Under the treetops
Outdoor contemporary dance work celebrating nature and the significance of trees, intertwined with stories of the community.
Wednesday 5 October, 2022 @ 7.30pm
Dance Scratch - Arts at the Old Fire Station, 40 George Street, Oxford, OX1 2AQ
About the show
Originally created in partnership with Buckinghamshire Culture and Wycombe Arts Centre
Under the treetops is a contemporary dance performance, celebrating nature and the significance of trees, intertwined with stories of the community. Performed by Dew Dance, we explore how trees signify growth, sustain life and is a place of shelter. Trees are home.
​
Originally choreographed for a bespoke outdoor performance, Under the treetops has been further developed and adapted for stage to be showcased as work in progress at Oxford Dance Forum’s Scratch Night on October 5.
​
The performance weaves in stories from our community base in High Wycombe, which we gathered at a creative movement workshop earlier this year. It makes it more personal and allows us to bring our audience into the experience as well.
​
Under the treetops was originally created as part of Buckinghamshire Culture’s Open Weekend and presented in partnership with Wycombe Arts Centre.
​
We were inspired by the ethos and theme of this year's Bucks Open Weekend theme, trees and green, and started the creation of this work specifically for this event. We are continuing development throughout the year to fully showcase at our upcoming festival 'Grow,' in May 2023.
We are currently looking for partners and outdoor venues to tour to throughout Autumn 2022. View our tour pack for more information.
Running
order
1. Mimic - Admiring the forms and shapes of trees around us
"He loves me, he loves me not. She loves me, she loves me lots!"
2. When I was a kid - Inspired by a community tree story
"In our wood, there was a fallen tree and me and my friend Elsa decided to make a swing on it. It took over two hours! And my dad, he made a sign and put our names on it. And people from all over have come and written really lovely comments of encouragement."
3. A storm is coming - A rainstorm evolving into a storm of human destruction
4. Factory - How humanity is taking over and not 'taking care'
5. I gave you my heart - From the perspective of nature, how the environment cares for us and we should do the same
6. Oxygen - Trees provide us with oxygen and life
7. A new life - Culmination of the above topics to finish the piece in an inspirational showcase
"Growing up we had a tree in our garden which was struck by lightning. The tree died and was black and lifeless in the centre of the lawn. But it became a thing of legend and our favourite place to play as siblings. We picnicked under it, told stories about it and camped under it. In death, it got a whole new lease of life."
Featuring original music by Carmen Koornhof and
songs by Liborio Conti & The royalty free institute
​
Meet the cast
We've teamed up with four dancers from Buckinghamshire to share in our vision to create the first showing of Under the treetops.
