Celebrating 10 Years of Eliot Smith Dance

WHO WE ARE, AND WHAT WE DO …

Our story began 10 years ago on 16 February 2011.

Seven former dance students from the London Contemporary Dance School performed Eliot Smith's first major work MISSA at Westminster Cathedral, and Eliot then went on to found Eliot Smith Dance (ESD) in his home city of Newcastle upon Tyne, with the vision of bringing powerful dance to audiences in rural North East England.

The Company has built up a rich repertoire, consisting of more than 24 works (and still growing) created by Eliot Smith and award winning guest choreographers from the UK and around the world – all aiming to create works that are dynamic, diverse, and relevant.

(Image: ESD 10 Year Collage capturing dance works created from 2011 - 2020)

ESD specialises in bringing dance works to smaller theatres, and non-traditional venues such as museums, local halls, and cathedrals, as well as outdoors, aiming to excite and inspire audiences regardless of their dance experience or knowledge. We pride ourselves on bringing new audiences to contemporary dance in both urban and rural settings by providing accessible dance participation classes alongside our Education and Beyond programme.

We have shown our resilience and flexibility by adapting to both virtual and digital platforms, enabling us to continue to showcase our eye-catching performances throughout these challenging times.

ESD hopes to raise £5,000, which will help us to provide you, our audience, with diverse and relevant contemporary performances to celebrate the best of Eliot Smith Dance in this, its 10th Anniversary year.

Your support will help us to provide the following in 2021:

• a new archival film HOMECOMING, featuring ESD dancers and artists past and present;
• an online exhibition hosted at Alnwick Playhouse between 26 February and 26 March 2021; 
• online community participation events - supporting peoples health and wellbeing;
• a series of online dance classes available to people across the age spectrum;
• a new contemporary dance work by Eliot Smith which aims to raise awareness of the impact of Global Warming and its emotional connection to humans;
• ESD Presents Martha Graham event between 26 - 31 July 2021 online;
• brand-new works by guest choreographers, created especially for this 10th Anniversary celebration year (details to be announced);
• paid work for ESD dancers, artists, and creatives, which we hope can help to support them financially during these challenging times.

As we mark our 10th Anniversary with a year of celebrations, we are asking you to play a part by backing our new Crowdfunding campaign.  This will help us to continue our work as one of the leading contemporary dance companies in the North East of England and bring our new and innovative dance performances to audiences, both virtual and live, across North East England and beyond.

(Limited edition ESD 10 Year Tees are part of the rewards, modelled by ESD Dancers Victoria Winter and Adam Davies)

Please, if you can, pledge your support, and encourage your friends to support us too. We have some amazing, limited-edition rewards in exchange for your pledges! Don’t forget, there will be daily work-in-progress online studio showings, open rehearsals, and conversations with the artists, all available to our crowd-funders.

Please visit www.eliotsmithdance.com/10years to view more about the Company 10th Anniversary.

Thank you,

Eliot Smith Dance

(Image from top left 'Virtual Community Work in autumn 2020', top right 'Eliot Smith's ON RED KITES', bottom left 'Community Work in autumn 2019' and bottom right 'Balbir Singh I am not an Indian dancer commissioned by ESD'.)