Sharon Watson, Artistic Director of Leeds-based Phoenix Dance Theatre, has been working closely with our second year students to create an original work for Student Showcase.
From dancer to choreographer and since 2009 Artistic Director, Sharon Watson is a visionary and influential figure, who has helped forge and shape the cultural fabric of Leeds, City of Dance, over the last 20 years.
Sharon’s newly commissioned work explores the very present and contentious subject of Brexit. The piece, titled ‘Taking a Position’, explores the public opinion surrounding the divisive political situation and invites us to consider politics as feeling.
"What happens when advocates of opposing views talk past one another; when people can’t agree about where they belong; when barriers start to go up?" Professor Stephen Coleman, University of Leeds
Sharon has collaborated with Stephen Coleman, Professor of Political Communication at the University of Leeds, for this particular commission. Stephen conducted interviews with various Remain and Leave voters following the referendum result which serve as an oral history of the current climate of uncertainty.
The piece includes an original composition by Christella Litras (who also collaborated with Sharon on Windrush, 2018) using extracts from the interviews to create a unique soundscape for the work.
“I do hope people find a way of connecting with it because it’s a story that resonates and will be with us for a very long time.”
Taking a Position will be performed as part of NSCD Student Showcase over four nights 20-23 March. The showcase features exciting new commissions from guest artists drawn from across the UK and further afield.
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