Motionhouse

Motionhouse is a dance theatre company based in Royal Leamington Spa, Warwickshire. Founded in 1988, Motionhouse operates under the direction of husband and wife team Louise Richards and Kevin Finnan and the company aims to create startling, passionate dance theatre that fuses images, action and dynamism to surprise, challenge and delight their audiences. Imagery, theatricality and immediate impact combine with modern, contemporary dance and a focus on accessibility. Motionhouse also draw on theatre, circus, acrobatics and film to create performance spectacle with meaningful and resonant content which speaks directly to people through imagery and physicality.

Motionhouse has been commissioned to produce a spectacular outdoor event which will form part of the opening weekend celebrations of the London 2012 Festival in the West Midlands. The Voyage is being created in partnership with Sydney’s aerialists Legs On The Wall. The Voyage will feature film from Logela Multimedia, a life-size oceangoing liner and a cast of hundreds. The Voyage is being produced by Birmingham Hippodrome and will be performed in Victoria Square, Birmingham from 21–24 June 2012.

An enormous ship will sail into the centre of Victoria Square, Birmingham, docking itself beside the city’s Town Hall. High above the people who gather to look at this marvel, dancers and aerialists appear in the ship’s rigging – the voyage begins. The Voyage will be one of five large-scale events commissioned for the London 2012 Festival. The Voyage is a story that explores what this means for us all: departures and arrivals, hopes and fears, expectations and disappointments. Professional dancers and aerialists will join forces with a huge amateur choir, live musicians and over 140 community performers to transform the Square and tell the story. In the run up to The Voyage Motionhouse will be running a participatory project called Quest which offers young people from the West Midlands the chance to be part of the London 2012 celebrations. From March 2012 Motionhouse will be creating material with 8 community groups which they will then go on to perform in The Voyage.

Motionhouse won the Audience Award in the National Dance Awards 2005, as well as winning the Audience Prize for the MiramirO Festival in 2009 and is currently on the GCSE syllabus for dance in England and Wales. The structure of Perfect is thematic rather than narrative and explores the concept of time.

Motionhouse has produced 18 full-length, middle-scale touring productions and a series of dance spectacles in sites and spaces throughout the UK. The 2005 production Perfect won critical acclaim and is currently on the GCSE syllabus for dance in England and Wales. The structure of Perfect is thematic rather than narrative and explores the concept of time.

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