This year, we are pleased to support six projects through two separate funding streams: ‘Performance’ and ‘Research & Development’. This enables us to support partnerships ready to stage their work, while also nurturing new collaborations requiring time and space to plant the seeds of a project they might subsequently bring to the stage. Read on to discover more about the composers and choreographers we are supporting and the six exciting projects they are working on:

‘Learning to Dream Big’ from Luna
Kate Whitley composer and Seeta Patel choreographer

‘Learning to Dream Big’ explores how education is a powerful force for good and can open minds and hearts, in this new collaboration between composer Kate Whitley and choreographer Seeta Patel. It forms part of a new six-scene ballet Luna which is inspired by the pioneering and socially enterprising women of Birmingham who have contributed to the shape of the city that is home to Birmingham Royal Ballet. The score for ‘Learning to Dream Big’ is supported by the RPS Drummond Lockyer Fund for Dance, and will be performed by the Royal Ballet Sinfonia and soprano soloist. The movement language fuses ballet and South Indian classical dance from Bharatanatyam, with its intricate, rhythmic footwork, geometric and dynamic movements, and expressive gestures.

Birmingham Hippodrome (3-5 October 2024)
Sadler’s Wells Theatre, London (22-23 October 2024)

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Luna – Birmingham Royal Ballet
Kate Whitley
Seeta Patel

Anatomy of Survival
Stefano Ancora composer and Frauke Requardt choreographer

Anatomy of Survival by choreographer Frauke Requardt & writer Vivienne Franzmann is a new dance-theatre show, depicting 28 eyewitness accounts about a scenario that takes place in a café. The show examines the intimate ways in which the nervous system can shape our reactions and understandings of reality. The RPS Drummond Lockyer Fund for Dance is supporting the collaboration with composer Stefano Ancora who will also perform on drums live during the show, using music to depict the experiences of the witnesses alongside two dancers and an actor. Anatomy of Survival is an exciting new collaboration between choreographer, writer and composer, creating a multi-disciplinary and highly engaging performance. This show has been commissioned by The Place and Royal Court Theatre and produced by The Place.

Performance dates to follow in September 2025

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Stefano Ancora
Frauke Requardt

Village
James Keane composer and Theo Clinkard choreographer

The paintings of 16th-century Flemish artist, Pieter Bruegel the Elder, act as a point of departure for Village, a dance and choral project led by choreographer and designer Theo Clinkard, and composer James Keane. This project marks a significant step change for their collaboration in scale and ambition, with a passion for bringing contemporary work to audiences. The RPS Drummond Lockyer Fund for Dance will support the development of an original live score for a performance that experiments with form. Featuring the London Bulgarian Choir and an intergenerational cast of dancers, Village will talk to Bruegel’s beloved works, whilst reflecting our contemporary world.

Performance dates to follow in May 2025

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James Keane
Theo Clinkard

Theatres of Hysteria
Chloe Knibbs composer and Klaudia Wittmann choreographer

The RPS Drummond Lockyer Fund for Dance is supporting composer Chloe Knibbs and choreographer Klaudia Wittmann to build a collaboration between new music and contemporary dance that explores artistic elaborations of hysteria. Taking inspiration from French visual artist Louise Bourgeois, Theatres of Hysteria is concerned with reinventing the hysterical body in its multiple dimensions: sexuality, materiality, as well as inscriptions of social violence. Produced by KWAM Collective and in collaboration with two dance artists, a singer, and a cellist, the research will experiment with the interplay of sound, image and physicality.

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Chloe Knibbs
Klaudia Wittmann

TELLUS
Dickson Mbi composer and choreographer

The RPS Drummond Lockyer Fund for Dance is supporting the R&D for TELLUS, created by composer and choreographer Dickson Mbi. A self-taught, rising voice in contemporary classical music, Dickson Mbi writes intuitively, seeking emotional connection with audiences and fusing his Cameroon heritage with his East London upbringing and background in street dance. This is the first time that Dickson has both composed and choreographed for his own company, in this project which draws inspiration from courageous women in Dickson’s life, their influences and the role they play in society, as well as our wider relationship with Mother Earth.

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Dickson Mbi

Caught Again in the Net of Rebirth
Torben Sylvest composer and Chandenie Gobardhan choreographer

The RPS Drummond Lockyer Fund for Dance enables the dynamic collaboration between composer Torben Sylvest and choreographer Chandenie Gobardhan. Throughout summer and autumn 2024, these artists will join forces to experiment and craft the soundtrack for Chandenie's latest piece, Caught Again in the Net of Rebirth. Blending classical Indian, street, and contemporary dance, Chandenie’s work delves into Trimurti – a complex concept of creation, preservation, and destruction. The creative and collaborative processes will unfold in London and during a September residency at Korzo Theatre in The Hague, featuring musicians Avi Kishna (sarod) and Raj Mohan (vocalist), unlocking new avenues for creativity.

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Torben Sylvest
Chandenie Gobardhan