Function of X premiered ‘The Logic of Cats’ – a playful duet examining status, suspicion and curiosity, at The Oxford House Theatre. We were part of a mixed programme of dance theatre, which I curated and produced. We shared the stage with Damn Fine Dance, Cox & Co, Dance Theatre Red and the BA year 2 students from The Place. Our audience response: ‘joyful’ and ‘moving.’
We re-worked ‘Every 3 Days’ for this event at the University of Chichester, which included workshops, talks and performances. ‘Every 3 Days takes violence against women as it’s theme.
The premiere of ‘Every 3 Days,’ a response to the cold statistic that a woman is killed by a man every three days in the UK. This work was presented as part of the Critical Moment production, which I co-produce. We shared the stage with work produced by other older choreographers and their companies.
Planning is underway for Critical Moment 24, the event I promote, which brings together older choreographers and their companies for one evening of thought provoking dance theatre.
Silvana and Natasha have joined Function of X for our new work ‘Every Three Days’ which will be premiered at The Place Theatre on Saturday 30th November. We are incorporating projection and spoken word in this piece.
We have a new company member! Silvana Desira has joined us as an associate. Here is a precis of her experience:
Silvana’s love for the stage began when she was 11 years old and part of a group of children who performed at the Royal Opera House over two seasons. In Othello, she found herself talking in Italian with Dame Gwyneth Jones and practising scales alone in her dressing room.
As an adult Silvana worked as a supporting artist on many productions, from films (Hugo, Alice Through the Looking Glass, Street Dance, The Dig, Bond’s Skyfall), TV dramas (The Crown, Gangs of London, Rev), comedies and music videos (Manic Street Preachers, Groove Armada, Rumour Said Fire, Florence and the Machine) to TV adverts.
Forty years flew by before Silvana found dance and reignited her love of live performance. This happened while as a mature student at the Royal Drawing School, she found herself compelled, like many other visual artists before her, to draw dance and dancers.
Inspired by movement, Silvana, now in her 50s, started her dance journey. The first classes she took were in Tribal Fusion. A whirl of artistic developments followed, taking in choreographing, performing and creating stage costumes for herself, using aged thrift shop finds.
Silvana enjoyed solos and collaborations, both in the UK and abroad, including Sicily and Vienna. In 2015, she co-created Seraphima, a platform for Tribal Fusion events and hosted international dancers with workshops and performances.
Then turning her attention to contemporary dance Silvana become a member of Counterpoint Dance Company and performed inThe Elixir festival at Sadlers Wells. She has also performed at The British Museum, The Tate Modern’s Clore Gallery, The Place Theatre in ‘Terpiscore’ choreographed by Luke Brown and in ‘Earthworks’ produced by Vicki Lant, plus taken part in Move It with Rambert’s Mercury Movers.
More recently, in 2022, Silvana was selected to perform at The Place with Chistopher Bannerman in Theo Clinkhard’s ‘The Days.’
We are very pleased to be dancing and creating with Silvana
On the 15th June we performed ‘In Search of….’ our work for Wandsworth Arts Fringe at the Royal Academy of Dance. This work examines what divides and unites three generations of women. We use contemporary, social and music hall styles to tell the story of three women looking for connection in a society that discriminats. We were part of a mixed programme, which I produced, sharing the stage with Grand Gesture and Power & Co.