CHELSEA ARTS COLLECTIVE (CAC) kicks off on a wing and a prayer in St Luke’s Church Hall! (Scroll Down for Full Details )
The performance strand of this new, grassroots initiative masterminded by the painter (and Sutton estate resident) Lilia Pegado and the veteran arts journalist Donald Hutera (The Times, etc) commences March 22.
Operating under the auspices of CATS (Chelsea Association of Tenants), and with minimal but very welcome initial funding from City Living, Local Life, Chelsea Arts Collective (CAC) aims to provide residents of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea – and any and everybody else – with opportunities for stimulating creative expression and exchange.
Pegado’s ongoing visual arts classes adhere pleasurably to the principles of The Quadrangle, a unique and absorbing method of individual and communal art work and thought. (For more information please seehttp://www.liliapegado.com/)
Alongside this CAC has a series of wide-ranging and engaging live performances up its copious sleeve, curated by the talent-hunting Hutera and spotlighting artists who span generations and genres. ‘The performance strand of CAC is something Lilia and I have cooked up as an opportunity for gifted people to share, as it were, their artistic wares. '
If Hutera is tickled about the pop-up nature of CAC's performance activities, one of the key reasons is the venue. 'We're using St Luke’s Hall on St Luke’s Street as a venue. It's got such a lovely atmosphere both formal and informal. It’s high-ceilinged and a little old-fashioned, but at the same time so open and airy.'
And what about the bills he's organising? 'I want to juxtapose more polished pieces and experienced performers alongside newcomers and work in development,’ he says. ‘Each night will probably have an up-close, in-the-studio feel about it. I'm thinking of these performances, at least in their initial phase, as rough yet warm, slightly raw, very direct, exceedingly flexible and communally intimate experiences. Each is an aesthetic adventure with next to no (or minimal) technical facilities but, ideally, a load of aspiration and pleasurable sensations attached.’
At press time the launch of CAC performances on March 22 features the fresh sounds of the all-female musical quartet Palisander; improvisational dance from both contemporary movement explorer Zoi Dimitriou (working in close conjunction with the musicians Dani Cali and Franck Alba) and the daring John Livingston of Daniel Vais' Culture Device Dance Project); a work-in-progress world premiere of Tango Lessons by the irrepressible writer/performer Lorna V; the semi-acoustic middle-aged British-East Asian folk-rock charmers Wondermare; a scintillating solo by bharata natyam specialist Anusha Subramanyam; and members of Opera In Space winging their way through Stabat Mater (fragments). Hutera characterises the evening as 'eclectic, non-formulaic, laboratorial and fun - and maybe, just maybe, so diverse it's almost perverse.'
Artists involved in upcoming CAC presentations will likely include (on March 29) the visual arts journalist turned kick-ass performer Sarah Kent, going solo but also in tandem with onstage partner Yong Min Cho; the fearless Avatara Ayuso teaming up for the first time with balletic octogenarian erstwhile physicist Alex Fuchsmann (in his performance debut); the flamboyant and classically-trained Kali Chandrasegaram; stand-up and song from Rambert-schooled dancer Ishimwa Muhimanyi; and a darkly lyrical solo from actor-dancer Vanio Papadelli. Meanwhile among those on the docket for April 12 are London-based dance company Corali in a poetically playful and immersive piece centred round dreams, and Simon Rice's troupe of mature ballet dancers Sage.
As a budding but deeply enthusiastic curator Hutera is unapologetic that the CAC programme is still in a state of flux, especially for its final date. 'I'm doing this on a wing and prayer,' he avows, 'and having a great time with it, too, but it's certainly a learning curve. What I'm most struck by, as was the case with GOlive, is how willing and/or needy people are to have their work go public. Artists are hungry for opportunities. It's a reflection of the financially uncertain and restrictive times we're in. I'm getting a kick out of doing what I can to combat that in as energetic, supportive and transparent a way as possible.'*CAC's performances are March 22, March 29 and April 12 in St Luke's Hall, SW3 3RP. More info and directions available here: chelseaparish.org/stlukeshall Doors open 7.45pm with ‘curtain up’ at 8pm. Admission is free (although donations will be gratefully accepted). Suitable for ages 12+.
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