Welcome to FORTISMERE PERFORMING ARTS CENTRE
Fortismere MUSIC Centre
Join in with Dance
Since Autumn 2022 there has been a new dance and movement ensemble at Fortismere Performing Arts Centre.
Open to all ages and abilities, we welcome anyone interested in movement. The classes will respond to two musical works (Appalachian Spring by Aaron Copland and a newly commissioned piece, Night Dances by Thomas Gregory), and will build towards a performance with live orchestra.
The focus of the classes is not technical, but rather devising and developing choreography, exploring different movement languages, and working within a group to achieve a dynamic and dramatic performance.
Appalachian Spring rehearses on Monday evenings (7-9pm)
Night Dances rehearses Saturday afternoons (3.30-5.30pm)
Simone Pinchera
Choreographer, Night Dances by Thomas Gregory
Simone Pinchera is an Italian dancer & teacher from Rome who started dancing age 9 at the Rome Opera House's Dance School. He went on to study at the highly acclaimed National Dance Academy in Rome and in 2015 he graduated with the highest possible achievement in classical ballet dance, with the maximum vote (110 with honour/110). Simone has performed many ballets including “The Nutcracker”, “The Sleeping Beauty”, “Petruska” amongst others with the Rome Opera House's ballet company.
Luis Gallo Mudarra
Choreographer, Appalachian Spring by Aaron Copland
Luis Gallo Mudarra is a movement director, choreographer and researcher who has been working in dance, theatre, opera, site-specific, research and education for more than 20 years. Luis trained at Trinity-Laban. From 2005-2013 he worked as part of an ensemble of international artists/researchers known as ‘The Quick and The Dead’ to develop ‘Core Training’, a practice-based research project moving beyond text based forms of actor training.
About Night Dances by Thomas Gregory
Simone Pinchera writes: "Night Dances is a new piece composed by Thomas Gregory and choreographed by Simone Pinchera. It is an intense and emotional journey through the human mind exploring the difficulties we all meet when trying to interact and create a connection with others. It sways between reality and our own internal perception of the world.
Piece by piece the music has been tailored and stitched together with choreography, which is based on a ballet vocabulary but at times recast with jazz or more modern notes. Night Dances will transport you into a new realm of grace, tension and beauty."
About Appalachian Spring by Aaron Copland
Luis Gallo Mudarra writes: "Have you ever seen a group of people moving gracefully, coordinated and free to the sound of a beautiful piece of music and wished that was you? Then, you are in luck! Fortismere Music Center is running a community choreography/dance ensemble open to all ages and abilities leading to a performance of Aron Coplan's 'Appalachian Spring'. You don't need to have had previous dance experience to participate. But if you do, you will be able to put those skills into practice. The choreographer's aim is to guide participants to discover their own physical expression with the help of the principles of a wide variety of dance styles to facilitate an organic response to the music. This project is a great complement to a sedentary life as well as a good opportunity to put your creative physical skills to practice."