Rosie Kay

Rosie Kay (born 27 March 1976) is a British choreographer best known for her award-winning show 5 Soldiers,[1][2] MK ULTRA[3] [4](produced in collaboration with BBC journalist and BAFTA-winning filmmaker Adam Curtis)[3] and choreographing the Commonwealth Games 2018 handover live televised on BBC Two, estimated to have been seen by one billion people globally.[5] Kay is founder and artistic director of Rosie Kay Dance Company (which was awarded National Portfolio Organisation status from Arts Council England in 2017[6][7]), Associate Artist at Dance City,[8] and a research associate to the University of Oxford School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography.[9][10]

Rosie Kay
Born (1976-03-27) 27 March 1976
Scotland
OccupationChoreographer
Years active2004–present
Websiterosiekay.co.uk

Early life

Rosie Kay, born in Scotland and brought up in Devon, began dance classes at the age of three.[11] She trained at London Contemporary Dance School, graduating in 1998.[12]

Career

Rosie Kay first worked as a dancer outside of the UK before founding Rosie Kay Dance Company in 2004.[12]

In 2013, Kay became Leverhulme Artist in Residence at the University of Oxford, using the archive of the Pitts Rivers Museum to create Sluts of Possession with Brazilian dance artist Guilherme Miotto. She worked with the director of The Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, Professor Stanley Ulijaszek, research partner Dr Karin Eli, Dr Noel Lobley (Head of Ethnomusicology), Dr Christopher Morton (Head of Film and Photography at the Pitt Rivers) and Dr Clare Harris to develop the piece.[13][14][15] Performed by Kay and Miotto, Sluts of Possession featured at Dance Base at Edinburgh Festival Fringe, honing in on trance-like states and tribal ritual.[16]

In 2014 producer James Preston joined Rosie Kay Dance Company as executive director, with the pair first meeting at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe whilst Kay was performing her piece The Wild Party in 2006.[17]

In 2015, Rosie Kay's production 5 Soldiers received a Special Commendation from the Royal Society of Public Health's Arts and Health Awards and was nominated for Best Choreography at the National Dance Awards in 2015 whilst the company won Best Independent Dance Company.[18][19] The show also garnered considerable critical praise, attaining 5 stars in The Scotsman, The Herald, the Observer, the Independent, and 4 stars in The Guardian, and was included in the Best Dance Charts 2015 for the latter three publications.[2][20][21][22][23][24][25] In 2017, it returned to Edinburgh Festival Fringe with a sell-out run presented by Summerhall’s Army@TheFringe and was awarded a Summerhall Jawbone Award for ‘Greatest Festival Moments 2017’.[1][26] A digital commission from The Space in 2017 enabled a live stream of the show from an Army base in London presented by Sadler's Wells on BBC Arts Online.[1]

In 2015, Kay danced as character Nastya Terpsikhorova and took the role of Movement Director in Irina Brown's stage direction of Shostakovich's Orango at BBC Proms, Royal Albert Hall in London.

MK ULTRA, performed in 2017 is politically focused,[27] the final part of a trilogy beginning with 5 Soldiers (on war) and There Is Hope (on religion).[28][29][30][31] In it, Kay explores themes of surveillance, propaganda, and "total war".[27]

Rosie Kay was chosen as the Choreographer of the Commonwealth Games handover performance as the sporting event transitioned from Australia to Birmingham, UK for the 2018 Commonwealth Games.[32][33] The choreography was put together in ten days and was televised live to an estimated one billion people globally, in a performance that also included the longest ever single-camera shot of a live handover.[33][34] The performance featured Birmingham Royal Ballet's principal dancer Céline Gittens and blended ballet, street, jazz and contemporary dance. Approximately 1,500 volunteers auditioned to take part with 500–600 participating in the live show.[34]

In April 2018, Rosie Kay Dance Company became an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation.[6][35]

Kay is associate director and choreographer for a large-scale adaptation of Woyzeck, with a community cast of 100+ at Birmingham Repertory Theatre as part of Birmingham International Dance Festival 2018.[5][32]

Influences

5 Soldiers

In 2006 Kay experienced a knee injury with doctors saying that she would never dance again.[36] When recovering from an operation and still feeling the effects of general anaesthetic, she had a vivid dream which inspired the creation of 5 Soldiers: The Body is the Frontline, a piece that tells the story of servicemen and women in the British Army.[37] Recalling the dream, she told The Daily Record:

“I dreamt my leg had been blown off on a desert battlefield. In the dream, my first thought was, ‘Oh s**t’. My second thought was, ‘My body is not my soul, I can chop off my arms and legs and I’d still be me’. I thought, ‘What are the links between dance training and soldiers’ training? Could I understand the way they use their bodies? Could I step into that? How would it feel to change my body in that way? What happens in your mind to take those risks?"[36]

After coming up with the idea for 5 Soldiers, it took her nearly two years to gain an embedded attachment to an infantry battalion. With the support of retired British Army Major General Sir Michael Carleton-Smith, she secured an attachment with 4th Battalion, The Rifles with whom she took part in intensive training on Dartmoor before spending time with medics and injured soldiers the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Unit at Headley Court and Selly Oak in Birmingham (Royal Centre for Defence Medicine).[38][39] At these army rehab centres, Kay spoke with soldiers who had returned from Afghanistan with complex trauma injuries and multiple amputations.[37] General Nick Parker, KCB, CBE commented on 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.”[38]

MK Ultra

Together with journalist Adam Curtis, Kay interviewed 14- to 25-year-olds from the West Midlands, incorporating some of their testimonies into the piece.[27]

Personal life

Kay is the daughter of Stefan G. Kay OBE and Helen Kay.[40][41] She has a son, Gabriel and lives in Northfield, Birmingham, with her film-maker husband Louis Price.[5]

Awards and accolades
  • 1st Prize Choreography, International Solo Dance Festival Stuttgart[42]
  • Award from The Queen as ‘Young Achiever of Scotland’.[12]
  • Bonnie Bird New Choreography Award.[5]
  • First associate artist of DanceXchange[12]
  • First Leverhulme Artist in Residence to the School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography, University of Oxford, 2013–2014, member of St Cross College.[13][43][44]
  • Research Associate, University of Oxford, with papers published in Medical Humanities and a book chapter published by Oxford University Press on ‘War and Choreography’.[45][46]

List of major works
  • Asylum (2004)
  • The Wild Party (2006)
  • Ballet on the Buses (2007)
  • Double Points: K (2008) in collaboration with Emio Greco | PC.
  • Supernova (2008)
  • 5 SOLDIERS – The Body Is The Frontline (2010–2017)
  • The Great Train Dance (2011) on the Severn Valley Railway
  • There is Hope (2012)
  • Haining Dreaming (2013)
  • Sluts of Possession (2013)
  • MOTEL (2016) in collaboration with Huntley Muir
  • MK ULTRA (2016–2018)
  • Modern Warrior (2017–18)
  • Choreography of Commonwealth Games handover (2018)

Feature Film credits include choreographer for Sunshine on Leith (2013)[5][47] and Brummoves (2014).[48] 5 SOLDIERS – the film, was exhibited at The Herbert Gallery Coventry, Stadtmuseum Dresden and is in the film collection of la Médiathèque du Centre National de la Danse, Paris.

gollark: On ***two***?!
gollark: I mean, rarity-wise yes, but it doesn't always work that way.
gollark: _frantically adjusts Wants text_
gollark: I'll just go unname my aethers and stick them up, what could go wrong.
gollark: Assuming the laws of multiplication and wild random guessing hold true, I can put up four and get a gold?

References
  1. "BBC Arts – 5 Soldiers – The Body is the Frontline – BBC Arts". BBC. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  2. Jennings, Luke (3 May 2015). "5 Soldiers review – war from a female perspective packs a punch". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  3. Jennings, Luke (23 April 2017). "MK Ultra review – Rosie Kay, Adam Curtis and the Illuminati". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  4. Levene, Louise (2017). "Dance for conspiracy theorists". Financial Times. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  5. "Meet the Brummies performing at the Commonwealth Games handover ceremony | I Am Birmingham". I Am Birmingham. 10 April 2018. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  6. "Arts Council England announces National Portfolio grants – Dancing Times". Dancing Times. 27 June 2017. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  7. "Sadler's Wells Theatre – Press – Rosie Kay Dance Company". www.sadlerswells.com. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  8. "Associate Choreographic Dance Artists – Dance City". Dance City. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  9. 103982@au.dk (22 May 2018). "Show". newsroom.au.dk. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  10. Guardian, Stuart Gillespie, The. "Rosie Kay talking about her work". www.creativescotland.com. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  11. "10 Minutes With... Rosie Kay – Warwick Arts Centre". Warwick Arts Centre. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  12. "Rosie Kay – Dance City". Dance City. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  13. Gillespie, Stuart. "Rosie Kay talking about her work". www.creativescotland.com. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  14. Mackrell, Judith (13 March 2017). "Inside the Illuminati with Rosie Kay and Adam Curtis". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  15. "Dance reviews: Missing / Bird's Eye View / Sluts Of Possession". The Herald. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  16. Mackrell, Judith (22 August 2013). "Sluts of Possession – Edinburgh festival 2013 review". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  17. "James Preston–Executive Director | Rosie Kay Dance Company". rosiekay.co.uk. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  18. RSPH. "RSPH celebrates arts and health innovations at annual award ceremony". www.rsph.org.uk. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  19. "2015 National Dance Awards – Winners Announced". DanceTabs. 25 January 2016. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  20. "5 Soldiers, Yeomanry House, London, review: Kay makes the experience of injury feel viscerally real". The Independent. 8 September 2017. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  21. "Dance review: 5 Soldiers: The Body is the Frontline at Tramway, Glasgow". The Herald. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  22. Mackrell, Judith (8 May 2015). "5 Soldiers review – lust, shock and awe in the modern army". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  23. Mackrell, Judith (16 December 2015). "Judith Mackrell's top 10 dance of 2015". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  24. Jennings, Luke (13 December 2015). "Luke Jennings: the best dance of 2015". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  25. "Five top plays and performances from 2015". The Independent. 16 December 2015. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  26. Carrell, Severin (4 May 2017). "British army to play host to Edinburgh festival fringe". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  27. "Rosie Kay on MK Ultra: delving into pop culture, brainwashing and mind control – Seeing Dance". www.seeingdance.com. 3 March 2017. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  28. "Rosie Kay on her new MK Ultra – exploring the world of conspiracy theory and the Illuminati". DanceTabs. 28 February 2017. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  29. "Choreographing conspiracy". ArtsProfessional. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  30. Kay, Rosie; Reynolds, Dee (1 May 2016). "The Body Is the Frontline". Choreographies of 21st Century Wars. Oxford University Press. pp. 241–268. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190201661.003.0013. ISBN 9780190201661.
  31. "Rosie Kay Dance Company – MK Ultra – Birmingham". DanceTabs. 1 April 2017. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  32. Desk, BWW News. "Rosie Kay Chosen To Choreograph Commonwealth Games Handover". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  33. "LCDS alumna Rosie Kay choreographs Commonwealth Games handover ceremony in Birmingham – Conservatoire for Dance and Drama". Conservatoire for Dance and Drama. 17 April 2018. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  34. Elkes, Neil (15 April 2018). "All you need to know about the Commonwealth Games hand over ceremony". birminghammail. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  35. "Dance development takes a hit in NPO funding round". ArtsProfessional. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  36. Burnside, Anna (29 April 2016). "Choreographer Rosie Kay reveals how a spell with squaddies changed her life". dailyrecord. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  37. "Rosie Kay: 'I pushed and pushed and pushed this into a choreographic exploration of discipline, energy, repression and aggression.' – LondonDance". LondonDance. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  38. "Art of war: dancer Rosie Kay joined the army for her new show, 5 Soldiers". The Herald. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  39. "A dance to the music of tedium and terror". The Financial Times.
  40. "Stefan G. Kay OBE: Executive Profile & Biography – Bloomberg". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  41. "The Board | Rosie Kay Dance Company". rosiekay.co.uk. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  42. "Festival Gewinner – Internationales Solo Tanz Theater Festival Stuttgart". Internationales Solo Tanz Theater Festival Stuttgart (in German). Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  43. "Rosie Kay,Leverhulme Artist in Residence – Unit for Biocultural Variation and Obesity". oxfordobesity.org. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  44. "St College Cross College record number 32" (PDF). 2015. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  45. "Rosie Kay | University of Oxford Podcasts – Audio and Video Lectures". podcasts.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 22 May 2018.
  46. Kay, Rosie; Reynolds, Dee (1 May 2016). The Body Is the Frontline. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190201661.001.0001. ISBN 9780190201661.
  47. Studios, Pixelbend. "Black Country Dance Hub – Rosie Kay". www.blackcountrydance.com. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  48. "Pro Class and Talk with Rosie Kay – Birmingham Dance Network". Birmingham Dance Network. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
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