Archives: Productions

Your Father’s Son was a close look at the relationships formed between boys and men, whether father, son, friend, uncle, teacher, brother or cousin; UNIT explored these complex and emotional bonds. The all-male community cast came from across the Babergh district and Ipswich, and included East Bergholt High School, students from Suffolk New College and University Campus Suffolk, Wells Hall Primary School, Wells Hall Primary School Teachers group, Boyz United, alongside an adult male community cast.
Commissioners: DanceEast, Babergh District Council
Award: Babergh District Council Community Champion Award.
Dancers: Ollie Tibble, Ben Turnham, Kyan Hammond, Roy Allen, East Bergholt High School, Suffolk New College, University Campus Suffolk, Wells Hall Primary School, Wells Hall Primary School Teachers group, Boyz United, Babergh adult male community cast.

Finding Home tackles how we communicate with others different from ourselves. The audience followed an average family learning how they lived with a granny, obsessed with the fairytales of Hans Christian Andersen. This thoughtful and emotional performance brought together a community cast from the heart of Suffolk and turned the DanceHouse into a home for every dancer. The intergenerational cast of over 200 people were drawn from local schools in the Babergh, Mid Suffolk and Forest Heath districts. As well as DanceEast performance companies Elderberries, Boyz United, Suffolk Youth Dance Company and dancers from DanceEast’s Centre for Advanced Training.

Commissioners: DanceEast, Babergh District Council, Mid Suffolk Council
Dancers: Di Gooding, Alexandra Carter, Chris Hicks, Matilda Blowers, Matt Moseley, Lucy Blazheva, DanceEast performance companies; Elderberries, Boyz United, Suffolk Youth Dance Company and dancers from DanceEast’s Centre for Advanced Training.

An outdoor spectacle at Christchurch Park in Ipswich, DanceEast presented a specially created new piece performed by DanceEast performance companies, a new community group and invited guest dancers, inspired by Arthur Pita’s performance ‘The Worlds Greatest Show’. Exploring the ideas of the dance marathons of America in the 1930s. Alongside two exciting performances, hundreds of people took part in free dance workshops on the day of the performance. The piece was a co-commission by DanceEast and the Foundation for Community Dance for the Big Dance Weekend 2014.

The Village was inspired by the hundreds of little villages across England and the personal stories and relationships that weave themselves together. UNIT’S dance performance project commissioned by DanceEast, Babergh District Council , Forest Heath Council and Mid Suffolk Council sold out all three performances at the Jerwood Dance House, Ipswich and The Apex, Bury St Edmunds. The cast included nearly 200 performers from local schools in the Babergh, Mid Suffolk and Forest Heath districts, DanceEast Performance Groups and community participants.

Commissioners: DanceEast, Babergh District Council, Mid Suffolk Council
Dancers: Sarah Lewis, Di Gooding, Steph Lincoln, Freya Brown, Ben Todd Jones, DanceEast performance companies; Boyz United, Suffolk Youth Dance Company and dancers from DanceEast’s Centre for Advanced Training.

RMRS was commissioned by Trinity Laban to engage their youth group in the production of a stand-alone dance film. Shot on location in London, RMRS explores the idea of rumours circulating around peers and how this can lead to misunderstanding. All youth participants worked with Tom and group leader Chloe Stone to collaboratively choreograph the movement. Filming took place over two days on the grounds of Trinity Laban and Greenwich Park to create a visually arresting piece sound-tracked by Godspeed You! Black Emperor.

The Movement Mixtape was a collaboration between Saffron Hall and UNIT to create a dance film with the town of Braintree. UNIT asked the question ‘what music moves you?’ and John Bunyan Primary school, Kilkee Lodge Care home and Alec Hunter High school responded with heartfelt interviews and expressive movement that captured the joy of moving to music and the memories it evokes.

Commissioners: Saffron Hall
Dancers: Richard Pye, Katie Cambridge, John Bunyan Primary School, Alec Hunter High School and Kilkee Lodge Care home.

A DanceEast commission, Our Town Dances in Hadleigh and Stowmarket brought together over 140 participants from schools and community groups aged 8 to over 80, to create two dance film portraits.

UNIT worked with the participants, encouraging storytelling and the sharing of key life moments that tie people to the town in which they live through weekly sessions held in their workplace, school or regular meeting place. These views and memories were used for the creation of dance movement, filmed on location in homes, community centres and sites of local interest involving the community and supported by professional dancers.

The project was commissioned by DanceEast and funded by Babergh and Mid Suffolk District Council with additional support from Locality Budget grants.

You are the show is part show, part dance class and places the public as the dancers in their own show. Using classic hits from every era, easy moves and all the joy that comes from not knowing what’s going on. It starts gently and before you know you are busting out your moves as chief soloist. The show can be placed in a variety of situations from village fetes, arts venues, weddings conferences. All it needs is some space and people and an instant party is started.

Show currently in development. 

20 Questions is a fusion of dance, candid interviews and seamlessly integrated film, featuring a 40 strong intergenerational cast of local people. The performance is a glorious snapshot of humanity as the audience watches the answers to 20 questions and understands the differences between our dancers and everything that universally binds us together.

20 Questions is an entirely bespoke project and can be tailored to meet the audience development needs of your organisation. We need you to provide us with some participants and then we do the rest and make a beautiful show which is completely unique to and representative of your venue.