Derry – Londonderry

As part of Derry-Londonderry Capital for Culture 2013, we paired together with London International Festival of Theatre to bring a unique re-imagining of Political Mother: The Choreographer’s Cut to Derry’s The Parade Ground.

This version of Political Mother: The Choreographer’s Cut featured a live 30-strong band composed of 20 local Derry-Londonderry based young musicians alongside 10 musicians and 16 dancers from our own company. The project aimed to engage and excite the young population of Derry with contemporary art through its rock concert style score and Hofesh’s movement vocabulary, which has been recognised as uniquely accessible.

The project offered the selected Derry-Londonderry musicians the chance to participate in a professional framework with the same high production and artistic value as any Hofesh work. The project includes six weeks of rehearsals with two weeks dedicated to workshops and development. This was a paid opportunity in order to allow participants to make the necessary commitment to the workshops, and to demonstrate the value of artistic contribution to the work of performance.

In addition, five community groups were selected to work with our dancers to create works inspired by the themes of oppression, survival, resistance and existence that shaped Political Mother. These took place in outdoor sites around the city ahead of an evening performance of Political Mother: Derry-Londonderry UnCut.