Three’s A Crowd To Premiere At Manipulate Festival, Edinburgh

Scotland’s All or Nothing Aerial Dance Theatre will premiere their new touring production, Three’s A Crowd, at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, on Saturday 31 January 2015, as part of the 8th Manipulate Festival, the international festival of visual theatre and film. 

It will then tour to eight venues in Scotland and Wales from February to June 2015 .

Three’s A Crowd crosses the boundaries between ground and air, expertly merging harness flying, aerial acrobatics, contemporary circus and dance theatre to create an exciting, challenging and spectacular show that delves deep into the inner workings of human relationships.

Inspired by the themes of action, reaction and consequence, and

how we all affect each other, Three’s A Crowd is set around a reunion of six friends. Who brings them together? How are the characters connected? What really lies beneath the surface as the layers are peeled back? What happens to the friendship dynamic, to each individual, when a third element becomes involved? When individual memories and perceptions differ what are the results?

This dynamic, energetic, humorous, yet equally endearing show that explores human emotions is deftly told, using stunning imagery and breathtaking aerial skills, by six leading international performing artists - Danuta Ramos, Freya Jeffs, Chrissie Ardill, Tony Mills, Rob Heaslip and Itxaso Moreno.


Three's A Crowd is directed by Jennifer Paterson, Artistic Director

of All or Nothing Aerial Dance Theatre; with creative collaboration from writer Zoe Venditozzi and choreographer Brigid McCarthy. The show has been designed by Becky Minto, with lighting design by Kate Bonney, and is set to a powerful new score by Luke Sutherland.

All or Nothing is Scotland's leading aerial dance company creating, performing, training and helping to establish aerial arts in Scotland since 2006. http://www.aerialdance.co.uk/


The creative team have a vast array of experience: Jennifer Paterson was part of the aerial team who entertained at the London Olympic ceremonies and has performed for companies such as National Theatre Scotland, Becky Minto designed the closing ceremony of the Commonwealth Games, Kate Bonney is the lighting designer on Enchanted Forest and Luke Sutherland is a prolific musician and composer who played with Mogwai on their last tour.







Three’s A Crowd – Tour Listings Information


Venue: The Traverse Theatre, 10 Cambridge Street, Edinburgh EH1 2ED

Part of the Manipulate Festival, the international festival of visual theatre and film

Date: 31 January 2015

Time: 19:30

Tickets: £16, £12 conc, £8 conc

Box Office: 0131 228 1404 | http://www.traverse.co.uk/whats-on| boxoffice@traverse.co.uk



Venue: Birse and Feughside Church (Finzean Church), Finzean, Aberdeenshire AB31 6NY

Date: 5 February 2015

Time: 19:00

Tickets and Box Office: www.neatshows.co.uk; or email melshand.artist@gmail.com



Venue: Eden Court, Bishops Road, Inverness IV3 5SA

Date: 7 February 2015

Time: 20:00

Tickets: £11.00, £9.00 conc, £6.00 U18s

Box Office: 01463 234 234 | http://www.eden-court.co.uk/box-office



Venue: Macrobert Arts Centre, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA

Date: 26 February 2015

Time: 20:00

Tickets: £14, £12.50 conc, £5.50 students

Box Office: 01786 466 666 | www.macrobert.org



Venue: Riverfront Theatre and Arts Centre, Kingsway, Newport NP20 1HG

Date: 5 March 2015

Time 19.30

Tickets: £10, £8 conc, £6 students

Box Office: 01633 656 679 | http://www.newport.gov.uk/riverfront



Venue: Cumbernauld Theatre, Kildrum, Cumbernauld, North Lanarkshire G67 2BN

Date: 13 March 2015

Time: 19:30

Tickets: £14, £12 conc

Box Office: 01236 732 887 | http://www.cumbernauldtheatre.co.uk/all-events



Venue: The Beacon Arts Centre, Custom House Quay, Greenock PA15 1EQ

Date: 19 March 2015

Time: 19:30

Tickets: £12, £10 conc

Box Office: 01475 723 723 | www.beaconartscentre.co.uk



Venue: Dundee Rep Theatre, Tay Square, Dundee, Dundee City DD1 1PB

Date: 9 May 2015,

Time: 20:00

Tickets: £12

Box Office: 01382 223 530 | http://www.dundeerep.co.uk/events/



Venue: Western Baths, 12 Cranworth Street, Glasgow G12 8BZ

As part of the Cottier Chamber Project 2015

Date: 22 June 2015

Time: 19.00

Tickets & Box Office: www.cottierchamberproject.com




All or Nothing Aerial Dance Theatre: All or Nothing are Scotland's leading aerial dance company. Based in Edinburgh they have been blending breathtaking aerial acrobatics with dance, theatre and contemporary circus since 2006.



The company’s creative work has seen them take on everything from large-scale outdoor spectacle to grand interiors and cabaret dining, small to midscale theatre touring,festivals and one-off events. They were recently the tree top tumblers at the award winning, sell- out event Enchanted Forest, bringing live performance for the first time to Faskally Woods and Pitlochry. 2014 was an exciting summer with the company being partners in two Commonwealth Games projects. The large scale site specific show White Gold in the old Sugar Sheds in Greenock, and they were dancing down the roof of the Glasgow Science Centre in August for Cryptic's night time nautical extravaganza, Sound to Sea.



All or Nothing create greater opportunities to experience aerial dance and theatre, running classes, outreach, workshops and training programmes, spanning both the professional and community sectors. They regularly consult for other arts organisations and charities and Artistic Director Jennifer Paterson sits on the board for Articulation, Scotland's umbrella body for circus, street arts and physical theatre.



In 2013/14 they established a new professional training programme, Flying High, which bridges the gap between dance and aerial, up-skilling professional artists in harness work.



‘A charismatic combination of thoughtful theatre and physical skill.......that suggests a bright future for this emerging strand of Scottish performance.’ THE SCOTSMAN



The main highlights of All or Nothing’s creative work:
2007 123 Here We Go.... solo show, premiered at the Traverse Theatre

2009/10 Halflight, aerial and dance trio, co-choreographed with Errol White, toured as part of Off Kilter, EFT/Dance Base / Unique

2010 Spokes, duo contemporary circus duet with StrangeBird Zirkus

2011 Uncharted Waters, aerial dance / contemporary circus, toured to 15 venues, sold out at Edinburgh Fringe and nominated for a Total Theatre Award

2013 Swing is in the Air, harness dance piece, City Moves Dance Amazing Event

2013-14 Sprawl, dance duet for non theatre spaces with Tony Mills, commissioned by City Moves, performed at Glasgow's Merchant City Festival, Aberdeen's Dance Live and Macrobert Dance Festival

2013-14 R&D of Three's A Crowd, to tour in 2015

2014 *Sound to Sea, aerial choreography for the outdoor nautical extravaganza and musical spectacular at Glasgow Science Centre, produced by Cryptic as part of Commonwealth Games Festival

*Enchanted Forest, Faskally Woods, Pitlochry. An aerial harness duet that was performed 12 times a night, during the 25 day run and seen by over 45,000 people

Three’s A Crowd @ Traverse

Scotland’s All or Nothing Aerial Dance Theatre will premiere their new touring production, Three’s A Crowd, at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, on Saturday 31 January 2015, as part of the 8th Manipulate Festival, the international festival of visual theatre and film. It will then tour to eight venues in Scotland and Wales from February to June 2015.



Three’s A Crowd crosses the boundaries between ground and air, expertly merging harness flying, aerial acrobatics,contemporary circus and dance theatre to create an exciting, challenging and spectacular show that delves deep into the inner workings of human relationships.

Inspired by the themes of action, reaction and consequence, and how we all affect each other, Three’s A Crowd is set around a reunion of six friends. Who brings them together? How are the characters connected? What really lies beneath the surface as the layers are peeled back? What happens to the friendship dynamic, to each individual, when a third element becomes involved? When individual memories and perceptions differ what are the results?

This dynamic, energetic, humorous, yet equally endearing show that explores human emotions is deftly told, using stunning imagery and breathtaking aerial skills, by six leading international performing artists - Danuta Ramos, Freya Jeffs, Chrissie Ardill, Tony Mills, Rob Heaslip and Itxaso Moreno.


Three's A Crowd is directed by Jennifer Paterson, Artistic Director of All or Nothing Aerial Dance Theatre; with creative collaboration from writer Zoe Venditozzi and choreographer Brigid McCarthy. The show has been designed by Becky Minto, with lighting design by Kate Bonney, and is set to a powerful new score by Luke Sutherland.

The creative team have a vast array of experience: Jennifer Paterson was part of the aerial team who entertained at the London Olympic ceremonies and has performed for companies such as National Theatre Scotland, Becky Minto designed the closing ceremony of the Commonwealth Games, Kate Bonney is the lighting designer on Enchanted Forest and Luke Sutherland is a prolific musician and composer who played with Mogwai on their last tour.

Three’s A Crowd – Tour Listings Information
The Traverse Theatre, 10 Cambridge Street, Edinburgh EH1 2ED
Part of the Manipulate Festival, the international festival of visual theatre and film
Date: 31 January 2015
Box Office: 0131 228 1404 | http://www.traverse.co.uk/whats-on| boxoffice@traverse.co.uk

Birse and Feughside Church (Finzean Church), Finzean, Aberdeenshire AB31 6NY
Date: 5 February 2015
Tickets and Box Office: www.neatshows.co.uk

Eden Court, Bishops Road, Inverness IV3 5SA
Date: 7 February 2015
Time: 20:00
Box Office: 01463 234 234 | http://www.eden-court.co.uk/box-office

Macrobert Arts Centre, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA
Date: 26 February 2015
Time: 20:00
Box Office: 01786 466 666 | www.macrobert.org

Riverfront Theatre and Arts Centre, Kingsway, Newport NP20 1HG
Date: 5 March 2015
Time 19.30
Box Office: 01633 656 679 | http://www.newport.gov.uk/riverfront

Cumbernauld Theatre, Kildrum, Cumbernauld, North Lanarkshire G67 2BN
Date: 13 March 2015
Time: 19:30
Tickets: £14, £12 conc
Box Office: 01236 732 887 | http://www.cumbernauldtheatre.co.uk/all-events

The Beacon Arts Centre, Custom House Quay, Greenock PA15 1EQ
Date: 19 March 2015
Time: 19:30
Tickets: £12, £10 conc
Box Office: 01475 723 723 | www.beaconartscentre.co.uk

Dundee Rep Theatre, Tay Square, Dundee, Dundee City DD1 1PB
Date: 9 May 2015,
Time: 20:00
Tickets: £12
Box Office: 01382 223 530 | http://www.dundeerep.co.uk/events/

Western Baths, 12 Cranworth Street, Glasgow G12 8BZ
As part of the Cottier Chamber Project 2015
Date: 22 June 2015
Time: 19.00
Tickets & Box Office: www.cottierchamberproject.com

Dancing or Fighting?

I'll never forget the day I told Rob Drummond, successful playwright and tough guy about town, that wrestling was fixed. He stared me down, told me it was "sports entertainment" and that it was staged, not fixed. He then got me in a headlock and threw me across the radio studio. 

So this month, I have a choice: wrestling or dancing? In the blue corner, the mighty Edinburgh tag-team of Tony "The Hardest Working Man in Scottish Dance" Mills and Jack "GlitterGrid" Webb: representing contemporary choreography and tough enough to remind this critic that he might want to be careful moaning about masculinity in dance. And in the red corner, Insane Championship Wrestling, stars of a feature in Vice and preparing to move from their base in Maryhill Community Hall to the East Coast, giving Edinburgh grapple fans a reminder that no-one is harder that a man who'll wear a unitard in Glasgow.

The IWA's arrival in Edinburgh (the show is called Tramspotting) promises "edgy story-lines and episodic story arcs." Not content with being entertainment for those who love seeing a chair being used in ways its maker did not intend, IWA are challenging theatre to be as roughneck as fighting, occupying the space usually occupied by drama. 

Webb and Mills have a double bill heading north to Aberdeen: Squish / GlitterGrid. Webb has been playing with his celebrity lately, and GlitterGrid has him going all out for Ziggy Stardust theatricality. Mills is working out a dance that happens on a squash court, examining the nature of success - and what it costs.

What do these works share? They are all heavy on the masculinity, presenting men in tough environments. And every single person involved in them could give me a doing. 

Tony Mills Breaks Convention

I once called Tony Mills the hardest working man in Scottish dance - mainly because he splits his time between being a hip-hop maestro and a contemporary choreography power-house. Given that his Room 2 Manoeuvre incarnation has been supported by Made in Scotland to rock the Fringe at Zoo Venues, and that he is making an appearance at Breakin' Convention 12 when it reaches Scotland, this might be an example of my cheeky catch-phrases being vaguely accurate. 

Skills aside, Mills is always a convivial interviewee. His enthusiasm for both b-boy action and more traditional forms is infectious, and his costume at BC is always a talking point. I bothered him for a Skinny article last month, but he was so entertaining and informative, I thought I would pop the transcript up here...

Are you hosting or performing at Breakin' Convention  this year?

I am hosting along side an equally big personality in the shape of Breakin' Convention mastermind Jonzi D. This year BC goes to Eden court to show the highlanders how they get down. 

My banter is seen as a worthy addition to the mix so i'll be joining them on this road trip via a dip in loch ness. I won't be getting my groove on with the local acts as much of my time is spent checking on their progress and organising foyer activities and the all important after party. 

I will, however, be performing at part of the improvised freestyle funk forum for Breakin' Convention in London from the 5-7th May and Room 2 Manoeuvre is hatching big plans for the summer...watch this space!

Which outfits are you most looking forward to this year? And I don't mean your outfit, I mean crews - and why?

Without being too much of a cop out i would have to say all of them. Every time BC comes to Scotland it is a huge catalyst for local groups to get in the studio and start creating. It makes a huge difference when you have something to aim for with regards to a performance and even more so when it is such a huge platform as BC. 

Stalwarts of the scene, Random Aspekts are teaming up with new kids on the block, Heavy Smokers, to present a mix of smooth moves, suits and soul singing. All girl B-Girl outfit, Ready Ready Sauce are using social issues that concern their daily lives as the source of inspiration for their new piece. Edinburgh based Jackin' The Box choreographer Ashley Jack was recently part of BC's Back to the Lab programme. This was set up to develope the skills of emmerging choreographers working in the hip hop genre. I'm keen to see what she will bring to the stage after being part of such an experience. Audiences will get a taste of what is possibly a more minority form of hip hop/funk dance styles from locking group, Rockabeat. 

And this time it's not an all Scottish affair as Sana Crew's Rice 'n' Peas and place prize nominees Bad Taste Cru take to the festival theatre stage. Both of these groups reside in Newcastle. The international acts are going to be really exciting and will showcase highly technical hip hop/breaking from current Battle of the Year champions, Vagabonds, with a more conceptual take from Clash 66. Both companies are an example of how hip hop dance in the theatre is not just a novelty but that these artists bring a world class level of skill, commitment and creativity to the genre. 

I might be obsessed with the performances on the stage, but BC is about a great deal more than that - how can people get more into the groove when BC hits the EFT?

From Day 1 BC has always been about trying to take the vibe from the street into the theatre. With this in mind foyer activity is given just as much importance as that which happens on stage. As soon as the doors open people can expect local DJs spinning and drummers drumming for dancers on the open floor. If you want to learn how to top rock, drop, footwork into freeze there will be workshops on offer from local dancers. 

Or if art on paper is more your thing, we'll also have graffiti artists in the house to show how to bag your tag. And don't forget to look out for free giveaways throughout the evening. We'll also have live performances from fife hip hop crews UNIK and WOTT crew. 

The reach of hip hop is now global - what nations are starting to come to the fore these days?

In terms of the battle scene really the level is pretty high across the board. There are more competitions these days and also it's easier to travel internationally. The internet allows footage to blaze around the world and all this helps to push the scene and the dancers. On the theatre front, i still think France leads the way. They have been producing work in this genre for many years and have a good infrastructure in place to support such artists. 

At home, the scene is definitely moving forward. Even in terms of perception by the industry. This year companies such as BC, Champloo, Avant Garde and Room 2 Manoeuvre (ahem!) appeared on the British Dance Edition programme. So it's encouraging that work within this genre is seen as part of the dance fabric of the UK. BC is also doing their bit to develope choreographic talent through their back to the lab programme and supporting collaborations involving UK artists. 

And why aren't Flawless on the bill, then?

Too busy milking the commercial industry for all it's worth...quite right too.