"A massed gathering of 50 volunteer pianists from all walks of life performed Kristoffer Zegers’ piece Piano Phasing on 25 pianos."

Adults either with or without keyboard experience are invited to take part in Piano Dances, a free hcmf project taking place between Tuesday 23 and Friday 26 February 2010.

Musician and educator Hugh Nankivell, theatre director Wils Wilson and actor/improviser Bob Lockwood are hosting the evening workshops, which will combine the natural curiosity and inventiveness of children’s music-making with creative piano composition and performance for adults.

Piano Dances is part of the Piano Phasing strand of workshops and performances which ran before, during and after hcmf 2009. During the festival, a massed gathering of 50 volunteer pianists from all walks of life performed Kristoffer Zegers’ piece Piano Phasing on 25 pianos in Huddersfield Town Hall. Adult learners have also enjoyed the chance to refresh their piano skills or to get to grips with the instrument for the first time through a series of free keyboard workshops and surgeries.

Versions of Piano Dances have already been hosted in Gateshead and Sendai, Japan, under the name Keyboard Choreography Collection, by the project’s creators Hugh Nankivell and Japanese composer Makoto Nomura. The pair previously worked with residents of Sendai and with students, musicians and members of Full Body and the Voice theatre company in Huddersfield, to create the innovative community performance Whaletone Opera. They conceived Piano Dances as a project to appeal to both adults and early years-education children, and one that could combine the piano as a starting point with wider explorations of movement and dance.

During the project, Nankivell, Wilson and Lockwood will spend mornings working with children at the nursery of Christ Church Woodhouse School in Deighton, Huddersfield. The children will be encouraged to invent their own styles and methods for playing piano. The three will spend each afternoon studying film of the young pianists in order to gather a set of techniques, approaches and questions to bring to the adults’ evening sessions.

The adult workshops are open to anyone interested in creative musical exploration or dance acting and improvising, regardless of age, skills or previous experience. The pieces created will stem from piano composition, but may veer off in surprising and non-traditional directions. Two informal performances on the Friday will round off the workshops, which are all free of charge.

To book a place, please contact Heidi Johnson, Learning and Participation Officer through the contact page or call 01484 471116. For more information about the Piano Phasing programme of activities, visit: http://www.hcmf.co.uk/pianophasing

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