9-teen
Production: Commissioned by Youth Dance England
Premiere: 9 July 2008, South Bank Center (Purcell Room), London
Further performances: The Place and Hackney Empire
Choreography and concept: Avatâra Ayuso
Dancers: 13 members of SHIFT, Youth Dance Company of The Place
Lighting design: Ana Vilar
Music: Transrapid (Alva Noto)
Costume design: Avatâra Ayuso
9-teen is inspired by the Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948): "Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers".
This theme was chosen bearing in mind the need of young people to express themselves. Shift created the movement material through tasks based on the words of article 19. Their creative input was a fundamental during the process. For Avatâra, participating in New Directions has been a great opportunity to develop her interest in using dance as a tool to involve young people with social/political issues, and try to grow their active interest towards it. 9-teen could be viewed as an attempt to better promote the human right to expression with the help of the young dance community.
