Rock, Chalk and Sausages – a showing of a work in progress from Natalia Levchenko (Ru) and Caroline Waters (UK).

First meeting in Moldavia in 2003 Natasha and Caroline’s passion for improvisation in performance has led them to collaborate on many projects over the years. In January 2015, after spending a week of research in the studios with the starting point of rock, chalk and sausages, Natasha and Caroline are excited to present their findings with the Conway Collective at Conway Hall London

They will be working with all tools of performance that come to mind and which are found appropriate. Examining issues of appearing naked in public in all senses and using fashionable pop vintage props of chalk, tape and string…or whatever is around. There will be set pieces revolving around the improvisation and a time to bring in Russian and UK rock, but not exclusively forgetting other types of music.

The sausages are for fun and nutrition, or maybe a way to help us talk on the theme of feminist/feminine in a simple non conceptual ironical way.

Natasha Levchenko started her dance career at the end of the 80’s in a dance team ‘Slang’ in Ekaterinburg dancing styles of break, funk hip hop. When more information came to Russia after Perestroika her interested started to shift to Dance Theatre, Contemporary, CI, Improvisation/Performance. She can now add Somatic Disciplines to that list. She has been the director of her own dance company Kipling Dance for 15 years based in Ekaterinburg.

Caroline Waters started off studying Mime and Physical Theatre in the early 80’s which led to a Degree in Theatre at Dartington College of Arts in the UK. Here she got to study across genres all kinds of improvisation in performance. This set her up for a lifetimes work internationally creating work on the road as well as organising many Contact Improvisation and Improvisation in Performance Festivals in Europe, Russia and The USA. After teaching for 15 years at Dartington, before it closed she now teaches at Chichester University and continues to develop her freelance performance work and Festival organising.