Amici members and their director Wolfgang Stange get many requests throughout the year to run workshops, residencies and to choreograph new work for groups from all around the world.

They also act as mentors and support inclusive groups that are developing or trying to push their work further.

Please do contact us to discuss any ideas for projects that you may have.



Open Workshops
Once a term Amici hold an open workshop from 6.30pm – 9pm at The Lyric Hammersmith. This is an opportunity for people from across London and nationwide both disabled and non-disabled to take part in an Amici workshop. Amici aim to reach professionals and students in the theatre and dance world, teachers working with disabled people and disabled people. Please contact us to get more information about taking part in the next open workshop or join the Amici mailing list to ensure you receive notification of the forthcoming dates.



AMICI Education and Participation Project 2008
This year AMICI have raised the funds to hold a series of integrated dance and movement workshops in four schools and colleges in the Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham between February 2008 and April 2008. The schools participating in the project are:

Avonmore School
Cambridge Special School
Hammersmith and West London College
St Thomas of Canterbury Primary School

These workshops will be lead by four qualified workshop leaders within Amici. Four disabled members of Amici would work alongside the workshop leaders and learn to run and facilitate workshops themselves. This will give the Amici member’s new skills and the confidence to go out and earn for themselves representing Amici and other companies.

The project will allow the schools to participate in a dance and drama workshop, to experience and benefit from working with both disabled and non-disabled people and learn not only performance techniques but about integration amongst themselves and their peers. The four workshop leaders and the four disabled trainees will hold one workshop a week for five or six weeks at each of the four schools.




The workshops will include warm-up and familiarisation exercises, improvisation and improvisation around a theme, movement & music, group work and ultimately developing and rehearsing a short performance piece. Each school’s six week session of workshops will culminate in the creation of a piece of dance/theatre that will be performed at each of the schools.

The funds raised also allow us to create a DVD and written word resource pack covering Amici’s unique working practices. This will educate and enable students and arts practitioners. The whole process will also be filmed and edited into a training DVD. This DVD will be put together with the resource pack that will be professionally designed and printed. The DVD as well as the printed information will again act as a resource for the teachers during the process and in the long term these will be available for practitioners, teachers and artists to purchase from the website. The resource pack will be available for purchase towards the end of the year.

THE FUNDERS:
This project has been gratefully supported by the following organisations




   




Amici’s current repertoire

Breaking Out

Based on the following poem by choreographer and Amici memeber Bill Robins.

I am lonely
My body prison
Door closed
Hear themb
Talk over my head
Like vegetable
They afraid
To see me without mum
Watch them.

"A spotlight opens on Bill Robins, principle performer, in his wheelchair, his strong arms open wide. Not one to be ignored, Bill confronts us confidently with an exploration of barriers to fulfilment; the hindrances, frustrations and grievances of living within a disabled body. Bill simply shows us that there is nothing to be afraid of, or look away from. The piece opens into a duet with an attractive girl in a white dress, portraying compassion, comfort, dreams and idealisms, before a darker figure enters and takes control of both Bill and the dancer in white."
Katie Phillips (Dance Expression)

Breaking Out features performances by Bill Robins, Elaine Thomas and Colm Gallagher

Performers: 3
Running time: 20 minutes



The Odd One Out

Choreographed by Amici’s Artistic Director Wolfgang Stange.

How does difference affect us? Should we ignore it, nurture it or even get rid of it?

Performers: 14
Running time: 20 minutes



The Chosen

A company piece specifically made for Xposure 2005. 'The Chosen' shows the diversity of AMICI.

Music by Stravinsky - 'Rite of Spring'
Choreography by Wolfgang Stange

Performers: 26
Running Time: 40 mins



Untitled

Choreographed by Amici member Carol Britten

Carol explores her love of music, playing with patterns and shapes and dancing with her friends.

Performers: 12
Running time: 10 minutes



Water Garden

Water Garden was created by Un Yamada in London for AMICI members Christine Kugele, Rosie Leak and herself.

Water Garden was commissioned by Fukuoka City Foundation for Arts and Cultural Promotion with the support of Yuko Ijichi of Muse Company Tokyo. It was premiered in Fukuoka in November 2004.

Using improvisation, bhuto techniques, humour and wit this is a powerfully enchanting piece.

Dancers: Chrissie Kugele, Rosie Leak, Elaine Thomas

Performers: 3
Running time: 25 minutes



Friendship
This piece has been choreographed by Amici member Rosie and was first performed in Japan, in Fukuoka in November 2004. Rosie takes us on a journey reminding us of the importance of friendship and how through endurance, we see the beauty and wonder that is friendship as it circles around all of us.

Dancers: Colm Gallagher, Chrissie Kugele, Elaine Thomas, Rosie Leak

Performers: 4
Running time: 15 minutes