EDge, the Postgraduate Performance Company of London Contemporary Dance School, celebrates its 10th birthday

EDge 2010, the Postgraduate Performance Company of London Contemporary Dance School will be celebrating its 10th birthday with ten exceptional dancers, three international artists and three up and coming choreographers on a 19 date tour. The performances and workshops start in Denmark, span the UK and Europe and culminate in a week- long residency at Casa das Artes in Portugal in July.

The company repertoire, specially created for EDge, includes full length pieces by international artists Wally Cardona (USA), Frauke Requardt (UK/Germany) and Rick Nodine (UK/USA), alongside shorter works by up and coming choreographers Darren Ellis (formerly of Richard Alston Dance Company), Lucy Suggate (a 2006 Place Prize finalist) and Nicholas Quinn (a collaborator with MIKS, Etta Ermini and Superlative Arts).

The work ranges from solos to full company works, and includes live music, humour, flying tennis balls and the hidden secrets of a front garden. With innovative costumes and surprising choreography, the dancers will take the audience's view of dance and turn it on its head.

The dancers of EDge are drawn from around the globe: UK, Korea, Greece, The Netherlands, Finland, Luxembourg and are all recent graduates from the world's finest dance conservatoires. The year the students spend in the company forms the main part of their Postgraduate Diploma in Performance at London Contemporary Dance School, and gives them invaluable experience of working with choreographers, rehearsing and touring as a professional company.

EDge performs at the Jerwood DanceHouse on Friday 14 and Saturday 15 May, 7.30pm.
Tickets: £10 (£5 concessions)
Box Office: 01473 295230

Editors' Note
1. The Place is the UK's premier centre for contemporary dance, uniting training, creation and performance in one unique building. Working with dancers from age 5 upwards, The Place brings new talent into the dance profession and guides artists through their careers. The Place's activities, unmatched in their range and quality, include London Contemporary Dance School, Richard Alston Dance Company and the Robin Howard Dance Theatre, together with pioneering education, outreach, participation and professional development projects.

2. Led by Artistic Director Lauren Potter, the EDge dancers of 2010 are Pia Fodinger, Alexandrina Hemsley, Jamila Johnson-Small, Mira Kautto, Rhiannon Morgan, Jin Deok Park, Martha Maria Pasakopoulou, Daniela Romo Pozo, Eleanor Sikorski, Laura De Vos and Flora Wellesley Wesley.

3. Former members of EDge (and its predecessor company 4D) include Henri Oguike, Martin Lawrance, Angela Towler and Karin Fisher-Potisk. Alumni of London Contemporary Dance School have gone on to perform with Akram Khan Company, DV8, Hofesh Shechter Company, Matthew Bourne's New Adventures, Michael Clark Company, Rambert Dance, Richard Alston Dance Company, Siobhan Davies Dance Company, Shobana Jeyasingh Dance Company, Wayne McGregor|Random Dance and many others.

Photo credit: Nuno Santos