thicktightdance

Gen X Gen Z is opening Disrupt festival at @cambridgejunction tomorrow! We have loved working on this beautiful show by @tinkflaherty and Abra Flaherty, which previewed at @southbankcentre last autumn and was just on as part of @caravan_farnhammaltings at Brighton Festival. Come if you can! Tom of Finland. Breastfeeding. Men. Raving at the Hacienda decades apart. Just the usual parent-child catch-up. For Tink (parent) and Abra (child), it’s just another Tuesday. Gen X Gen Z is a parent-child reckoning, where Tink and Abra ask “without you, who am I?” - eavesdropping into their real-life conversations about parenting, being parented and becoming who you are, no matter your age, with your family as your witness. Cambridge Junction 14 May 7.30pm Hope to see you there x @artsadm @weareunltd

Working with @thicktightdance on Papillons has taught us a lot about accessibility in the arts. Our senior producer Jonas and Dan from Thick & Tight chat through how access has been integrated into the show, as well as The Camberwell Incredibles’ involvement. Making art accessible is always a work-in-progress. @weareunltd have some great resources, including information about the social model of disability on their website. Rather than considering people’s impairments, it considers the barriers put in place by society and infrastructure. @tinkflaherty acted as access consultant on the show, using their wealth of knowledge to guide us. The final performance of Papillons is tomorrow at @rncmlive and will also be relaxed! Hope you can join us. [ID: montage of the artists in a video shoot setting and clips from the rehearsals] Additional video footage credits: @mikeskelton_ and @camilla_greenwell

Snippets from wonderful reviews for ‘Papillons’ from last week 😊 It has been wonderful to share this piece with audiences and understand how this unique collaboration has landed with people. We have received the most brilliant, insightful and generous feedback from the Q&As. Massive thanks to our collaborators @manchestercollective @chaines.official @laura.vd.heijden and the @camberwell.incredibles for all your brilliant work. We weren’t sure how the work would land, and we understood there was risk to what we were aiming for, but so glad we pursued! For those of you that have seen the show, please do share your thoughts with us. Photos by @rosiepowellfreelance from our show at @southbankcentre as part of Multitudes Festival last week. Thanks to everyone who came to see us in Birmingham on Sunday. Come catch us in Nottingham at @lakesidearts on 6th May and Manchester at @rncmlive on 9th May. Reviews from @ayoungishperspective @guardian @gramilano #photo #dance #classicalmusic #review #theatre

@_connorjs is back as Sid Vicious ‼️ Punk pin-up. Murder at the Chelsea Hotel. Sex Pistols bassist. Delinquent. Innocent. Vicious. Kid. Catch Sid tomorrow as part of ‘You Are Here’ at the @southbankcentre , “an epic, one-off pop-culture spectacular that invites you on an electrifying journey through 75 years of British music, dance, theatre, fashion and film” directed and designed by Danny Boyle, Carson McColl, Gareth Pugh and Paulette Randall. “Scott is a masterful performer, thrashing and shooting wide-eyed expressions as if mid-concert, effortless with physically demanding choreography.” The Stage Choreography & Direction: @thicktightdance (Daniel Hay-Gordon & Eleanor Perry) Sid Vicious: Connor Scott Costume Design: Pam Tait @taitpam Hair & Makeup Design: Darren Evans @dazzaroid Lighting Design: Lucy Hansom @lucyhansom Music: Frank Sinatra, Sid Vicious, Jon Hassell & Brian Eno Originally co-commissioned by London International Mime Festival & Duckie. Supported by Arts Council England, The Lowry, Vauxhall Gardens Community Centre, London Performance Studios & Rambert School #sidvicious #youarehere #southbank #lipsync #dance

Adding the finishing touches to Papillons in tech rehearsals ✨ On Thursday, we debut the show on the @southbankcentre stage as part of Multitudes Festival, before heading to Brum, Notts and finally our home in Manchester 🫶 We’ve learned so much from our wonderfully talented collaborators: @thicktightdance , cellist @laura.vd.heijden and composer & spectrogram wizard @chaines.official . Can’t wait to show you what we’ve made: a beautifully unique show featuring movement, music, storytelling and mixed media from the Camberwell Incredibles 💜 🦋 Papillons tour: tickets in bio 30.04 London @southbankcentre 03.05 Birmingham @royalbirmcons 06.05 Nottingham @lakesidearts 09.05 Manchester @rncmlive Costumes and screen design by @tspooner0 Lighting design by @_bglighting and lighting programming by @charly_dunford_

Beautiful photos and stills from Super8 film of @thicktightdance ‘s Dan & El, captured by the incredible @camilla_greenwell 📸 for their new show PAPILLONS ‘Part performance, part reflection, Papillons invites us into a world where artists respond to music through movement and composition, visual art and conversation. At its heart of the show is Kaija Saariaho’s ‘Sept Papillons’ (Seven Butterflies) 🦋 – an exquisitely brittle and luminous set of seven miniatures for solo cello. Papillions is the French for butterflies. As their habitats deteriorate, butterflies are losing their colour. How do we appreciate something in a time of loss?’ @thicktightdance are extremely lucky to be working in collaboration on this project with the brilliant @manchestercollective , composer @chaines.official , cellist @laura.vd.heijden and the arts collective the @camberwell.incredibles . Catch Papillions as it tours the UK this spring to @southbankcentre (30th April) @royalbirmcons (3rd May) @lakesidearts (6th May) & @rncmlive (9th May) Last few tickets for the Southbank performance (as part of Multitudes Festival) so do book through link in our biog if you’d like to come! #photo #dance #cello #papillion #theatre

Big news!! @thicktightdance are creating a brand new show: Camp as Christmas! They will be performed the show at @southbankcentre ‘s Purcell Room for a 3 week run! Come on down from 10th December - 3rd January for a revue-style cabaret show featuring a classic nativity cast including the Virgin Mary, Father Christmas, Reform UK, Judy Garland, Three Unwise Men, Sarah Ferguson, Pigs in Blankets, the Devil, Little Donkey and Baby Jesus … oh and don’t forget Liza! Expect show tunes, the avant-garde, quick changes and possibly a carol. Always camp, a little bit Christmassy. Starring in these roles are @thicktightdance own Daniel Hay-Gordon and El Perry, with incredible guest performers. Thick & Tight are no strangers to acclaim. Their 2022 show Short & Sweet was called a ‘dazzling and witty variety show’ by The Stage in a five-star review. Now, Camp as Christmas is Thick & Tight’s latest full-length show after winning an Offie for the Cabaret category and Achievement in Dance at the UK Theatre Awards. The atmosphere will be celebratory, inclusive and queer, striking a few festive notes while adding a good dollop of irreverence and subversiveness to the conventions of the season. Are you coming down the chimney or not? Camp as Christmas is designed by @tspooner0 , @dazzaroid and Nao Nagai with additional designs by Sheila Hay and Claire Ashley. Thick & Tight is a dance theatre company based in the UK, co-directed by Daniel Hay-Gordon and El Perry. Combining dance, mime, lip sync, drag and satire, they make queer-focussed work which entertains, whilst challenging elitism and stigma in the arts, and in wider society. Tickets have just gone on sale and are already selling well so get a gaggle together quick for a Chrizzy treat and book soon! The show is produced by @michaelkitchinn & @evevegliohuner 📸 Photographer and stylist of amazing main image by Darren Evans @dazzaroid

Big news!! We’re creating a brand new show for later this year, Camp as Christmas! We will be performed the show at @southbankcentre Purcell Room for a 3 week run! Come on down from 10th December - 3rd January for a revue-style cabaret show featuring a classic nativity cast including the Virgin Mary, Father Christmas, Reform UK, Judy Garland, Three Unwise Men, Sarah Ferguson, Pigs in Blankets, the Devil, Little Donkey and Baby Jesus … oh and don’t forget Liza! Expect show tunes, the avant-garde, quick changes and possibly a carol. Always camp, a little bit Christmassy. Starring in these roles are @thicktightdance own Daniel Hay-Gordon and El Perry, with incredible guest performers. Thick & Tight are no strangers to acclaim. Their 2022 show Short & Sweet was called a ‘dazzling and witty variety show’ by The Stage in a five-star review. Now, Camp as Christmas is Thick & Tight’s latest full-length show after winning an Offie for the Cabaret category and Achievement in Dance at the UK Theatre Awards. The atmosphere will be celebratory, inclusive and queer, striking a few festive notes while adding a good dollop of irreverence and subversiveness to the conventions of the season. Are you coming down the chimney or not? Camp as Christmas is designed by @tspooner0 , @dazzaroid and Nao Nagai. Thick & Tight is a dance theatre company based in the UK, co-directed by Daniel Hay-Gordon and El Perry. Combining dance, mime, lip sync, drag and satire, they make queer-focussed work which entertains, whilst challenging elitism and stigma in the arts, and in wider society. Formed in 2012, Thick & Tight have presented work at venues including Sadler’s Wells, Wilton’s Music Hall, The Tate, Royal Vauxhall Tavern and here at the Southbank Centre who commissioned the work. Thick & Tight are Associate Artists at @the_lowry and @philharmonia_orchestra Artists in Residence. Tickets have just gone on sale and madly, are already selling well so get a gaggle together quick for a Chrizzy treat and book soon! #christmas #show #cabaret #dance #drag

Really excited to tour the UK with Papillions, a brand-new work co-created with @manchestercollective , multimedia artist @chaines.official , cellist @laura.vd.heijden and the @camberwell.incredibles . It’s been a huge pleasure to collaborate alongside these brilliant artists. We all have very different backgrounds, skills and experiences but have found unique meaning in the music, dance and art we have created for this performance. At the heart of the show is Kaija Saariaho’s ‘Sept Papillons’ (Seven Butterflies) – an exquisitely brittle and luminous set of seven miniatures for solo cello performed by Laura, one of the leading cellists of her generation. We started by examining the nature of butterflies and the fact that as their habitats are deteriorating across the globe, they are losing their colour. How do we appreciate something in a time of loss? What is important to us? Leading on from our award-winning show Natural Behaviour last year, we hope to have created an accessible piece of work, one which gives people insight into how and what we have created. The show is captioned and partially audio described. Weaving haunting electro-acoustic sound worlds by CHAINES, choreography by us, film we have created with the Incredibles, live visuals, live music and personal reflections, Papillons celebrates the power of subjectivity and creativity within each of us. Catch us on tour this Spring in this unique new work. We’d love to see you! 30 April – London – @southbankcentre as part of Multitudes Festival 3 May – Birmingham – The Bradshaw Hall @royalbirmcons 6 May – Nottingham – @lakesidearts 9 May – Manchester – @rncmlive Performers Laura van der Heijden cello Thick & Tight dance Cee Haines (CHAINES) electronics, visuals The Camberwell Incredibles mixed media Repertoire Saariaho: 7 Papillons (7 Butterflies) CHAINES: oysters sing of silkworms (World premiere) I Holst: The fall of the leaf Thanks so much to @michaelkitchinn , @evevegliohuner and @tinkflaherty for their work with us on this. And thank you to @the_lowry for supporting our work with the Incredibles! You can book tickets though Manchester Collective website #

Very happy to say that we’ve been nominated as Best Independent Dance Company at the National Critics Circle Awards! Wonderful to be recognised alongside friends, colleagues and the people & companies we admire. @national_dance_awards_ One of the best thing about being nominated for something like this is being given the time to thank those who have given us so much. In this occasion we would like to thank those who have worked behind the scenes, those that don’t get the applause at the end of the show but have been with us over this past year and made everything possible…Nao, @tspooner0 @taitpam @sheilahayceramics @janbrzee @dazzaroid @ellaholap.pa @meghodgsonn Andrea Edwards and @abstraktpublicity . To @tinkflaherty for coordinating access in our work and changing how, why and who we create our work for. You’ve been incredible. Thanks to those who have supported this work alongside Tink including @jen_smethurst @kamariromeoproducer and @shivaangee . Special thanks to @eckhard_thiemann for his vision and insight over the past few years, we’ll miss you; to @evevegliohuner and @michaelkitchinn for your incredible work as producers; to @antoniacbeck and the team at @the_lowry where we begin to wrap up our time as associates with you. To all of you, thanks for believing in us and our funny old work and the incredible support you’ve given us! #dance #awards #2026

🦋 Part performance, part reflection: taking its name from Kaija Saariaho’s luminous solo cello piece ‘Sept Papillons’ (Seven Butterflies), our new show merges classical and experimental music with movement, visual art and conversation. Co-created by @manchestercollective , @thicktightdance , @chaines.official and @laura.vd.heijden and featuring @camberwell.incredibles , this disarmingly intimate performance invites us to rethink the ways in which we experience and respond to art. Catch the Papillons world premiere at Multitudes – @southbankcentre ’s multi-artform festival reimagining classical music for all the senses – or at one of our other stops: 30.04 London @southbankcentre 03.05 Birmingham @royalbirmcons 06.05 Nottingham @lakesidearts 09.05 Manchester @rncmlive Book your tickets now via the link in bio 🎟️ With thanks to @camilla_greenwell for the stunning photography and Super8 film, and @mikeskelton_ for the additional video capture and edit 📽️

Clip from solo created by Daniel Hay-Gordon from @thicktightdance on @_annieedwards . This solo is part of three solos he’s choreographed, set to Maurice Ravel’s ‘Trois Poems de Mallarme’ and forms part of the work T&T are creating as part of their residency with the @philharmonia_orchestra this season. In Annie’s words; “we continue our collaboration after Natural Behaviour and this solo feels exciting and refreshing. To have a ballet solo created for me, and to try on Danny’s choreographic style is not something usually afforded to me or permitted to bodies like mine. It’s really meaningful to open new movement possibilities and to be trusted with this material by the choreographer and to make it work for me.” Dan says; “Annie is the absolute best and is exquisite in this work. I’m very lucky to get to work with her again!” Catch the work for free in the Clore Ballroom @southbankcentre on June 4th ! #ravel #dance #thicktightdance #ballet #mallarmé