Vast Rocks Revisited: Community Cast Call Out
In September 2023, Richard Chappell Dance CIC will be creating a short outdoor performance in Torbay, through a commission from Filament for their festival Open Season. This work, entitled Vast Rocks Revisited, will feature three dancers from our professional ensemble, alongside up to ten local community cast members from Torbay.
About Vast Rocks Revisited
Vast Rocks Revisited is a 15-20 minute work exploring time, age and relationships. The work is a recreation of Richard Chappell Dance’s past work The Vast Rocks (2013) and will draw inspiration from local outdoor landscapes to Torbay, such as the coastline and surrounding areas like Dartmoor. It will explore these areas vast timelessness and how people experience them over generations.For the creation, our vision is to work with ten local people. Vast Rocks Revisited will be a series of duets by our professional ensemble, alongside up to five duets of local people.
The work will be performed in outdoor spaces in Paignton’s town centre. We want to highlight the importance of occupying our local public spaces with intergenerational relationships and dance. Walking through Paignton’s high street shows clearly the breadth of ages of people who live in the town. We want Vast Rocks Revisited’ to demonstrate the importance of care and empathy in environments which are familiar to Paignton’s community. Dance is a nuanced way of showing how the human body expresses emotion, often in ways which words cannot. We want our performers and audiences to reflect on their own communities of family and friends within the performance.
Who we are looking to work with
We are looking to work with ten local people to form 5 different duet partnerships. To match with the artistic aims of the work, we would like to cast these duets with young and older people with cast members ideally 1-2 generations apart from each other. The project will be cast on a first come first serve basis. We want to work with people who are open to the artistic ideas of the work. Vast Rocks Revisited will be a friendly and inclusive project and we will generously work with each individual participant in a way which brings them joy, whilst artistically challenging them in a supportive environment.
Project Schedule
The project will take place over a creation weekend on the 9th-10th September, alongside an evening rehearsal on Friday 22nd September. We will have a final rehearsal afternoon on Saturday 23rd September, before our first performance that day. We will then have a second performance day on the 24th September. Full timings are hear below:
9th September: 11am-4pm, Rehearsal at Palace Theatre
10th September: 11am-4pm, Rehearsal at Palace Theatre
22nd September: Rehearsal 6pm-8pm at Palace Theatre
23rd September: 10.30am-3pm: Rehearsal and two performances (including professional filming), Paignton green and town centre
24rd September: 10.30am-3pm: Two performances, Paignton green and town centre
It is important for participants to present for as many rehearsals as possible. However, if specific days or times are not possible, we will do our best to accommodate you. It is essential that you are free for the rehearsal and performance days on the 22nd, 23rd and 24th September.
How to Sign Up
To sign up to be a part of Vast Rocks Revisited, please email us at richard@richardchappelldance.co.uk with brief information about yourself and a confirmation of your availability for the project by 5pm on Monday 28th August.
Access Requirements
It is important that this project is accessible for everyone within our community. Should you have any access requirements, please do let us know your needs and we will accommodate you.
