Henri Oguike’s unflinching and thrilling Signal first stunned audiences in 2004. Danced to the stirring, imposing rhythms of Japanese Taiko drums, this powerful piece embraces both the frenzy of the battlefield and the calm at the centre of the storm.
"The mix of animal drive and formal rigour generates terrific tension"
The Guardian, October 2012
"Oguike’s thrilling choreography veers between atavistic and spiritual, between red hot bursts of dance and considered intertwinings"
The Times, October 2012
"a twitchily sexy, razor-sharp quintet"
The Times, February 2012
HENRI OGUIKE | CHOREOGRAPHER
Born in West Glamorgan, Nigerian/Welsh choreographer Henri Oguike studied at the London Contemporary Dance School and in 1994, became a founder member of the Richard Alston Dance Company performing with them until 1998. In late 1999, he formed Henri Oguike Dance Company (HODC), picking up the Time Out Live Award for the ‘Most Outstanding New Company’ in 2001 and the Company Prize for Outstanding Repertoire (Modern) at the 2007 Critics' Circle National Dance Awards.
Drawn to a wide range of composers from Scarlatti to Shostakovich, Steve Martland and Ali Farka Toure, Oguike has also collaborated with internationally renowned musicians and music ensembles including Pedro Carneiro, Iain Ballamy, Taiko Meantime, Pavou and the Britten Sinfonia.
Oguike has been commissioned to make pieces for Holland Dance Festival, Southbank Centre, Ballet Black, Wired Aerial Theatre, Companhia Nacional de Bailado, Rambert Dance Company and Aterballetto. Films include Second Frame for the Arte channel and Falling for Channel 4.
Henri is now in the process of making the transition from Artistic Director of HODC to relaunching himself as a freelance artist. Future projects include a unique collaboration with Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.
MASAYA TAKASHINO & TRADITIONAL | MUSIC
MASAYA TAKASHINO
Gaku (Let’s Have Fun!)
Wakaiko Matsuriza: Japanese Drums,
ARC Music Productions Int. Ltd
UNCREDITED
Chidori: The Ploughman’s Song
Lullabye for the Moon: Japanese Music for Koto and Shakuhachi.
1997 Toshiba EMI, This compilation marketed exclusively on EMI Hemisphere.
MASAYA TAKASHINO
Medley of Wakaiko Matsuriza
Wakaiko Matsuriza: Japanese Drums,
ARC Music Productions Int. Ltd
LUCY CARTER | LIGHTING DESIGNER
Lucy won the Knight of Illumination Award for Dance 2008 for Chroma.
Recent work with Wayne McGregor includes FAR, Entity, Dyad 1929, Amu, Digito1, AtaXia and Nemesis (Random Dance); Live Fire Exercise, Limen, Infra, Chroma and Qualia (The Royal Ballet); Dido and Aeneas and Acis and Galatea (The Royal Opera/The Royal Ballet); Outlier (New York City Ballet); Dyad 1909 (Australian Ballet); L’Anatomie de la Sensation and Genus (Paris Opéra Ballet); Skindex and Renature (Netherlands Dance Theatre); 2 Human (ENB); Yantra and Nautilus (Stuttgart); Chroma (Bolshoi, Canadian National Ballet, San Francisco Ballet); Infra (Joffrey Ballet, Chicago).
Other recent dance includes: Classic Cut (Shobana Jeyasingh); Still Life (Scottish Ballet); Invitus Invitam (The Royal Ballet); Blake Diptych (Dance Chora).
Recent Opera includes: Maria Stuarda and The Adventures of Mr Broucek (Opera North)
Theatre includes: The Trial Of Ubu (Hampstead Theatre); Othello (Sheffield Theatres); Wastwater (The Royal Court) and Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (Royal Exchange, Manchester).
ELIZABETH BAKER (KING) | COSTUME DESIGNER
Elizabeth graduated from London Contemporary Dance School in 1993 with a BA & MA in Contemporary Dance. She has since designed and made costumes for dance, working for Richard Alston Dance Company, London Contemporary Dance School, Henri Oguike Dance Company, Diversions, Phoenix Dance Theatre, Martin Lawrance and Magpie Dance.
Since 2007 Elizabeth has been based at the Royal Opera House working on revivals for both the ballet and opera companies.
Rehearsals: revealed - Signal
Henri Oguike's Signal returns to Phoenix's repertoire for the company's 2012 Crossing Points mixed programme. Here he talks to us about how he came to choreograph the piece in the first place and what it's like working with the current crop of Phoenix dancers.
