Dance Umbrella’s new Artistic Director’s mission is to ‘widen the centre’, expanding the relevance of contemporary dance. Lindsey Winship finds how he plans to achieve this.
Freddie Opoku-Addaie is celebrating his new job as artistic director of Dance Umbrella festival, but he is unsure whether there will be a live festival to direct this year. The 2021 event is not scheduled until October, when he is hopeful theatres will be back in business, but there could be curveballs – if an international artist is coming as part of a tour, for example, and has to quarantine between countries. “Hopefully, fingers crossed, at least some of it can be live,” he says.
Opoku-Addaie is only the fourth artistic director in Dance Umbrella’s 43 years, following Val Bourne, Betsy Gregory and Emma Gladstone. The annual London festival is a reliable highlight in the dance calendar, from its early days giving the first exposure to Mark Morris, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker and Michael Clark to recent years uncovering contemporary ice skaters Le Patin Libre and acclaimed choreographer Oona Doherty.
Freddie Opoku-Addaie is celebrating his new job as artistic director of Dance Umbrella festival, but he is unsure whether there will be a live festival to direct this year. The 2021 event is not scheduled until October, when he is hopeful theatres will be back in business, but there could be curveballs – if an international artist is coming as part of a tour, for example, and has to quarantine between countries. “Hopefully, fingers crossed, at least some of it can be live,” he says.
Opoku-Addaie is only the fourth artistic director in Dance Umbrella’s 43 years, following Val Bourne, Betsy Gregory and Emma Gladstone. The annual London festival is a reliable highlight in the dance calendar, from its early days giving the first exposure to Mark Morris, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker and Michael Clark to recent years uncovering contemporary ice skaters Le Patin Libre and acclaimed choreographer Oona Doherty.
Opoku-Addaie’s mission is to... Keep reading on The Guardian.