Applications to be part of VERVE 24 are now open. Create brand new work and stage existing repertoire with international choreographers and their collaborators. Tour across the UK, grow your artistry with VERVE Curriculum Lead Matteo Marfoglia and a variety of guest artists, develop teaching skills and participate in exchanges with peers.
Next year (2023/24) the company will present work by:
(LA)HORDE - REP
JOY ALPUERTO RITTER - NEW WORK
MATTEO MARFOGLIA - NEW WORK
Our search for a diverse company of dancers from all backgrounds begins now.
“In 2023/24 we welcome choreographers with a strong connection to the European dance scene and with collaboration at their core.
Firstly, Germany-based choreographer Joy Alpuerto Ritter will join us in autumn 2023, a senior artist of Akram Khan Dance Company. Selected as one of the Aerowaves artists in 2020, Joy’s repertoire incorporates a variety of dance styles including Hip Hop and Vogue, referencing Ballroom culture as well as her experience with Cirque du Soleil as an aerial artist.
Second, we invite acclaimed European collective (LA) HORDE to restage their work ‘When people used to die’. The extreme physicality of this work originates from the Jumpstyle dance genre, and we will collaborate with two jumpers during the restaging of this powerful yet poetic piece of work.
Finally, I am delighted at the prospect of creating my first work for the company since being appointed Artistic Director and Curriculum Lead in 2021. I will collaborate with Welsh Music Composer Branwen Munn and Italian London based fashion designer Fedro Gaudenzi.
We recognise each dancer has their unique skills and experiences to offer and support them in exploring their unique potential rigorously. Alongside working with choreographers, VERVE works with exceptional practitioners across many movement practices in the development of their artistry.
I am delighted by the success of our VERVE alumni, witnessing their growth and forging themselves as dance artists of the future. I am also excited to have curated a programme that celebrates collaboration across dance genres and art forms led by acclaimed European choreographers. I look forward to welcoming applicants here in Leeds as well as our online auditionees from all over the world.”
– Matteo Marfoglia, VERVE Artistic Director & Curriculum Lead
VERVE is the postgraduate company of Northern School of Contemporary Dance and all dancers are enrolled on the School’s MA in Contemporary Dance Performance.
Course info ApplyFounded in 2013, (LA)HORDE is a collective of artists in residence at the Ballet National de Marseille. Since 2019, the multi-faceted creative group have worked across choreography, film production, video installation and performance. By exploring various artistic approaches (LA)HORDE aims to create works that are creatively and culturally relevant.
In particular, (LA)HORDE are interested in exploring the political side of dance, mapping diverse choreographic forms of popular uprising, from raves to traditional dances, to jumpstyle. Recently, their exploration of new media and online representation led them to create the concept of “post-internet dances“.
In 2018, they collaborated with Christine & the Queens on the artistic direction of her choreography and the staging of her concerts, live show & TV appearances. More recently, they have worked with Burberry on ad campaigns that combine the everyday with the extraordinary.
Watch: Previous WorkJoy Alpuerto Ritter was born in Los Angeles, grew up in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany and has been working as a choreographer since 2016. Over the course of her career to date, she has embodied a diverse vocabulary and developed her own personal language of movement informed by her experiences within contemporary dance, ballet, jazz, circus, Hip Hop and Vogue ballroom culture.
As a performer, Joy has worked as a dancer and aerial artist with Cirque Du Soleil, touring internationally, and as a senior artist of Akram Khan Company, nominated for a national Dance Award for ‘outstanding female dancer (modern)’ in 2016 for her performance in ‘Until the Lions’.
Her solo work Babae resulted in Joy being selected as an Aerowaves artist in 2020. Since then she has established collaborations as an associate choreographer with Akram Khan (UK), Ballet Black (UK), Chen Shi-Zheng (New York), Viviana Durante (UK), Floria Sigismondi (USA/CA) and Florence and the machine (UK).
Her works have toured internationally to various houses and festivals including Kalamata Dance Festival, Gender Bender Festival Bologna, Deltebre Dansa, Stanislavsky Theatre Moscow, KLAP Maison pour la Danse Marseille, Lilian Baylis Theatre, Sadler’s Wells London, Biennale Seoul Korea, Romaeuropa Festival and International dance Festival Lublin.
Watch: previous workMatteo Marfoglia is the Artistic Director & Curricululm Lead of VERVE. As a dancer, Matteo has danced in companies in Europe including Introdans (NL) and National Dance Company Wales (UK). Matteo was National Dance Company Wales Rehearsal Director for their Roots tour in Autumn 2018.
Matteo started to choreograph for the first time thanks to the platform Dansers Maken run by Introdans (NL) where he created ‘Just A Breath‘ (2010), winning the second prize at the Certamen Internacional de Coreografìa Burgos-New York. He returned to making his own work via Alternative Routes, National Dance Company Wales’ annual choreographic platform, here he continued to develop his approaches to choreography, playing with different techniques and involving other art forms. Pieces included: ‘Crossing Paths‘, ‘Omertà‘, ‘Desensitized‘ and ‘Crossword‘. His work has been touring in the UK as well as internationally, selected by Festivals and organisations such as Valletta 2018 European City of Culture, Altofest, Interplay/18 and Vetrina della Giovane Danza d’Autore among others.
Matteo also works in theatre as movement director. He recently worked in co-productions between the Wales Millenium Centre and August 012 as well as working with companies such as National Youth Theatre Wales and National Theatre Wales.
In 2017 Matteo was given a OneDanceUK award as part of their mentorship programme and recognised as a future leader in British Dance. In 2018 Matteo was nominated as Best Male Artist by Wales Theatre Award.
Watch: previous work
*All information subject to change
