*2006

 

 

GEORGE PIPER DANCES

Title: MANDOX BANDOX
Premiere: 26th September 2006 , Sadler’s Wells London
Music: Andy Cowton
Lighting Design: Natasha Chivers
Costume: Robert Morrison
Choreographer’s Assistant: Amy Hollingsworth
Dancers: Michael Nunn, William Trevitt & Oxana Panchenko

For us, Rafael’s experimental style, influenced by the visual arts and pop culture is very much in tune with our own approach. He has a very impressive pedigree; a wonderful dancer with Rambert, he went on to choreograph for them and numerous others including, of course, Kylie Minogue.
We wanted him to use all this experience to create a stunning finale for our evening; a piece that would allow three dancers to fill the stage, a piece that would be physically challenging but also enjoyable to perform. A piece that looks to the future of dance… George Piper Dances

 

BDC

 

AHOTSAK (/aót∫ak/)

 

 

Running time approximately : 30 min.

/aót∫ak/ is a journey through Luciano Berio’s haunting composition for viola, tam-tam and voice.Bonachela’s six extraordinary dancers explore the walls that surround us – both real and imagined. The result is sometimes violent, sometimes tender, but always innovative.

An underlying sexuality that gives handsome physical presence to the jagged emotionalintelligence.THE TIMES

Performed by 6 dancers
Designer: Alan Macdonald
Lighting Designer: Lee Curran
Music: Luciano Berio
Costumes: Theo Clinkard

 

SET BOUNDARIES

 

 

Running time approximately : 20 min

Set Boundaries is an urgent and stylish work highlighting how the voice can be used as a weaponof power. The dramatic new score by Matthew Herbert uses Alan Seeger’s poem “Rendezvous with Death” and the real words of a Kurdish asylum seeker while visual artist Lenka Clayton anddesigner Alan Macdonald confine the dancers in a tense world where they play out nightmares of powerlessness and dreams of escape.

The dancers, trapped within invisible barriers, alternate between hard angled defiance and ahaunted, liquid fear. THE GUARDIAN

Performed by 6 dancers
Designer: Alan Macdonald
Lighting Designer: Lee Curran
Music: Matthew Herbert
Visual Artist: Lenka Clayton
 
 
*2005


RAMBERT DANCE COMPANY

Title: Curious Conscience by Rafael Bonachela
Premiere: 21 September 2005, The Lowry Salford
Composer: Benjamin Britten
Music: Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings
Composed: 1943
To be performed by his lifelong partner Peter Pears
Design: Alan McDonald
Lighting Design: Lee Curran
Costume design: Robert Cary-Williams

Curious Conscience has been created to Benjamin Britten’s Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings, which was composed in 1943 to be performed by his life-long partner Peter Pears. Set to six very diverse poems, including works by William Blake, John Keats and Lord Alfred Tennyson, the score is bound together by a similar theme – the uneasy world of night, sleep and dreams. A 20th Century British masterpiece of atmosphere, the music, which begins and ends with an evocative horn solo, leaves you feeling like you have been on a beautiful, yet disturbing journey. Composed during wartime, the work also expresses the torment of that dark era, both physical and metaphorical, alongside the memories of brighter times.

The context of the music score has provided the inspiration for the choreography and designs. Driven by the mystery of night, we have worked closely together to evoke a dark and menacing mood full of uncertainty and discomfort. Distorted realities, as experienced within the subconscious realms of dreams and nightmares, emerge to create a surreal and visual landscape.

Rafael Bonachela and Alan Macdonald

“…It is an impressive and intellectual adventurous project,and Bonachela deploys his 18-strong cast with style. His dancers prowl the stage their bodies galvanised, their limbs whipping from stillness to quivering hyperextention in a fraction of a second.It’s technically impressive…” DAILY TELEGRAPH Nov 2005

“Elusive shapes and epic dread summon all manner of dark nocturnal thoughts; alienation and desire for confort compete in Bonachela’s disturving landscape. His last work as Rambert’s associate choreographer is also his best.” THE TIMES 2005

PROBE



Dancer led company created by Antonia Grove and Theo Clinkard
.
Slick and sexy, and emocionally charged duet which explores the wild and the tender sides of relationship,to the music of mexican singer Chavela Vargas and Guidon Kremer’s “Hommage to Piazzola”. Soledad was awarded both the Guglielmo Ebreo Prize and the Critics´ Prize at the first ever Biennale Danza e Italia and is international competition for independent choreographers from all over the world


“Soledad establishes a tone of eroticised tension. The black-clad Grove and Clinkard carry a heavy burden of mingled desire and turmoil...Bonachela unquestionably provides material into which the couple can sink its teeth” TIME OUT 2005.

Premiere: 15 October 2005

DANCE WORKS ROTTERDAM - E27SD

In October 2005, Rafael Bonachela will teach company performers of Dance Works Rotterdam, E2 7SD. The piece will form part of their company repertoire. E2 7SD will premiere in Rotterdam on 3 November 2005.
For further information visit: www.danceworksrotterdam.nl
 

DAVID HUGHES DANCE COMPANY

Title: [4:Freeze-Frame]
Co-commissioned by: Dance Base National Centre for Dance and David Hughes Dance Productions Ltd.
Premiered:10 August 2005 at Dance Base, Edinburgh
Lighting design ; Simon Gane
Costume design ; Txela
Music: Quanta Sabades Amare by Martin Codax ; Man with a Movie Camera by Biosphere;At the Heart of it All (Aphex twins remix) by Nine Inch Nails; What A DAy (Hedeonastick remix) by TG Throbbing Gristle.

4 dancers open to encounter dance to an eclectic soundtrack ranging from 13th century classical music to American rockers Nine Inch Nails. This works moves from the first soft touch showing tenderness and intimacy to an explosively physical dance showing real power and strength.

"Rafael Bonachela throws us out in the cold. His new creation for David Hughes is a relentless, intense work with an almost brutal energy. Completely abstract but full of emotion, four 'characters' fluctuate between dependence and distaste, pulling at each other with both tenderness and aggression. Jumping from smooth classical to industrial rock, the music perfectly captures the essence of the movement. Better known for choreographing Kylie, Bonachela's new work is as far removed from her Showgirl tour as you can imagine - but no less captivating. Despite the complexity of his steps, the technically strong dancers attack his work with vigour.". KELLY APTER The Scotsman


TRAS EL LARGO SILENCIO

Site Specific performance - Barcelona

In summer 2005 Rafael was invited to create a site specific piece for DIES DE DANSA XIV International Dance Festival in Urban Landscapes. As part of the Grec festival in BarcelonaRafael spent time going deep into the studyof the interaction between architecture-urban space and body, dance and communication, interpreter and audience. He choreographed a duet performedat The Contemporary Culture Centre of Barcelona (CCCB) by Rambert dancersAmy Hollingsworth and Cameron McMillan.

With thanks to Rambert Dance Company. Photo by Ione Saizar.

UNION DANCE

Title: Silence Disrupted
Commissioned for Union Dance Company
Premiere: 12 May 2005 / Queen Elizabeth Hall, London
Music: Santiago Posada
Costume Design: Jessica Bugg
Light Wear Designer: Uli Oberlack
Multimedia Artist: Derek Richards
Lighting design: Bill Deverson

'Silence Disrupted' -movement and light broke the silence and sound was created. Silence Disrupted is a pure dance work. The overall concept stems from the theme Sensing Change which I have used as the stimulus for my understanding of the work. Silence Disrupted looks at sensing different movement qualities and dynamics.
For further information on this competition visit: www.uniondance.co.uk
LAY YOUR HANDS ON ME

Duration: 28 minutes
Commissioned for Dance Works Rotterdam
Premiered: 12 January 2005
Music: Carlos Suero
Lighting design: Lee Curran
Costumes: Txela

This is Rafael Bonachela's first collaboration with Dance Works Rotterdam."Lay Your Hands On me" is an unsettling journey of tangled relationships within a disorientated sound score, complimented by sleek, stylish costumes. Rafael feeds from the seven dancers qualities developing different situations of human interaction within a mood changing lighting concept.
For more info please visit: www.danceworksrotterdam.nl
*2004
E2 7SD

Performed by: Lee Clayden & Antonia Grove
Sound Sculpture: Oswaldo Macia in collaboration with Santiago Posada
Lighting Design: Lee Curran
Costumes: Txela

E2 7SD was conceived as a performance and sound sculpture of an emotionally charged landscape. The dancers perform in the mirror of their own vocal journeys, showing us energy, beauty and white-hot intensity in the mundane, the dangerous and the desperate.

On Saturday 25 September 2004 at The Place Theatre in Euston, Rafael was announced as the winner of The Place Prize for his work E2 7SD.

E2 7SD was performed at the Art Plus Dance event at Whitechapel Art Gallery, for a glimpse of the event take a look at images in the photo gallery. E2 7SD has also been performed in 2005 at Dies de Dansa Festival in Barcelona and at Festival cite in Lausanne, Switzerland.
<< click the image to view the slide show
2 IN B MINOR

2 in B Minor was commissioned for the 2004 summer collection upstairs at the Clore Studio, Royal Opera House. The duet for Celia Grannum and Patricia Okenwa was revived for the Dancebeats programme at The Place in November2004.

Having previously worked with Patricia Okenwa and Celia Grannum, Rafael was inspired to create this duet to music Ryoji Ikeda. 2 in B Minor brings together two solos that become a duet drawing on the beautiful physicality of the dancers.
VESPER II

Vesper was originally created for 6 dancers . For the Hip Festival the piece has been reworked as a trio.

Premiered: 12 March 2004, Purcell Room, South Bank Centre
Music: Oswaldo Macia
Costume Design: Txela

IRONY OF FATE


Premiered: 29 April 2004
Performed by: Amy Hollingsworth
Music: Partita
Composer Vytautas Barkauskas
Costume Design: Robert-Cary Williams

<< click the image for more info
A solo, created for Rambert Dance Company dancer Amy Hollingsworth which was performed at a gala dedicated to Young Spanish Creators of the 21st Century as part of International Day of Dance, Madrid. It was the first time that Barcelona-born Rafael's work has been seen in his Spanish homeland.

Irony of Fate was performed at the 2005 Dies de Dansa festival, Barcelona and on 28 October 2005 will be shown as part of the Bavarian State Ballet Gala in Munich.

“…a gripping duet…a performance of such physical drive”.
The Sunday Times


DEBORAH WEISS INTERVIEW WITH AMY HOLLIGSWORTH
( Rambert dancer who performed Irony of Fate) :

Q: You have built up a special working relationship with Rafael Bonachela.
What makes this connection so unique?

AMY: I love Raf - there is no other way to put it. I would go to the ends of the earth for him and he knows it. He is a movement junkie, something he has described himself as and you really feel that when you are working with him. He loves watching bodies move, seeing the possibilities and he gets so worked up in what he's doing that it's really hard not to catch a bit of enthusiasm and I think we're both the kind of personalities that the more we get from someone, the more we want to give. Irony of Fate was based on our relationship and what I was going through at the time. Having someone that makes something personal for you, he understands the way that I move and in return I understand what he wants from me. It Can't get better than that.

Dance Europe | Issue no. 83 | March 2005
2003
21

A work in 3 sections, each lasting 7 minutes. The work opens with a trio of females who perform an intricate routine that incorporates daring lifts and skilful manoeuvres. At the beginning of the 2nd section, a huge gauze screen flies in at the front of the stage onto which a film of Kylie Minogue is projected. The dancers are visible through the screen and appear to interact with Kylie. The final section uses all 14 dancers and becomes much faster in pace. There are moments when the dancers move in unison, which creates a very powerful atmosphere.

Premiered: 9 April 2003
Costume Design:William Baker, Alan Macdonald
Music: Benjamin Wallfisch
Running Time: 21 minutes

"One of the most stunning pieces of mixed media dance theatre I have seen." The Stage
*2002
TRIO

Commissioned by the English Chamber Orchestra for their Young Artists' Series at the Hackney Empire. The piece was created for four Rambert dancers and was performed with live music.

Premiered: 2002
Music: Benjamin Wallfisch
Film: Tim Meara
*2001
LINEAR REMAINS

The work opens with a solo and progressively grows in pace and numbers as the work develops. Duets, quartets and sextets follow, but it comes full circle to leave the same female dancer on stage at the end. The work often takes place on the diagonal, emphasising the linear aspects of the piece.

Premiered: 21 November 2001
Music: Christian Fennesz
Running Time: 10 minutes
*2000
MAI SE SAP

Commissioned by the Isleworth Festival and performed by Rachel Poirier. The festival paired five choreographers with five composers to create new works.

Premiered: 2000
Music: Mario Verandi
Film: Fernando Arias
*1999

BECAUSE

A virtuoso exploration of distortion for five dancers: lithe, up front and packed with dangerous twists that require split second timing. The accompanying score packs a punch with an equally quirky sound world, employing electric viola, bass guitar and percussion. This work was created for the Isleworth Festival.

Premiered: 16 May 1999
Costume Design: Robert Cary-Williams
Music: Colin Riley
*1998
THREE GONE, FOUR LEFT STANDING

An atmospheric blend of music, poetry and movement, Rambert dancer Rafael Bonachela's assured choreographic debut creates an offbeat and distinctly urban mood.

Premiered: 17 February 1998
Lighting Design: Malcolm Glanville
Music: Nic Pendlebury
Poetry: Elizabeth Old