The British Council is delighted to present The Black Album by Avant Garde Dance as part of Impulse 2, the season of the best of contemporary dance from the UK, and The Park’s New 
Festival 2014.
Avant Garde Dance is a London-based company pushing the boundaries of hip-hop and contemporary dance. They tour India from 31 October to in 19 November 2014 and perform in Kolkata, Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai. The company also has a range of activities planned with dance organisations in India and young people across the country, including workshops, master classes and networking events.
The dynamic performances of the Avant Garde Dance company have musicality at their core and explore a myriad of styles, themes and media. Their mantra Innovate Never Replicate is evident throughout their portfolio of work, and led by Artistic Director Tony Adigun they are committed to producing artistic work that is entertaining and challenging.
The tour will be launched with a performance at 7.00 p.m. on Friday 31 October at Kala Mandir, Kolkata. The partners for the tour are The Park Hotels and Prakriti Foundation. Passes are available at the British Council, L&T Chambers, First Floor, 16 Camac Street, Kolkata 700017.
Sujata Sen, Director, British Council East India said: “Over the past three months the British Council with its partners have been delighted to present Impulse 2, the new season of the best of contemporary dance from the UK. Built around performances by leading UK dance companies — Hofesh Shechter Company, Scottish Dance Theatre and now Avant Garde Dance. Our aim is to help showcase exciting new work in the arts, facilitate collaborations, promote arts education, encourage cultural skills development and convene valuable forums for artists, directors, producers, festival organisers and arts managers from India and the UK to engage in mutually beneficial projects.”
The Black Album is a triple-bill in which three distinctly different hip hop choreographies are woven together like a concept album. In Omega (25 minutes) five dancers and five columns of light improvise and respond to experimental DJs Jazzanova. Classical Break (20 minutes) presents a humorous and cheeky partnership between break dance and the music of Beethoven, Mozart and Prokofiev. The language of breaking and the detailed choreography accentuate the orchestral score resulting in a number of magical musical moments. Dark Matter (20 minutes) is abstract and visually captivating, and unleashes the inner darkness of eight powerful dancers. Prowling the perimeter of the stage and playing amongst the shadows, the dancers make you see the music you cannot hear.
Performance dates:
· Friday 31 October 2014, 7.00 p.m: Kala Mandir, Kolkata
· Thursday 6 November 2014, 7.00 p.m.: Tata Theatre, NCPA, Mumbai
· Monday 10 November, 7.00 p.m.: The Shri Ram Centre, Delhi
· Wednesday 12 November, 7.00 p.m.: Shilpakala Vedika, Hyderabad
· Friday 14 November, 7.00 p.m.: Chowdiah Hall, Bangalore
· Tuesday 18 November, 7.00 p.m.: Museum Theatre, Chennai