For immediate release
ROSIE KAY DANCE COMPANY presents
‘5 SOLDIERS: THE BODY IS THE FRONTLINE’ 2015 TOUR
Birmingham REP 23 – 25 April // Tours 2 May – 13 June www.5soldiers.co.uk
Rosie Kay Dance Company, the international
award-winning dance theatre company headed by
artistic director and choreographer Rosie Kay, will
tour its thought-provoking and extremely moving 5
SOLDIERS: THE BODY IS THE FRONTLINE from
23 April to 13 June 2015 (tour schedule included).
With the commemorations of WWI in the news, 5
SOLDIERS shows how the human body is still central
to all conflict, the impact and injuries lasting long after
the headlines fade.
The tour, the first of its kind in the UK, will see the
company working in partnership with theatres, military
bases and the Army Welfare Service. This unique
style of intensive tour model comprises of two months
of community outreach work in each location, leading
to a weekend of events, community performances, the professional shows and post-show talks with Kay,
the cast and a local Commanding Officer.
The tour will engage with local theatre and non-theatre venues, including building theatres in drill halls and
in Officers’ Clubs, to develop a relationship between military bases and the local arts community through a
huge community engagement programme working with communities, service personnel and their families,
young people and veterans. In advance of the full show, a 20-minute version of the piece will be performed
in the town centre by the professional company.
No-holds-barred, 5 SOLDIERS delivers Kay’s trademark style of intense physical and athletic dance
theatre. The work received audience and critical acclaim in 2010 and 2011, and has been endorsed as
‘getting it’ by its military audiences.
Says General Sir Nick Parker, KCB, CBE: “Rosie Kay’s use of dance to help create a complex and
nuanced picture of conflict is one of the most innovative and compelling initiatives that I have experienced
in the aftermath of Iraq and Afghanistan. It demonstrates how art can be used as a powerful tool in the
healing process, how it can touch the extended family of those who have been caught in the horror of battle
and how it can send a universal message about the soldier. It is an extraordinary achievement which will
make a difference to many people.”
Supported by Arts Council England and Army Benevolent Fund, The Soldiers’ Charity, the 5
SOLDIERS tour will open at Birmingham REP on 23 April, marking five years to the day since the work
received its world premiere at International Dance Festival Birmingham 2010.
5 SOLDIERS is a moving, dramatic and unique work that looks at how the human body remains essential
to war, even in the 21st century.
A visceral ‘tour de force’ of the senses, 5 SOLDIERS provides an intimate view of the training that prepares
our soldiers for the sheer physicality of combat, for the possibility of injury, and the impact conflict has on
the bodies and minds of everyone it reaches. The piece has a powerful physicality, moments of humour
and is full of honesty, all inspired by input from serving and former soldiers.
Kay’s moving exploration of war was made following an intense period of field research when she joined
The 4th Battalion The Rifles for two weeks and experienced full battle exercises on Dartmoor and Salisbury
Plain. Kay then visited the military rehabilitation centre, Headley Court, to see the effects of conflict and
training on the soldiers’ bodies.
The 2015 tour sees Kay re-work 5 SOLDIERS. Says Rosie Kay, artistic director of Rosie Kay Dance
Company: “This tour is so exciting for the company- we really want more people to see the work, and
experience the power of the message. Despite advances in technologies of war and the treatment of war
injuries, so many people are going to be dealing with the impact of our long stretch of operations. This
affects not just soldiers, but their families, their friends and it affects us as a society. We have a
responsibility to understand what it is we ask our soldiers to do, and how it affects them.
We know 5 SOLDIERS really resonates with serving and former soldiers, and so we are widening our tour
to include performances, talks, a symposium and an incredible outreach programme across the whole of
UK. It’s an ambitious programme for us as a company, and combines all our years of experience from
making outdoor work, site-specific work, community engagement, high quality touring work and
professional training and development.
We aim to make an impact with this tour and make people see conflict and the repercussions of war in a
new way.”
New to the company are five outstanding dancers – Duncan Anderson, Chester Hayes, Sean Marcs,
Oliver Russell and Shelley Eva Haden – during the intense six-week rehearsal period they will participate in
a weeklong military exercise with The 4th Battalion The Rifles on the Salisbury Plain.
5 SOLDIERS brings together an exciting mix of collaborators: designer Louis Price, composer Annie
Mahtani, Dramaturg Ben Payne, lighting designer Mike Gunning and visual artist David Cotterell.
Kay is one the world’s leading female choreographers with a reputation for making strong, intelligent work
that tackles interesting subjects with exciting collaborations. In 2012 the company was nominated as Best
Independent Dance Company by the National Dance Awards, Critics Circle. Kay choreographed the 2013
feature film Sunshine on Leith, directed by Dexter Fletcher, with songs by The Proclaimers. In 2013, Kay
was the first choreographer to be appointed the Leverhulme Artist in Residence at the School of
Anthropology and Museum Ethnography, University of Oxford (full biography in notes).
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITORS
For media enquiries: Simon Harper, Simon Harper Public Relations simonharperpr@gmail.com 07810
863408
5 SOLDIERS: THE BODY IS THE FRONTLINE – 2015 tour dates and listings information
23-25 April // BIRMINGHAM, Repertory Theatre, Broad Street, B1 2EP
Tickets: www.birmingham-rep.co.uk // 0121 236 4455
2 & 3 May // OXFORD, Wolfson College in partnership with Defence Studies Department, King’s
College London at the UK Defence Academy and Swindon Dance
Tickets: www.5soldiers.co.uk // 0333 577 5700
5 May // LONDON, Royal United Services Institute, 61 Whitehall, London, SW1A 2ET
Ticket information to follow
7-9 May // LONDON, The Rifles Officers’ Club, 56 Davies Street, London, W1K 5HR
Tickets: www.5soldiers.co.uk // 0333 577 5700
14 & 16 May // NEWCASTLE, Dance City, Temple Street, NE1 4BR
Tickets: www.dancecity.co.uk // 0191 261 0505
23 & 24 May // BOURNEMOUTH, Pavilion Dance South West, Westover Rd, BH1 2BU
www.pdsw.org.uk // 01202 203630
29 & 30 May // MANCHESTER, Home & Rusholme Army Reserve Centre, Norman Road, Manchester
M14 5LH // Tickets: www.homemcr.org // 0161 200 1500
5 & 6 June // YORK, Theatre Royal & Imphal Barracks, enter via Holland Road, York YO10 4JT
Tickets: www.yorktheatreroyal.co.uk // 01904 623568
12 & 13 June // BRECON, Theatr Brycheiniog, Canal Wharf, Brecon, Powys LD3 7EW
Tickets: www.brycheiniog.co.uk // 01874 611622
5 SOLDIERS: THE BODY IS THE FRONTLINE - Age Guidance is PG // Running Time is 60 minutes
Rosie Kay Dance Company is a national and international touring dance company, based in Birmingham,
UK. The company has a reputation for making intelligent, athletic work that tackles interesting subjects with
exciting collaborations. Led by artistic director Rosie Kay and executive director Hannah Sharpe, the
company creates touring theatre works, site specific works, digital dance and dance film and installation
work. The company offer performances, education, events and training.
Rosie Kay BA (Hons) FRSA, trained at London Contemporary Dance School graduating in 1998 and after
a career as a performer formed Rosie Kay Dance Company in 2004. Kay has created award-winning
theatre work that include; Sluts of Possession (2013) in collaboration with the Pitt Rivers Museum, There is
Hope (2012) exploring religion, SOLDIERS- The Body Is The Frontline (2010), based on extensive
research with military which toured in the UK and Internationally and Double Points: K (2008) in
collaboration with Emio Greco|PC. Site-specific works include Haining Dreaming (2013) a Commonwealth
Games commission, The Great Train Dance (2011) on the Severn Valley Railway, a Cultural Olympiad
London 2012 commission and Ballet on the Buses (2007) in collaboration with Birmingham Royal Ballet
and Fierce! Festival.
Kay creates installation and dance film, with 5 SOLDIERS- the film, exhibited in The Herbert Gallery's
‘Caught in the Crossfire- Artists responses to Conflict, Peace and Reconciliation’, Stadtmuseum Dresden,
autumn 2014, and selected for inclusion in the film collection of la Médiathèque du Centre National de la
Danse, Paris. Feature Film credits include Choreographer to the Box Office hit Sunshine on Leith (2013),
and Brummoves (2014). Kay has initiated LAB and Scratch training courses for recent graduates cross-arts
and continues to teach, lecture and speak on dance, research methods and running an arts business.
Kay was the first Leverhulme Artist in Residence to the School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography,
University of Oxford, 2013-2014 and has continued as a Research Associate. She is also Associate Artist
of DanceXchange, Birmingham. Awards include 1st Prize Choreography, International Solo Dance Festival
Stuttgart, Award from The Queen as ‘Young Achiever of Scotland’, Bonnie Bird New Choreography Award
and nominated as Best Independent Company, National Dance Awards, Critics Circle. Kay is a Fellow of
the Royal Society of Artists, listed in Debretts and an MCR of St Cross College, Oxford.
www.rosiekay.co.uk
The 5 SOLDIERS 2015 Tour project is part financed by the Enterprise Catalyst European Regional
Development Fund Programme 2007 to 2013. The Department for Communities and Local Government
is the managing authority for the European Regional Development Fund Programme, which is one of the
funds established by the European Commission to help local areas stimulate their economic development
by investing in projects which will support local businesses and create jobs. For more information
visit www.communities.gov.uk/erdf
PHOTOGRAPH SHOT ON LOCATION AT THE RIFLES OFFICERS’ CLUB, DAVIES STREET, LONDON
CREDIT: Rosie Kay Dance Company's ‘5 Soldiers: The Body is the Frontline’ is a thought-provoking,
exploration of war and will tour to theatres, drill halls and officers' clubs from 23 April 2015 – dancers
Shelley Eva Haden, Chester Hayes, Sean Marcs, Duncan Anderson, Oliver Russell – photo by Tim Cross