In This Place, Upon This Earth

 

Company Carpi were commissioned by the regional dance organisation Cheshire Dance to create a live performance piece for their flagship event Now Northwich dance festival which took place on 27th April 2024.  The resulting piece In This Place, Upon This Earth was performed to capacity audiences at The Plaza Northwich.

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“We opted to make something that spoke squarely and directly to the town of Northwich, to its history and its people as well as to its myths and urban legends.  Conversations that began in January 2024 at Northwich Rotary Club, and with locals of the town, and then with many young people in Cheshire yielded all manner of fantastic and rich material that was woven into shape and presented in operatic form at The Plaza.  Originally established as a cinema in 1928 The Plaza has in recent years been relaunched as a concert hall, a venue for live music.  Thankfully many of the original Art Deco features in the building have been retained and preserved and it is without doubt a space filled with character and with a special atmosphere ideal for artistic performance.  It was at the behest of Cheshire Dance that Company Carpi use The Plaza and we tried to make the most of this highly apt venue and speak both to it and to the people of the town in our performances at Now Northwich.  The cast is a fabulously diverse mixture of professional dancers, singers and musicians with an extended group of dancers drawn from students and the Cheshire community.  This is a lovely way to work and we had a fantastic time creating this piece and working with everyone in the cast and crew and what a great day we had in the town performing as part of the always fabulous Now Northwich!”

Bettina & Gary - June 2024

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In This Place, Upon This Earth features a cast of renowned opera singers and two orchestral percussionists performing to specially prepared recordings, and a large group of dancers bringing together professional dancers, dance students and community dancers.

 

The libretto for the piece is an anthology of local stories which includes the ambitions for the development of the town, the yarns and myths surrounding the tales of The Lady of Marbury, the Northwich Union Workhouse, the infamous fire at the Roberts Bakery, plus an ode to the sunken areas of the town, and crucially includes a rousing finale which voices the hopes and fears of the young people of Cheshire.  The libretto for the finale was culled from writing workshops in the area in Cheshire, re-articulated by the highly gifted writer Felicity Goodman.

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In This Place, Upon This Earth was performed twice on its premiere performance day and in the first performances the cast were joined by an interpreter who delivered the libretto in British Sign Language.

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Dance Cast

Ben Wilson

Carrie Stevens

Dina Robinson

Georgina Hulme

Gillian Map

Janet Price

Jessica Bennett

Josephine Hepplewhite

Lauren Tucker

Liv Leah

Max Ashbrook

McKaela Spradlin

Michelle Higgins

Nikki Bennett  

Rachel Gittens

Ying Ying Li

Zuza Kurko

 

Singers

Naomi Rogers

Olivia Carrell

Kamil Bien

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Percussionists

Sophie Smith

Will Renwick

 

Lighting Designer

Phil Saunders

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Photographer

Sam Ryley

Canteen Creative Productions