Preview: Timeless Youth Dance at Northern Stage

Young dancers take inspiration from legendary choreographer for performance at Northern Stage

Timeless Youth Dance

Northern Stage

Tuesday 17 & Wednesday 18 March

Timeless Youth Dance in rehearsal

Timeless Youth Dance, a group of young dancers from South East Northumberland, will perform a short piece outside Northern Stage inspired by the choreography of Wim Vandekeybus and his seminal work, What the Body Does Not Remember– at Northern Stage 17-18 March as part of a world tour. 

What the Body Does Not Remember Photo: Danny Willems

Aged 13-16, the group has worked with choreographer Nadia Iftkhar and musician Mariam Rezaei to create a new ten minute piece which will be performed before What the Body Does Not Remember. Find out more about how the Timeless Youth Dance group have been developing their project in this short film.

What the Body Does Not Remember Photo: Danny Willems

The amazing debut of Wim Vandekeybus and Ultima Vez in 1987 stunned the world of dance at the time. Vandekeybus and composers Thierry de Mey and Peter Vermeersch received the prestigious Bessie Award in New York for this ‘brutal confrontation of dance and music’ (New York Times). 28 years later and with a new cast, the show still stands as one of the most exciting pieces of dance ever made. Since 1987, many other choreographers have been influenced by Vandekeybus's explosive physical style but he'd like audiences to see where it began, "With What the Body… we had to invent the language, the rules, so it's the basis of everything we've done since.”

Rachel Adam, Director at bait who have commissioned the project, said, “With our partners, we have supported young people from South East Northumberland to take part in an exciting year of dance training and mentoring with choreographer Nadia Iftkhar. From auditioning to become part of the Timeless Youth Dance company to performing live outside Northern Stage, these young dancers have been extremely passionate about taking part in something totally new and ambitious.”

Timeless Youth Dance in rehearsal

Jessica Woodward, aged 15 and from Cramlington, said, "For me, contemporary dance was something totally new and different coming into this project. But now, I feel as if I have learnt so much about the style and techniques."

What the Body Does Not Remember Photo: Danny Willems

What the Body Does Not Remember is presented by Dance Touring Partnership and performed by Ultima Vez, and is on at Northern Stage, Newcastle on 17-18 March. Timeless Youth Dance will perform outside Northern Stage at 7pm on both nights.