“Natural” is the name of the choreography that Clara Andermatt made for a group of 16 interpreters of the Company of Elders. It is a piece constructed on a participative basis, integrating biographical elements of the interpreters in the creative process. In an exercise of deconstruction of inhibitions and of enhancing creativity, the movement results from the interpretation of emotions, feelings, and signifiers of the ensemble of interpreters, reclaiming their ageing bodies from invisibility.
The Company of Elders has the particularity of being composed by non-professional performers that are 60 years old or over. It is a part of the Learning and Engagement Department’s over-60s programme at Sadler’s Wells, that has a social as well as an artistic role. It is the company’s mission to promote the positive role that dance can play in older adults’ lives, and aims to celebrate the joy that dancing and performing can bring to people in their 60s, 70s, 80s and beyond.
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In 2019, for the celebration of Company of Elders 30th anniversary, Clara Andermatt was invited to recreate this piece, one of the most iconic presentations of that company. A new group composed by 19 performers (only 5 members from the original version) develop the work with the same premises. Inevitably this is a new show, filled with new performers and new memoirs.