HOST is DanceEasts’ biennial festival of dance and age that challenges assumptions about the capabilities of older people and champions excellence in community dance groups. HOST gives older people the opportunity to find the joy in dance, and this fourth edition on Wednesday 1sy May will welcome up to 100 participants from across the country to the DanceHouse in Ipswich.
Co-curated by DanceEast working with EncoreEast, the Ipswich based performance dance company of seventeen dancers aged 56 to 82, HOST will include dance workshops, discussions, dance films from around the world, and live performances by companies from across the country.
The day will conclude with a special performance of Luca Silvestrini’s award-winning In the End we Begin. Created with dancers from EncoreEast (Ipswich), Cadenza (Norwich), Damn Fine Dance (London), and The Place (London), it embraces individual works by Alethia Antonia, Laura Anderson, Alleyne Dance, Molly Wright and Luke Birch. Premiering at DanceEast, it toured to Norwich Playhouse and The Place in London in October 2023.
For HOST, In the End we Begin has been re-visited and reworked choreographically. The cast of 28 includes many of the original dancers and some new ones. The work embraces quiet, intimate moments, gentle humour and fast-paced celebration, reflecting the diverse emotions we experience through the cycles of life.
Brendan Keaney OBE, Artistic Director and CEO of DanceEast said:
“I was genuinely inspired by EncoreEast’s vision to curate such ambitious opportunities for older dancers. I am both delighted and proud of all they have achieved with this project producing Luca Silvestrini’s award-winning In the End we Begin.”
There are a handful of tickets available to watch the performance of In the End we Begin on Wednesday 1 May at 5.45pm. Tickets are available from the DanceEast website
SUFFOLK THEATRE 