poor, men and women are all invited to contribute to the society.

 Hip-Hop

Hip-hop dance refers to dance styles primarily danced to hip-hop music or that have evolved as part of hip-hop culture. This includes a wide range of styles notably breaking, locking, and popping which were developed in the 1970s by Black and Latino Americans. What separates hip-hop dance from other forms of dance is that it is often freestyle (improvisational) in nature and hip-hop dancers frequently engage in battles—formal or informal freestyle dance competitions. Informal freestyle sessions and battles are usually performed in a cipher, "a circular dance space that forms naturally once the dancing begins." These three elements—freestyling, battles, and ciphers—are key components of hip-hop dance.

Ballet

Ballet is a formalized form of dance with its origins in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th and 16th centuries. In the 20th century styles of ballet continued to develop and strongly influence broader concert dance, for example, in the United States choreographer George Balanchine developed what is now known as neoclassical ballet, subsequent developments have included contemporary ballet and post-structural ballet, for example seen in the work of William Forsythe in Germany.

The etymology of the word "ballet" reflects its history. The word ballet comes from French and was borrowed into English around the 17th century. The French word in turn has its origins in Italian balletto, a diminutive of ballo (dance). Ballet ultimately traces back to Latin ballare, meaning "to dance".

 Kathak

Kathak is one of the eight forms of Indian classical dances, originated from North India. This dance form traces its origins to the nomadic bards of ancient northern India, known as Kathaks, or storytellers. These bards, performing in village squares and temple courtyards, mostly specialized in recounting mythological and moral tales from the scriptures, and embellished their recitals with hand gestures and facial expressions. It was quintessential theatre, using instrumental and vocal music along with stylized gestures, to enliven the stories. Its form today contains traces of temple and ritual dances, and the influence of the bhakti movement. From the 16th century onwards it absorbed certain features of Persian dance and Central Asian dance which were imported by the royal courts of the Mughal era.

The name Kathak is derived from the Sanskrit word katha meaning story, and katthaka in Sanskrit means s/he who tells a story, or to do with stories. The name of the form is properly कत्थक katthak, with the geminated dental to show a derived form, but this has since simplified to modern-day कथकkathak. kathaa kahe so kathak is a saying many teachers pass on to their pupils, which is generally translated, 's/he who tells a story, is a kathak', but which can also be translated, 'that which tells a story, that is Kathak'.

Interview with choreographer Jean Johnson-Jones

About Dr Jean Johnson-Jones

Jean Johnson-Jones’s research examines Laban Movement Analysis (LMA), Labanotation (LN) and anthropological methods as effective tools for understanding and documenting movement as cultural code particularly in reference to African Peoples’ Dance.

Her PhD research (The Nama Stap: (Re)Constructing a Cultural Code Among the Nama) involved field-research among the indigenous people of South Africa, the Khoisan, and merges LMA/LN and anthropological methodologies.  This research has exposed the need for further research relating to issues concerning the limitation(s) of Laban Analysis to the documentation of non-theatre dance forms and the question of what is ‘African’ Dance in the 21st century

In collaboration with the Centre for Cross-Cultural Music and Dance Performance and Badejo Arts she is analysing and documenting the movement of Bata, a dance tradition of the Yoruba people of Nigeria. Outputs from this research will consist of text based and interactive visual scores cataloguing the music, dancing, history, and context of Bata in its home context and the Diaspora.  Extended research will address Bata in its western context in which transformations in the form will be examined.

About the piece Water Study (1928)

Choreography: Doris Humphrey                                     Staged by:  Jean Johnson Jones

Choreographed by Doris Humphrey, one of the ‘pioneers’ of the American modern dance movement, Water Study is performed by an ensemble of ten (sometimes fourteen) female dancers.  It is performed without external accompaniment—music or sound—and projects Humphrey’s mastery of spatial design, her characteristic use of energy, dynamics, body/breath rhythm, and celebrated ‘fall and recovery’ phrasing.  This restaging of Water Study is a reconstruction from the Labanotated score.  The reconstruction is distinctive in its approach to the revival of the dance. 

Through the application of the principles of various somatic body practices such as: Bartenieff Fundamentals, Body Mind Cantering, Laban Movement Analysis, Tai Chi, Yoga and Pilates, the dancers were introduced to the ‘Humphrey style’ as revealed in Water Study.  This approach to the dance provided the dancers with a contemporary view of Humphrey’s style and a connection with a dance material that they had little, if any, bodily experience of.    

Interview with choreographer Jo Read

The End of Year dance show will include a piece by recent graduate and emerging choreographer Jo Read. Jo's Hip Hop piece, North Wind and Wind and Sun was recently commisssioned by Woking Dance Festival and features dancers from the Dance, Film and Theatre. 

About Jo Read

Jo's interest in choreography was sparked when studying dance at the University of Surrey, gaining a BA hons in Dance and Culture (1st class) in 2009, and an MA (dist) in Dance Cultures Histories and Practices in 2010. She works as a choreographer and a teacher for a range of organisations and institutions, specialising in hip hop and street dance styles.

About her piece The North Wind and the Sun

 'The North Wind and the Sun', was first choreographed for her final degree piece, and when she became an Associate Emerging Artist for Woking Dance Festival in January 2011, she was commissioned to recreate and extend the piece to be performed as part of Spring Shorts 2011 and a Schools Tour in the South East. This hip hop piece tells the story of the North Wind and the Sun, one of Aesop's Fables. The piece explores the journey of a girl wearing a new jacket, and series of strange events that take place after her bus is late and she has to walk. Whilst on her way through a busy town,the forceful, she catches the attention of the aggressive North Wind, who challenges the wise, patient Sun to a game; to be the first to take the girls jacket off, which has unexpected consequences. 

The piece is designed for key stage 2 children, and Jo is interested in how thought provoking and useful messages can be conveyed to children this age by telling stories using popular dance and music, rather than in the traditional way using words. 

People involved in the piece

Title: The North Wind and the Sun - A Woking Dance Festival Commission

Choreographer: Jo Read

Dancers: Sofia Klepacz, Sam Jones, Sylva Cardew, Laura Mercer, Giovanna Lopez, Katie Paris, Rachel Gildea, Vicky Giles, Celena Monteiro, Sophia Davis, Emily Labhart, Jill Douglas.

Music: Jamie Harber

Artwork: Alexia Vassilarou

The History of the University of Surrey

According to the University of Surrey website, the University was founded in 1894. The University was established with an aim to educate men and women who had a thirst for knowledge and a hunger to succeed. Whilst times have changed, its belief in the power of education and innovation remains the same.

The forerunner of the University, the Battersea Polytechnic Institute (founded 1891, first students admitted 1894) began concentrating on science and technology from about 1920 and taught day and evening students for degrees of the University of London. Its academic reputation steadily grew to the point in 1956 where it was one of the first colleges to be designated a 'college of advanced technology'. It was renamed Battersea College of Technology in 1957.

By the beginning of the sixties the College had virtually outgrown its main building in Battersea Park Road and in 1962 it had already decided to move to Guildford. Shortly afterwards (1963), the Robbins Report proposed that Battersea College, along with the other colleges of advanced technology, should expand and become a university awarding its own degrees. The greenfield site for the University-designate was acquired from Guildford Cathedral, Guildford Borough Council and the Onslow Village Trust in 1965, and the move from Battersea was completed in 1970.

Since its foundation, the University of Surrey has fostered links with other educational bodies in the local community and region. For example, in recent years it has validated courses at and subsequently accredited St Mary's College - a College of the University of Surrey, Wimbledon School of Art and Farnborough College of Technology. The University currently validates courses at North East Surrey College of Technology (Nescot), Guildford School of Acting Conservatoire, Guildford College of Further & Higher Education, King Edward VII Hospital Department of Staff Development, The Nuclear Department at HMS Sultan, St John's Seminary, Southern Theological Education & Training Scheme (STETS), the Pre-Retirement Association and SHL (UK) Ltd.

For a university of its size and age, Surrey has one of the highest number of staff who are academicians of the learned societies: 4 Fellows of the Royal Society, 21 Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering, one Fellow of the British Academy and 6 Fellows of the Academy of Social Sciences.

Information taken by: http://www.surrey.ac.uk/about/history/

New Facebook Page!

Hello everyone!

We are very excited to announce that you can now visit and 'like' our new Facebook Page. There, we will be posting new pictures and videos, twitter updates, polls, interviews with the dancers and many more. You can also use the page in order to share pictures, videos, posts, feedback and links with us. The link for the page is the following: http://www.facebook.com/pages/End-of-Year-Dance-Shows/193495260697412
Please feel free to share the page with family and friends.

We are looking forward hearing from you,

The Marketing Team.

What does our audience want?

After the completion of the written evaluations on the Final Degree Dance Shows by audience members at the 8th  and 9th of April, the Marketing Team of the End of Year Shows have concluded the marketing strategies that the audience of our dance shows prefers. More specifically, the audience has shared with us how they hear about our events and whether they find this a successful way of advertising and how else would they like to be informed about our events.

To begin with, the Final Year Show Audience Questionnaires were completed by 64 audience members. The gender of the audience members that completed our written evaluations were comprised from 58 females and 6 males and their age varied from under 18 years old to 65+. For more details about the age percentage you can see the graphic board above.

Surprisingly, as the graphic results denote above, 47% of our audience was informed about the dance show through the word of mouth. The rest 53% was informed about the events through flyers, e-flyers, brochures, the UniS Arts website or through social networks. More specifically, 20% of our audience was notified about our event through an e-flyer, 10% through social networks, and 9% through the UniS Arts website. 
Therefore, this indicates that online marketing is one of the ways that people usually hear about our dance events on campus as a great percentage of our audience members found out about our latest event online. Last but not least, the rest of our audience was informed about our event through the event’s brochure (8%) and flyer (6%). In addition, 90,4% of our audience found this a successful way of advertising.

The marketing team will be using this information so that we improve our marketing strategies and services for the upcoming End of Year Show. We thank the people who helped us improve our services by completing our written evaluations. If you would like to give us feedback you can now visit our website and give us a comment on our ‘feedback’ section, or simply send us an email by visiting the ‘contact us’ section in case you do not want your feedback to be visible on our website.

Yours sincerely,

The Marketing Team