Wolf Packs in West London and a Lost Landmark Reawakens: the Countdown to
InTRANSIT 2011 Begins
- InTRANSIT Festival opens on 22 July. To be launched by ‘Common Sounds: Touching the Void’, in three weeks’ time.
- Launch event at the Commonwealth Institute – closed for almost 10 years - by performers from Rambert Dance Company, Opera Holland Park, London Contemporary Orchestra and others 15-17 July. PRESS PREVIEW 14 July
- InTRANSIT’s most ambitious programme yet will transform the streets and spaces of Kensington and Chelsea from 22-31 July
- Many events are free. Tickets and full listings: www.rbkc.gov.uk/InTRANSIT
- IMAGES: bit.ly/InTransit2011
The 2011 InTRANSIT festival (22-31 July) opens four weeks from today [Friday, 24 June]. Now in its fourth year, InTRANSIT is the only festival to move its audience physically as well as mentally. Participate rather than spectate as a programme of site-specific contemporary arts events linked by the theme of movement, takes place across West London – in some cases literally taking the audience on a journey around the area – opening up the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea’s iconic, public and hidden spaces and places in unexpected ways.
InTRANSIT 2011 will be launched the week before by a one-off, site-responsive immersive performance experience at the former Commonwealth Institute, Kensington [details below. Tickets: http://bit.ly/InTRANSITtix]. Common Sounds: Touching the Void is the only major artistic event to be staged at this iconic modernist structure since it was closed to the public in 2002. The building is scheduled to open as the new Design Museum in 2014.
PRESS PREVIEW: Thursday 14 July, 8pm; RSVP susannah.glynn@kallaway.com
Highlights from InTRANSIT 2011 include
- Explore Brompton Cemetery as part of a wolf pack. Be prepared to be sung to, sniffed at and rubbed against—respectfully but uncompromisingly! Join WOLF and experience a story that is at once utterly contemporary and mythically ancient.
- Hop on the N11 Night Bus for a journey with a difference as pre-recorded artist audio combines with landmarks on the route. Take the return journey from Liverpool Street for the full experience.
- Seated in a wheelchair and equipped with a video headset, prepare to have your senses hijacked in the most immersive video theatre performance to date, brought to you by artist duo Il Pixel Rosso.
- Seek out the Holland Park Orangery and take part in a promenade performance based on “La Peau de Chagrin”, the 19th century novel by Honoré de Balzac. Be transported to the freezing garrets, gambling dens and sordid boudoirs of 19th Century Paris in this Faustian tale of gratification and desire.
Full listings below and at: www.rbkc.gov.uk/InTRANSIT
Common Sounds: Touching the Void, the former Commonwealth Institute, High Street Kensington, 15-17 July
Realising Common Sounds is an impressive group of collaborators including rising star Dane Hurst (Rambert Dance Company), the London Contemporary Orchestra and performers from Opera Holland Park. Also taking part are international artists and performance art practitioners from New York, Moscow, Spain, Bosnia Herzegovina and across the UK, including urban sound-art group the Neofuturist Collective and composer and co-founder of contemporary performance group [rout], Paul Newland.
At times roped together, the audience finds itself by turn caught in a war, transported to an eerie inside garden and haunted by echoes from the Commonwealth Institute’s history. The performance culminates with a dramatic rendering of Sir Harrison Birtwistle’s Orpheus Elegies, with choreography by Dane Hurst. Based on the work of lyrical poet Rainer Maria Rilke, the piece will be performed in full on the Friday night remaining as an echo on the Saturday and Sunday as new music is created from the choreography devised for the original piece.
The performance is directly inspired by the past and the future of the building – at one point birdsong from 53 different species, representing the 53 Commonwealth nations, fills the space. Common Sounds: Touching the Void is percolated throughout by the theme of movement,, in anticipation of the main InTRANSIT programme.
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Press contacts and images: Kallaway Ltd, 2 Portland Road, London, W11 4LA; www.kallaway.com; @kallawaylive
William Kallaway: william.kallaway@kallaway.com; 020 7221 7883
Susannah Glynn: susannah.glynn@kallaway.com; 020 7221 7883
Images: bit.ly/InTransit2011
Press tickets: Press tickets are available. Contact William or Susannah above to request.
Notes to Editors
About InTRANSIT
InTRANSIT was first launched in 2007 when the programme took the form of artist-led walking tours around the Borough. Since then the Festival has expanded far beyond this remit, working with an impressive stable of emerging and established artists from Britain and abroad to bring the streets and outdoor spaces of Kensington and Chelsea alive for two weeks each summer.
Twitter tag: #InTRANSIT11
About the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea’s Culture Service
www.rbkc.gov.uk/culture; Twitter: @RBKCculture
The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea is home to a vibrant community of creative people; from large cultural institutions to independent producers, performers, artists and creative businesses. The Culture Service is building on the uniqueness and identity of the Royal Borough to drive major creative ventures, fresh ideas, talent, creative exchanges and nurturing networks that benefit all that visit, live and work in the Royal Borough.
InTRANSIT 2011 programme:
Booking: http://bit.ly/InTRANSITtix
45 Revolutions per Moment: Periplum
Celebrating the role of music as an agent of change in our everyday lives, the internationally acclaimed site-specific theatre company Periplum invites the audience to become active players on a hidden trail of intimate musical experiences around North Kensington.
Various locations, North Kensington – Saturday, 30 July and Sunday, 31 July
And the Birds Fell from the Sky: Il Pixel Rosso
Silvia Mercuriali and Simon Wilkinson - collectively Il Pixel Rosso - present a fully immersive, video theatre experience, which places the audience right at the very centre of the narrative. Seated in wheelchairs and equipped with video headsets, prepare to have your senses hijacked, as you embark on an imaginary journey which blurs the lines between passive observation and active participation.
The Drayton Arms, 153 Old Brompton Road - 22–31 July, 6-10pm daily (except Mondays), and 1-4pm weekends
Cycle-in Cinema: Magnificent Revolution
A collective made up of artists, musicians, designers, ecologists and engineers, Magnificent Revolution’s raison d’etre is to realise green ideas in creative ways. Move it for the movie with Cycle-In Cinema’s pedal-powered big screen. Includes further cycle-based activities for all the family.
Pop up Cinema, under the Westway - Sunday, 31 July, 8pm–10pm
WOLF: Authentic Artist Collective
WOLF is a promenade theatre experience that takes audiences on an interactive journey through the myths, fairy tales, psychology and ecology that define human relationships with wolves, set within the unique environment of the Brompton Cemetery. Be prepared to be sung to, sniffed, smelled and rubbed against—respectfully but uncompromisingly! Join the WOLF pack and experience a story that is at once utterly contemporary and mythically ancient.
Brompton Cemetery, 22 – 24 July, various times
Zero Hour Bus Tours: Forest Fringe
‘I've long been fascinated by the beguiling and sometimes sinister atmosphere of night busses,’ says Andy Field, one of the artists behind this new work from collective Forest Fringe. Hailing from Edinburgh, the community of experimental artists and theatre practitioners seek out the astonishing in the everyday. Zero Hour Bus Tours transforms London’s night buses into Theatre: an on-board MP3 audio journey which incorporates speaking with music and found sounds (field recordings, interviews, snippets of radio/television broadcasts etc.) is complemented with street performances along the route of the N11 night bus from Chelsea Old Town Hall to Liverpool Street Station, and back again.
N11 Night Bus, 25 – 28 July, midnight – 3am.
“La Peau de Chagrin” or “How I learnt to stop working and start wishing”: Coup de Theatre and Swoop Productions.
This promenade performance offers the audience forbidden fruit in the Orangery, Holland Park. In an adaptation of “La Peau de Chagrin”, the 19th century novel by Honoré de Balzac, nomadic performers transport you to the freezing garrets, gambling dens and sordid boudoirs of 19th Century Paris, in this Faustian tale of gratification and desire... at a terrible price!
The Orangery, Holland Park, Monday 25 July, 19:45; Tuesday 26 July, 19:45; Wednesday 27 July, 19:45; Friday 29 July, 19:45; Saturday 30 July, 16:00 & 19:45
Sunken Garden Secrets at Kensington Palace
Past, present and future collide in this free interactive art installation and unique collection of personal secrets. Artist Emma Molony invites you to add your own secret thoughts and memories as you explore an enigmatic past in Kensington Palace’s Sunken Garden.
Kensington Palace, Sunken Garden, Friday 22 July – Sunday 31 July.
SACRED InTRANSIT: various artists in association with the Chelsea Theatre
For one day only, SACRED, the Chelsea Theatre season best known for presenting and supporting artists who challenge traditional boundaries of performance, will present SACRED InTRANSIT – an action-packed day-long extravaganza of walking and movement; with all but one event completely free of charge. Discuss walking as an art form in a one-day strolling symposium or whirl the afternoon at an authentic Latin tea dance. Bring the kids for a performance of puppetry or enjoy an image-making workshop with a prestigious international photographer.
Chelsea Theatre, 7 World's End Place – 30 July, 10am-5pm
Blue Plaque Family Cycling Tours
Over a hundred years of history is brought to life on this bespoke cycle tour around the Borough, offering a unique account of the lives of Kensington and Chelsea’s famous residents, memorialised for posterity through London’s famous blue plaques.
Saturday 23 July (family ride): 10am, St Mary Abbot’s School, Kensington Church Walk, W8 5SA
Sunday 24 July (adults ride): 10am outside Holland Park Underground Station, W11 3RB
Duration: 1 and half hours.
Own bicycles and helmets required
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