Innovative company brews up music and dance show
Scotland’s newest ‘ superband’ will team up with Ayr students on the town’s most famous stage this weekend.
Brewband, an inclusive music and dance performance company which brings together top rock artists and dancers, come to Ayr’s Gaiety Theatre on Friday night.
Created by award- winning disabled choreographer Marc Brew, musicians Graeme Smillie, Jill O’Sullivan and Peter Kelly perform alongside dancers Martyn Garside, Marta Masiero and Alice Sheppard.
The production blurs boundaries and challenges perceptions of identity by mixing rock music with Marc Brew’s distinctive choreography.
Marc was a ballet dancer before a car accident left him paralysed, forcing him to rethink what it meant to be a dancer with a different body type.
And his latest production aims to engage with young people across the country, by giving them the opportunity to develop their skills.
He said: “Through the activity we will particularly focus on disenfranchised young people, especially those with physical disabilities and those struggling with gender issues.
“As our work to date as a company demonstrates, it is these individuals who are frequently excluded from physical performance and activity.”
Students from the University of the West of Scotland’s Ayr campus will take part in the show itself.
A musician from the company has acted as a mentor, working with young bands and musicians to develop sounds that explore and respond to these issues, while a dance artists worked to express these ideas through a physical response.
Marc said: “Through an invitation to rehearsals, workshops and mentoring support we wish to tease out the skills and ambitions of each young person and ensure that they gain key transferrable skills that can be applied to work inside, and outside of the arts.
“We hope to encourage an understanding of diversity within the community through exploring issues of identity and to challenge the labels we often find ourselves boxed in and the perceptions society has around stereotypes of gender, style, sexuality, disability and race.”
Brewband comes to Ayr’s Gaiety Theatre on Friday, April 28 and 8pm.
Tickets cost between £ 10 and £ 15 and are available from www. ayrgaiety. co. uk or by calling 01292 288235.
Audio description, British Sign Language, captions and pre- show torch tours will be available prior to the show.