Let's Hear It For Our Curve Young Company!
Since the creation of our Curve Young Company (CYC) in 2012, we’ve seen thousands of incredibly talented young people from across Leicester and Leicestershire engage with the joy of live theatre. Developing their inter-personal skills, growing in confidence, solving complex challenges, team working and making friends for life, nothing beats the feeling of being part of a youth theatre.
Our CYC members participate in performances, classes and workshops across the year, both at our base in Leicester and at events around the country. And at Christmas, our CYC members often participate in our internationally acclaimed Made at Curve productions, most recently taking part in West Side Story, White Christmas and Scrooge.
With our building temporarily closed, we are missing our young company very much. They are the beating heart of our theatre and we cannot wait to see the young people return to Curve when we are able to open our doors again. As a remembrance of things past and celebration of many great performances, we’ve curated a selection of highlights from CYC performances from over the past few years.
Scroll down to see CYC members in action with performances from our 10th birthday celebration concert Curve Live!, the launch of De Montfort University and Arts Council England‘s #Talent25 programme and a special showcase created for the visit of legendary artist Gloria Estefan.
Sing! Sing! Sing!
As part of Curve’s 10th birthday celebrations in 2018, Curve’s Young Company members performed high octane musical number ‘Sing! Sing! Sing!’ from the CYC production of The Siren Club. Originally performed in cabaret style (our Studio was transformed into a 1940s nightclub), the piece was a joyous contribution to our 10th birthday concert. The Siren Club was directed by Sarah Ingram with choreography by Mel Knott, and Darren Bennett, as well as brilliant vocals from the CYC Musicals cast.
May The Odds Be Ever In Your Favour
This Curve Young Company Dance performance was choreographed collaboratively by the dancers and CYC Dance leader Mel Knott. It was first performed in January 2018 at Mass Movement, the Leicestershire Youth Dance platform, part of One Dance UK’s Dance events which happen across the UK between January and March. The piece was an idea taken from the young dancers who were all reading and watching The Hunger Games trilogy, written by Suzanne Collins. The group wanted to respond to the ideas of being in a competitive game, working both as a team and alone, and being watched and controlled by the Capitol. In this version the group re-imagined the piece from a proscenium to an in-the-round performance stage for Curve Live!.
Unplugged
This piece enabled all of our CYC Dance boys to join together in one group. Choreographed by Curve’s breakthrough artist Si Rawlinson and the company during May 2018, the piece was performed in our annual CYC showcase that year. The group worked with the idea of human disconnection, caused by the technological world, contrasting with the idea of interaction, support and trust needed between the dancers in the studio. Si’s dance background is influenced by breaking and contemporary dance and this informs Unplugged. In this version the group re-imagined the piece from a proscenium to an in-the-round performance stage for Curve Live!.
Encompassed
The title of this piece is Encompassed, inspired by Max Richter’s Embers. It was choreographed originally by the two dancers Liam Bone and Jasmine Man (who is replaced by dancer Laura Bryan in this version). Made for the Curve Gala earlier in 2018, the music underscored a poem about being a young artist which was spoken by the CYC Musicals group; the dancers were placed on a central stage only 5m by 5m and were asked to respond to that space. What resulted was a beautiful and sensitive interaction seeing them move around the edges, fleetingly coming in and out of contact and highlighting the emotional nuances in the music.
Macbeth
Our Curve Young Company (CYC) Act 16+ group performed a section of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth as part of the launch of De Montfort University and Arts Council England’s #Talent25 programme, a new 25-year study into the impact that consistent and sustained creative activities have on children’s lives. This fresh and physical take on The Scottish Play was directed by our Head of Learning Andy Reeves and performed at Curve last spring.
Gloria Estefan Hits Medley
In May 2018 we announced the musical On Your Feet, based on the life and music of Emilio and Gloria Estefan, would have its UK premiere at Curve. On the evening of the announcement, we welcomed a surprise visitor to our Season Preview event – Gloria Estefan herself! Our Curve Young Company group came together with an energetic and vibrant medley performance of Gloria’s greatest hits; it was profoundly moving to see our young people performing for Gloria, bringing such zest and passion to her work.