The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Students take the lead and open new dance company
Apair of students from Dundee and Angus College have started their own dance company. Eleanor Walker and Theo Robertson founded Tangent Dance Theatre after completing a performing arts course at the college.
Theo discovered his love of dance through the course and had not considered founding his own company before then.
He said: “As a previously untrained dancer, I learned new techniques , experienced multiple creative processes and developed tools to make my own.”
Eleanor has already found success in the field, with her choreographic work “Let Me Tell You A...” chosen to be shown at Dundee Rep and Scottish Dance Theatre prior to lockdown.
Last year, she won a Scottish School of Contemporary Dance award for “engagement and contribution in the wider dance community”.
She said: “I found Dundee and Angus College to be a supportive, open environment that encouraged us to develop our own choreographic language while providing a strong foundation of technique.
“I was surprised by the creative freedom that was offered and my own ability to push myself to create unconventional work.”
L ee L appin, head of curriculum and quality for performing arts at the college, is proud to see students such as Eleanor and Theo pave their own path in the dance world.
He said: “I am consistently amazed at how resilient and adaptable the sector is and the various ways in which our learners express and apply themselves.”
Meanwhile, youth arts projects in Dundee have received a financial boost from the Scottish Government.
Sistema Scotland and Drake Music will each get a share of the £ 1 million funding package from Holyrood.
Nicola Killean, chief executive of Sistema Scotland, said: “We are delighted to be receiving funding from the Youth Arts Fund, enabling us to offer exciting new percussion opportunities for the children and young people in our Big Noise Douglas c o m m u n i t y, generating learning to build capacity within the sector, and supporting employment during these challenging times.”
Thursa Sanderson, chief executive of Drake Music Scotland, said: “It will directly tackle the lack of access to music making for young people with disabilities and additional support needs caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, removing the barriers for those isolating at home and those in the classroom.”