Transform

About

Transform works across seven artistic sectors - visual arts and museums, film, dance, creative economy, literature, music and theatre - and connects artists, arts organisations and professionals, and government bodies with new artistic talent, training opportunities and skills development through different collaborative projects and activities.

One of the major themes running through Transform is making the arts more accessible, both through creating opportunities for co-creation and new work between artists in Brazil and the UK, and more specifically looking at disability in the arts, promoting work produced by disabled artists through major platforms such as Unlimited.

Three of the five international Unlimited commissions featured collaborations with Brazilian artists, Breathe, Boomba Down The Tyne, and Heart n Soul’s The Dean Rodney Singers. In addition, work by other Unlimited artists has been showcased in Brazil. For an overview, watch this short film about Unlimited at Transform.

The Teatro Sérgio Cardoso in Sao Paulo has presented three UK-based artists to date. Claire Cunningham’s ME (Mobile/Evolution) first premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2009 to great acclaim, and showcases her extraordinary dance technique and power, telling stories of doctors, dancing, bikes and ballet as she dances – spins, balances, swings and hangs from - her crutches. For a flavour of this piece, watch this short film of ME.

Robert Softley’s If These Spasms Could Speak had its Brazilian première at the same theatre. This one-man play is a playful and poignant look at disabled bodies, created through a process of stories shared with Robert by other disabled people about how they perceive themselves. In addition to two performances, Robert led a workshop with performance students at the theatre and you can read about Robert's experience in Sao Paulo in our Blog.

Ramesh Meyyappan’s Snail and Ketchups features a very physical performance on an aerial set to tell the story of a young boy who takes to live in the trees in an effort to escape his brutal home environment. Ramesh’s wonderfully expressive use of gesture complemented by an original live score brings a young boy’s imaginative world to life in the solace of the forest.

All of these artists are featured in our Artists and Companies directory where you can find out more about them and their most recent creations.

You can find out much more on the Transform website.