The Place

Jean Abreu
Brazilian Jean Abreu studied contemporary dance at Laban, after learning Latin social dance in his homeland, and the martial art capoeira. He was a founder member of Protein Dance, for whom he worked for four years. He made his debut as a choreographer at The Place in 2003, and later that year won a Jerwood Choreography Award. Jean is an Associate Artist of the UK Foundation for Dance. For The Place Prize, Jean is creating a male duet which explores human urges and how they affect our behaviour. The work will have specially commissioned music, and lighting by Sarah Gilmartin.

Rafael Bonachela
Rafael is from Barcelona and has been a member of Rambert Dance Company since 1992. He has made seven pieces of work for the company, and was appointed as their Associate Choreographer. His piece Linear Remains is in Rambert's current repertoire, and can be seen at Sadlers Wells in May. Rafael has also worked extensively with Kylie Minogue, choreographing her award-winning Fever world tour. For The Place Prize, he is making a new duet accompanied by a commissioned score composed from extracts from the dancers' own diaries by Oswaldo Macià.
 
Mayuri Boonham & Subathra Subramaniam
Mayuri and Suba founded Angika in 1997. Their work attempts to develop the rich vocabulary of classical Indian Bharata Natyam dance with a contemporary approach, and has included working with award-winning musician Talvin Singh. They have recently been appointed Choreographers in Residence at The Place. They are presenting a duet for The Place Prize, inspired by a two-line poem by the Indian mystic Swami Vivekananda and with live Sarod accompaniment from Soumik Datta and lighting by Aideen Malone.

Rosemary Butcher
Rosemary has been working as an independent artist for 30 years, creating a distinctive and hugely influential body of avant garde work. She recently left her post as Head of Choreography at Laban to begin a research fellowship. Her work for The Place Prize is based on her continuing exploration of dance within visual art and the broadening perspectives of a ‘performing body’ - a solo for Elena Giannotti which is on the boundary of dance and installation.

Robin Dingemans
Robin is from New Zealand and a former member of the Royal New Zealand Ballet. In the UK he has performed with Protein Dance, DV8 and Ricochet Dance Productions. His work for The Place Prize is a wildly humorous look at the phenomenon of celebrity, in collaboration with composer Dan Mudford. It will be his professional debut as a choreographer.

Sarah Dowling
Sarah is from Ireland. She studied English Literature and drama at Sheffield and worked in theatre before studying dance at Laban. Since graduating in 2001 she has been working as a choreographer and performer alongside teaching movement for actors at Lewisham College. Her work for The Place Prize is a dance theatre murder mystery, exposing the relationships and power games between three suspects in a hotel.

Marie-Louise Flexen
Marie-Louise graduated from London Contemporary Dance School in 1992. She has worked as an entertainer, cabaret performer and actress for the past ten years, joined Seven Sisters Group in 1997 and has presented works in Resolution! at The Place for the past two seasons. Her new work is a richly layered solo which finds both the profound and the comic in the act of losing.

Celia Grannum
Celia is from Barbados and trained in New York before moving to the UK in 2001. She has presented work at the Hip Festival of Black Dance and Resolution! and has performed with Jazz Xchange Music and Dance Company. Her piece for The Place Prize has an urban flavour, with movement inspired by overheard conversations and scenes observed while commuting. The set is designed by Tamasin Rhymes and the lighting by Ben Pacey.

Henrietta Hale & Rachel Lopez de la Nieta
Henrietta and Rachel have been collaborating on choreographic projects since 1997, while remaining in demand as performers. Henrietta has performed for Yolande Snaith, Rosemary Lee and Russell Maliphant, Rachel has worked for Maliphant, Arthur Pita and Arc Dance Company. Their new piece is a trio for themselves and Ben Ash, inspired by the journeys of Sadhus, some of whom measure their progress through frequent prostrations. They will be collaborating with composer Angie Atmadjaja and the lighting will be by choreographer Charles Linehan.

Sean Tuan John
Sean is from Wales and trained at Dartington College of Arts. He has been making work for the stage, film and television since 1994. His eccentric work is humorous and self-consciously ridiculous, while also offering insight. For The Place Prize, Sean is teaming up with Flemish choreographer Bert Van Gorp to present a darkly comic modern fairytale - The Brothers Very Grimm.

Martin Lawrance
Martin has been a member of the Richard Alston Dance Company since 1995, and was appointed as their Rehearsal Director in 2003. His own choreographic works include Thimble, a commission for the Meltdown Festival to original music by Scott Walker, and Grey Allegro - the first non-Alston choreography to enter the Richard Alston Dance Company's repertoire. For The Place Prize, Martin continues his collaboration with lighting designer Charles Balfour, creating a technically demanding work for seven dancers set to Steve Reich's Electric Guitar Phase. It is danced by Luke Baio, Jonathan Goddard, Dam Van Huynh, Maria Nikoloulea, Sonja Peedo, Ino Riga and Francesa Romo.

Liz Lea
Liz is from Sydney, Australia. She studied at London Contemporary Dance School and Akademi, and combines contemporary and classical Indian dance in the choreography which she has been creating for the past five years. She has received fellowships from The Choreographic Centre Australia and AHRB at Roehampton University. Commissions this year include Intoto and Mavin Khoo Dance. Her work for The Place Prize is a duet which attempts to translate the speedy and complex footwork of the tango into the dancers' whole bodies. It is performed by Alex Rose and Liesl Bourke, with design by Gabriella Csanyi Wills, lighting by Karen Norris and music by composer Nick Parkin. It’s a cheeky, physical and dexterous little number, full of surprises.

Henry Montes
Henry Montes grew up in the Bronx and worked extensively in the USA and in Germany with Reinhild Hoffman and Susanne Linke. Resident in the UK since 1993, he has danced with the Jonathan Burrows Group, Rosemary Butcher and Charles Linehan. A member of Siobhan Davies Dance Company since 1998, he was named as Outstanding Male Artist (Modern) at the 2004 Critics' Circle National Dance Awards. Deborah Saxon has danced extensively in Australia, the UK and Greece. She is a member of Siobhan Davies Dance Company. Henry’s piece for The Place Prize is a duet with Deborah Saxon. It is a series of solos and duets investigating the brink of unrest.

Tharan Revfem
Tharan is from Norway. With her company Plire Multi Dance she has developed a distinctive style, intricately combining live performance and video. Her work has been performed in the UK, Norway, Portugal and France, and she has been commissioned to make work for Millenium Dance 2000 The School and the London Studio Centre. For The Place Prize, Tharan is creating a piece for three female dancers in collaboration with video artist Nikolaj B.S. Larsen and composer Mikkel H Eriksen. It is performed by Annika Sillander, Jessica Andrews and Helle Siljeholm.

Tom Roden & Pete Shenton
Tom and Pete merged their own dance ventures (respectively, Air Dance Company and Live Bait) to form New Art Club. Together they aim to make dance pieces which are intelligent, beautiful and funny, including This is MODERN, a potted history of contemporary dance, and The Electric Tales, which explores the mysteries of electricity, ineffectively. The Electric Tales can be seen at The Place at the of May. For The Place Prize, Tom and Pete present another futile dance investigation, struggling for a way to express through movement the concept of stillness.

Marie Gabrielle Rotie
Welsh/Italian Marie Gabrielle trained in both Fine Art and Dance, specialising in Butoh. She has created numerous touring productions since 1994 all in collaboration with composer Nick Parkin. She was the Movement Director for Sir Peter Hall's production of Bacchai at the Royal National Theatre. Her work for The Place Prize is a trio inspired by a famous Francis Bacon painting. Three dancers explore sculptural movement to music by Nick Parkin and lighting by Karen Norris.

Hofesh Shechter
Hofesh is Israeli, and began his career with the leading Israeli company Batsheva. He is best known in the UK for his work with Jasmin Vardimon Dance Company, and made his choreographic debut in 2003. His new piece is for five dancers, imagining the magnetic draw of a cult. It is performed by Shechter, Claire-Laure Berthier, Delphine Gaborit and Tim Morris. The soundtrack is created by Shecter in collaboration with pianist Ariel Ariel.

Bawren Tavaziva
Bawren is from Zimbabwe, where he performed with Tumbuka Dance Company. Since moving to the UK in 1998, he has performed with Phoenix Dance, Union Dance, JazzXchange, Carol Brown and Sakoba, and choreographed for Tumbuka and Union Dance. His work for The Place Prize is inspired by the death of a loved one, and combines traditional African and modern western movement for four dancers to his own soundtrack.

Carmen Vilches
Carmen is from Spain. She studied at Laban and founded her company, LamatDance, in 2001. Her work, which combines flamenco with contemporary dance, has been presented in a variety of different performance contexts - from The Place to the Edinburgh Festival to the Notting Hill Carnival. Carmen’s piece for The Place Prize is a quartet for two flamenco and two contemporary dancers, including Eleanor McDonald and Carlos Otero. The flamenco footwork provides a sound score for the piece, combined with live music performed by Siemy, Vilches and Andres Garcia.

Angela Woodhouse
Angela trained in dance and visual art, and has been making work since 1991. More recently, she has concentrated on making site-specific and installation works, including a collaboration entitled Court with Jerwood Prize winner Caroline Broadhead. This piece is for an audience of three and will be seen at The Place in June. For The Place Prize, Angela again collaborates with Caroline to present an investigation of intimacy and touch.