Rendez-Vous Dance, based in Hexham, Northumberland, has received the £17,500 Dance City and The Gillian Dickinson Trust Residency Commission to develop a new dance production early next year. 

Ulfah: The Performance of Warmth will be a new full-length work by Rendez-Vous Dance Artistic Director Mathieu Geffré for five dancers, exploring masculinity, intimacy and the radical potential of tenderness between men.  

Ulfah will draw inspiration from communal bathing and sauna cultures across the world, from North African hammams and Nordic saunas to Japanese onsens, Roman baths and contemporary queer spaces, and look at places where bodies gather, social boundaries shift and physical closeness takes on different meanings. 

Mathieu said: “I’m interested in masculinity as something we learn to perform; the ways we hold ourselves, the distance we maintain from one another, what kinds of touch are permitted and which emotions we allow ourselves to reveal. 

“It will be an exploration of queer perspectives and embodied experiences, foregrounding masculine representation and examining how masculinity is performed, negotiated and transformed through intimacy, identity and human connection. It will look at what happens if tenderness, care, vulnerability and physical intimacy between men becomes the dominant language? What other representations of masculinity might emerge?” 

“Through this work, we hope to create space for dialogue, reflection and connection with audiences.”  

Mathieu will also work on a second commission in collaboration with the students our acclaimed CAT (Centre for Advanced Training) programme, The Square, and will receive free rehearsal space, producing, dramaturgical, marketing and technical support. The finished work will be performed at Dance City early next year and will also go on tour across England. 

It is the third commission supported by Dance City and The Gillian Dickinson Trust. Previous recipients include Yukiko Masui, who developed RONiN, which previewed at Dance City ahead of a major UK tour and Pelican Theatre, which developed new choreographic work, Kylie Jenner’s Private Jet, which subsequently went on tour.  

Jennifer Curry, CEO and Creative Director at Dance City, said: “The Gillian Dickinson Trust Residency Commission is an exciting opportunity for an artist or company to create original work. 

“We look forward to supporting Rendez-Vous Dance throughout the creative process as this exceptional new piece comes to life. It will be wonderful to see how it engages with North East communities and the involvement of our fantastic CAT students.” 

Mathieu added: “Receiving the Gillian Dickinson Commission is a tremendous honour for Rendez-Vous Dance, and we’re deeply grateful for the trust and investment it represents.  

“The commission provides an important opportunity to develop a significant new work while continuing to contribute to the vibrant dance ecology of the North East and beyond. It will also enable us to continue supporting artists and creative practitioners through opportunities to train, collaborate and develop their practice, strengthening pathways for talent within the region. 

“We’re proud to make work from the North East and in conversation with the people and communities who live here. This commission allows us to build on that commitment, creating a new piece that is locally rooted, nationally and internationally relevant, and reflective of the diverse voices and experiences that enrich our cultural landscape.”