Dance City, the dance development organisation for the North East, is delighted to announce its support for the creation of five exciting new dance pieces, the first of which will be performed in June 2013 at Dance City.

The awards have been made to two exceptional North East dance creators:- Nadia Iftkhar and Kate Sagovsky (Moving Dust) and three artists outside the region:- Joseph Mercier (Panic Lab), Renaud Wiser and Compagnie T-d’U.

North East based artist and choreographer Nadia Iftkhar will create The Sense of Ending a small scale dance theatre work with three women, each representing a different stage in women’s lives. Their stories will be told through movement, spoken work and film and will convey a sense of ending, how women choose to survive, and a celebration of strength, intuition and courage.

Northumberland based artistic director, Kate Sagovsky, and her company Moving Dust will be creating Sometimes there’s light (sometimes there’s dark) which looks at the taboo of death and our experiences of loss and grief.  This multi-sensory performance will be performed outdoors, encompassing dance, text, commissioned music and light sculptures.

Compagnie T-d’U from Poland will be working with regionally based director Vivien Wood to create a new work All the things you said you never said.   This international company of dancers and physical theatre actors will be exploring the dual reality of what we express overtly to the world, and what we keep hidden in the recesses of the subconscious.

Joseph Mercier’s company Panic Lab will create a new dance performance Toxic which will combine dance, martial arts, projected visuals and interactive sound. In the piece four performers playing at being super-heroes get caught in a series of conflicts, which are personal, historical and political. Comic book action and full of hero references the work will be an entertaining, action packed ride with an underlying seriousness looking at what a modern day superhero would look like.

Renaud Wiser will be collaborating with Royal Court International Associate and theatre director, Richard Twyman to create a new work based on the theme of the individual versus society. Taking inspiration from recent examples of individuals standing against the group such as Bradley Manning, Edward Snowdon and Pussy Riot, this new work will bring together Renaud’s strong, original and personal choreographic language and Richard’s directorial skills at making politically urgent drama tackling issues related to modern society.

Dance City is committed to developing new work and nurturing artists and companies.  Dance City commissions are designed to stimulate, promote, and encourage the creation of new dance works in the North East and beyond and encourage both early career and more established artists to develop new work or take the next step in their career. Awards range in value from £1,000 to £15,000.

Anthony Baker, Artistic Director and Joint CEO said: “We were extremely impressed with the applications we received, and we attracted high quality of applications from all over the world. It was an extremely difficult decision to make but we are delighted with the panel’s final selection.  We look forward to seeing these fice new works develop and to bringing such an exciting range of new works into being, for audiences in the North East and beyond.”

All The Things You Never Said You Said…is premiering at Dance City on Saturday 28 June. Tickets are on sale now. Further performance dates will be announced in due course.

To buy tickets and for further information and performance dates go to www.dancecity.co.uk or call the Ticket Office on 0191 261 0505.