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Theatre piece on era of strike
COAL not dole!
It was a rallying cry which left a lasting impression on the entire nation - and none more so than Gary Clarke.
Like everyone who experienced the miners' strike, Gary, then a boy growing up in the heart of the South Yorkshire coalfields, was greatly affected by those dark days of industrial conflict and its aftermath.
The year was 1984 and British industry was about to be hit by one of the longest and most bitter disputes in the nation's history. The strike would last for a year and leave an indelible mark on the industrial landscape of the nation.
It tore the coalmining regions apart and divided families as the miners fought to a bitter end to save their pits, jobs and communities.
Now 25 years on, Gary, from Barnsley, is recalling those times in a unique piece of theatre that serves as a tribute to the people who devoted their lives to what is now a largely vanished industry.
Gary is regarded as one of the most exciting talents in contemporary dance today, an award-winning dancer and choreographer.
But in 1984 he was a young lad growing up in Grimethorpe - a village almost destroyed by the year-long strike.
Gary trained at The Electric Theatre Studios and the Northern School of Contemporary Dance where he graduated with a Bachelor of Performing Arts.
He has performed with some of the most innovative dance companies in the UK and abroad including Lea Anderson's The Cholmondeleys and The Featherstonehaughs, Matthew Bourne's Adventures in Motion Pictures and The Felix Ruckert Company.
Now aged 29, his new work Coal has been created specially to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the strike and supported by contemporary dance producer Danceworks takes a look through music and movement at the hard-hitting realities of life at the coalface.
Through a day in the life of team of colliers, Gary explores their routine both above and below ground, examining the harsh routine of the subterranean life and blending traditional brass band music with the discordant sounds of mining machinery.
"What I don't want to do is try and record the strike in dance on stage," he said.
"I see Coal as a celebration of all those men who fought for their rights.
"I want to comment on power and what happens when somebody has power and how it can have a massive effect because, even now, every time I go back to the village and step off the bus I feel the weight of the depression which still exists."
Coal will be performed at Yorkshire Dance, Leeds, at 7.30pm on Friday and Saturday.
The production then goes on tour calling at the Lamproom Theatre, Barnsley, at 7.30pm on Wednesday and Thursday next week.
Performances will then take place at Eastwood View WMC, Rotherham, at 8pm next Saturday, at Ferens Live Art Space, Hull, at 8pm on Tuesday June 2, and at the National Coal Mining Museum, Wakefield, at 5.15pm on Saturday, June 6.
- Log on to www.garyclarkeuk.com to book tickets and for further information.
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Wednesday 23 May 2012
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