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Company reveals art appointment


NATIONAL Dance Company Wales has announced that Caro- line Finn has been appointed as the company’s new artistic direc- tor.


Winner of the Matthew Bourne


New Adventures Choreographer Award 2014, Caroline Finn recent- ly received acclaim for her latest creation, Bloom, a co-production with Phoenix Dance Theatre and Matthew Bourne’s Re:born, which is touring the UK and Europe. Caroline will be joining chief executive Paul Kaynes at the helm of the company to deliver an audi- ence and participatory focused vi- sion for National Dance Company Wales and a solid business founda- tion.


Caroline has spent many years


working as a freelance dancer and choreographer for a number of international companies includ- ing; Tanz Luzerner Theater in Switzerand; Cross Connection Bal- let in Denmark; Compagnie DIEM in France and Teatr Groteska in Poland. As a dancer she has per- formed with Ballett Theater Mu- nich under the direction of Philip Taylor; Ballet Preljocaj; Compag- nie Carolyn Carlson; Jochen Heck- mann and Johanna Richter. Her acclaimed solo production,


Bernadette, has toured interna- tionally to festivals in Germany, Poland, France and South Korea. As well as creating a reputation


for her works on the international stage, Caroline has worked exten- sively with young people, creating integrated youth dance perfor- mances such as Breaking Light with Alan Brooks in northern France.


Caroline Finn said: “I am de- lighted to be taking on the role of artistic director of National Dance Company Wales. This is a wonder- ful company to be joining and I


In The Spotlight Competition time


THERE are divided opin- ions about musical com- petitions. The brass band movement thrives on it; most choirs avoid it unless they are feeling very brave or confident (preferably both); similarly with sing- ers (and I don’t mean the X factor). In terms of many (usu-


ally young) professional classical performers it is, I suppose, a necessary evil. Competitions such as The Tchaikovsky Competition and The Leeds Interna- tional International Piano Competition are hugely famous and some great names have had their ca- reers made (defined even) by success at these or simi- lar contests. Many eminent musi-


NEW : Caroline Finn Picture: VRENI ARBES


relish the opportunities to deliver a vision that engages with audi- ences both here in Wales and in- ternationally, as well as to develop a participation programme that nurtures an enthusiasm for dance across all communities.” The new artistic director an- nouncement follows the recent appointment of the chief execu- tive, Paul Kaynes, who has over 25 years of experience working in the arts, including the Cultural Olym- piad arts and culture programme, which ran alongside the Olympics


and Paralympics. This partnership of artistic


and audience focused knowl- edge and experience will pro- vide a foundation for a renewed focus for a company with a rich history of using dance to en- gage and inspire audiences with a passion for the art formacross Wales, the UK and internation- ally.


Caroline Finn will take up the position of artistic director at National Dance CompanyWales in September 2015.


cians would argue that musical competitions such as these are a meaning- less nonsense. Or maybe a symptom of our modern world in which you have to have ‘winner of ----------- -----’ after your name to be taken seriously as a world class performer. You will then presumably become a marketable musical com- modity and will draw the punters and the dollars. This is especially the case early on in your career when it can provide a mas- sive musical ‘leg-up’ that sees you rise several rungs up the ladder almost over- night. There are a few great musicians whose names are forever associated with a particular competition success – such as the late great John Ogden ( winner of the Tchaikovsky piano


Nightlife By


GERAINT DAVIES


competition in 1962 ) or the young English virtuoso Benjamin Grosvenor who won the keyboard section of the BBC Young Musi- cian competition at the age of just eleven and is now sought to perform all over the world as a result. In truth there are almost


as many great musicians who were not winners – Bryn Terfel first came to prominence during the 1989 Cardiff Singer of the World but we often forget that he did not actually win it. Two of the great also- rans include world famous pianists Andras Schiff and Peter Donohoe (who came sixth in the Leeds Com- petition of 1981). Though they wouldn’t like to be reminded of these facts, it certainly didn’t hamper their careers. When American mezzo soprano Jamie Barton won the Cardiff Singer of the world prize two years ago (as well as the song prize in the same competition) she already had a career . Following her win this was dramatically transformed as the many invitations flooding in meant that she could to some extent pick and choose the musical projects in which she was involved for many months and years into the future. As I write this I have


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listened to the first two rounds of this year’s Car- diff Singer of the World. The 20 chosen singers (having been selected from over 300 starters) are un- derstandably of the high- est quality though so far nothing approaching the very best of two years ago. As always there is the cus- tomary wondrous display of frocks, the odd nervous moment and the army of vocal experts all searching for the best descriptions for each singer’s ‘instrument’ (apparently the soprano Nadine Koutcher had a voice like ‘warm melted chocolate’!). Last night’s winner was American soprano Lauren Michelle (a Halle Berry lookalike )who shaded it over the more interesting South African soprano Kalebogile Besong, and certainlyexhibited star quality. The previous evening’s winner was also popu- lar with the packed audi- ence as polished Ukranian tenor Olegsiy Palchykov edged out the granite-like Wagnerian bass Sebastian Pilgrim. See you at the final - if you can get a ticket.


5 Culture


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