The story of my exhibition is currently featured on the front page of of the Dancing Times website
http://www.dancing-times.co.uk/news/item/1005-sally_mckay_exhibition
Archive for the ‘Performance’ Category
Sally McKay Exhibition in Dancing Times
Wednesday, August 29th, 2012My Exhibition at no format gallery
Saturday, August 25th, 2012
Sally McKay: Multisensory experience and artistic images of the moving human figure
Irina. Life size wire sculpture, dancer Irina Vainio
no format gallery Thursday 13th September – Sunday 23rd September
Opening times: Fri 14th, Sat 15th and Sun 16th September. Sat 22nd and Sun 23rd September and from 17th – 21st September by appointment (07803 609977)
Opening night Thursday 13th September 5pm – 9pm dance performance by Yorke Dance Project at 7.30pm
The exhibition is in conjunction with freelance writer Stephen Baycroft
Russell Maliphant Dance Company rehearse The Rodin Project. Oil and acrylic on canvas. 127 x 91cm
I will show life size wire sculpture, paintings, framed and unframed drawings and etchings
no format gallery, 2nd Floor Studios, Harrington Way, Woolwich, London SE18 5NR
My Daughter Dances in Closing Ceremony
Thursday, August 16th, 201212th August 2012
My daughter was one of the 350 children from 10 schools in the 6 east London Host Boroughs chosen to dance in the Closing Ceremony of the Olympics, they were auditioned had many rehearsals after school, at weekends and during the holiday. They delighted in being a part of something so big, so special and cloaked in secrecy.
The 12 and 13 year olds danced to Ray Davies of the Kinks singing Waterloo Sunset forming a human dancing River Thames. Sadly the camera work was unimaginative and only focussed on the singer, but my daughter danced for me in the garden after the ceremony.
Just add another 349 kids and you’ll get the idea!
Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker dances in The Tanks
Thursday, August 2nd, 201220th July 2012. Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker at Tate Modern
The Tanks, Tate Modern’s fabulous new extension, opened to the public on 18th July. Belgian choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker performed Fase, Four Movements to the Music of Steve Reich which she adapted for this new space with dancer Tale Dolven.
These subterranean tanks used to contain a million gallons of oil in the former life of the building as Bankside Power Station, and now have been converted into a permanent gallery dedicated to live art and performance art. Converted by the architects who designed the first phase of Tate Modern in 2000, Herzog + de Meuron.
Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker and Tale Dolven dance Fase, Four Movements to the Music of Steve Reich in celebration of the opening of The Tanks
Fase set to four pieces of Steve Reich’s “phase music” investigates the relationship between music and movement. Containing four minimalist dances, each is finely structured following rhythmic patterns. We were free to mill around or to sit on the floor creating a square surrounding the dances, but nobody moved from the moment they walked on and began to dance to the end of the last dance 1 hour later, the audience was totally captivated.
Yorke Dance Project to dance at my exhibition
Friday, July 20th, 2012Artistic Director and choreographer of Yorke Dance Project, Yolande Yorke-Edgell, will be dancing a solo on the opening night of my exhibition, inspired by a letter from Marilyn Monroe to her psychiatrist. I am working on a full size wire sculpture of Yolande dancing Marilyn. The sculpture will be on show on the opening night of my exhibition and then on stage with Yolande during the tour of Words Worth with Yorke Dance Project.
Solo exhibition Sally McKay: Multisensory experience and artistic images of the moving human figure
no format gallery Thursday 13th September – Sunday 23rd September. The exhibition is in conjunction with the academic and freelance writer Dr Stephen Baycroft.
Opening night preview Thursday 13th September 5pm – 9pm with dance performance by Yorke Dance Project
Opening times: Fri 14th, Sat 15th and Sun 16th September. Sat 22nd and Sun 23rd Sept
17th – 21st Sept by appointment (07803 609977)
Too Mortal. Shobana Jeyasingh Dance
Sunday, July 15th, 201212 July 2012
During May I drew during some of the rehearsals of Too Mortal, Shobana Jeyasingh‘s remarkable new dance work, created specifically for churches in European cities. The rehearsals took place in St Mary’s Old Church, a small atmospheric Elizabethan church in Stoke Newington, London.
Even during early rehearsals I found the movement mesmerizing and thought-provoking. I felt the sensation of the sea and the rhythmic pull of undulating waves while drawing and watching the flowing movement of the dancers which might come across in some of the drawings.
The whole dance takes place within the old wooden pews which are enclosed at both ends. Shobana Jeyasingh Dance opened Too Mortal in Venice at La Biennale di Venezia in June.
The performances in London took place in the church they had rehearsed in, St Marys Old Church, and in St Pancras Church, Euston which is where the following very small, fast sketches were made.
The dancers: Vanessa Abreu, Emily Absalom, Avatara Ayuso, Alejandra Lucrecia Bano Pelegrin, Noora Kela and Audrey Rogero are next performing at St Swithun’s Church in Worcester and then in September in Stockholm. With the addition of the atmospheric lighting by Yaron Abulafia and beautiful mix of music by Sound Artist, Cassiel the performance is incredibly powerful. Thank you to Shobana and the dancers for allowing me and welcoming me to the rehearsal space to draw.
As I left St Pancras church after the performance I felt I had been witness to something precious and spiritual, it felt like a gift.
Greenwich World Cultural Festival
Thursday, July 5th, 20121st July 2012
When you walk into the grounds of Eltham Palace in South East London it is like entering a secret garden, or walking through the wardrobe and finding yourself in Narnia. This Art Deco hidden gem, built around the remains of the Palace first recorded in Domesday Book of 1086, is the location Greenwich Dance and Greenwich Theatre present the annual Greenwich World Cultural Festival, a celebration of dance, music and theatre from around the world.
As Greenwich Dance’s Resident Artist I arranged a Creative Clay workshop in the Sunken Moat, led by my eldest son Max and his friend Jess, to make clay figures inspired by the dance taking place around them. Constantly busy with all ages creating a figure to take home.
Creative Clay workshop inspired by dance in the festival
Visitors to the festival were given a map of the palace grounds showing a bridge crossing the dry moat at three given times during the afternoon, asked to meet beside the bridge to be led to the area where a dance would be performed by Beyond Front@
Beyond Front@ dancing in the grounds of Eltham Palace
I gave the spectators small pieces of paper and pencils and suggested they try to get some of the movement on to paper, at the end of the dance we hung them on the Thought Tree.
Musicians played in surprise places around the grounds
Protein Dance’s The Picnic commissioned by Greenwich Dance
Rambert Dance Company
Wednesday, May 30th, 201215 May 2012. Sadler’s Wells
It’s 2 weeks since I watched Rambert perform at Sadler’s Wells. Here are some small speedy sketches I made during the performance.
The first dance, SUB, choreographed by Itzik Galili, was in my opinion the most moving and powerful dance of the evening. Seven bare chested men wearing weird kilt-like baggy shorts danced with such strength, speed and dynamism it took my breath away. I live with teenagers and SUB seems to embrace the whole sense of being a teenager. I loved this dance.
Sub, choreographer Itzik Galili
The Art of Touch, followed, choreographed by Siobhan Davies. Inspired by observing the touch of the musician’s hand on the keyboard of the harpsichord and the creation of the sound as the plectrum makes contact with the strings. The Art of Touch is a great contrast to Sub, in this work the dancers feet hardly touched the ground. Rambert danced to a work for harpsichord by Matteo Fargion.
The Art of Touch. Choreographer Siobhan Davies
L’Apres midi d’un faune choreographed by Vaslav Nijinsky in 1912 and recreated for Rambert by Ann Whitley
No sheets left in my sketch book by time the last dance of the evening, What Wild Ecstasy, was performed so sadly no drawings of this dance, choreographed by Ramberts’ Artistic Director Mark Baldwin to music by Gavin Higgins.
My next exhibition is a solo show at No Format Gallery, Mellish Industrial Estate, Warspite Road, London SE18 5N
13th September – 23rd September 2012
Part of ‘On Sublimity and Synaesthesia‘ I shall be exhibiting in conjunction with freelance writer Dr Stephen Baycroft.
Greenwich Dance Family Cabaret
Friday, May 25th, 201219 May 2012
Saturday 19th May was the first day of Big Dance 2012, the UK’s biggest celebration of dance. Greenwich Dance is the Big Dance Hub for South East London, Greenwich Dance is working with local dancers, arts organisations, schools and councils to bring together 8 weeks of dance across south east London. Greenwich Dance kicked off the festivities with the Greenwich Dance Big Family Cabaret.
In my new role of Resident Artist of Greenwich Dance, I facilitated Drawing Dance. As the audience arrived I invited the children to join me and dancers: Victor Fung and Ragnhild Olsen on the dance floor which was covered in a huge carpet of white paper. Fabulous rhythmic drawings were made by the children and many adults too, inspired by the music DJ Festus Williams was playing and the dancing of Victor and Ranghild.
Award winning comedian Tom Roden from New Art Club was the compere.
My drawings of the performance
Maxwell Dance Project Magpie Dance Youth Group
Matthias Sperling and Antonia Grove
Hoop La La
Dickson Mbi, Adrian Naidas and Jonathon Reid
A great start to the next 8 weeks of Big Dance.
Resident Artist at Greenwich Dance
Friday, May 25th, 2012May 22nd, 2012
I am very excited and pleased to have been asked to work as Resident Artist at Greenwich Dance.
The first event I was asked to facilitate for was at the The Big Family Cabaret which worryingly coincided with the Open Studios weekend at our studios at Second Floor Studios Woolwich. My 15 year old son came to my rescue and sat in my studio so it could remain open for the afternoon and my 12 year old daughter accompanied me to Greenwich Dance to help me encourage the youngsters to join us on the floor to draw. In fact there was a huge amount of enthusiasm for the activity and no encouragement needed to participate, so happily she was able to sit and draw too.
A summer of exciting projects with Greenwich Dance lies ahead. Why not join us at Greenwich World Cultural Festival in the grounds of Eltham Palace 1st July 12.30-4.30; see Protein Dance perform The Picnic choreographed by Luca Silvestrini and create in clay with me, inspired by the dancers.
Or maybe you could arrive by water to The Big Dance Big Top Tent in the grounds of the Old Royal Naval College, Greenwich, 5th July – 9th July, workshops for professional dancers, children and adults and on the last day a Family Cabaret at 4.00pm followed by Cabaret 2 (14+) at 7.30pm.
I will try to capture the spirit of each event and post images here.