The British Council has partnered with the National Centre of Aesthetics (NCA) Small Theatre in Yerevan to create Hiraeth, a new dance work exploring themes of homesickness and belonging. It will be the only international production to feature in the Unlimited Festival of work by disabled artists at Tramway, Glasgow on 15 and 16 September.
The production is the result of the British Council’s Unlimited: Making the Right Moves programme, which has facilitated exchange between from the UK’s Candoco Dance Company and disabled artists from Armenia since 2013. The programme of skills training and creative development has led to the establishment of Armenia’s first inclusive dance company, consisting of disabled and non-disabled dancers. Hiraeth, commissioned as part of the programme, premiered at the Small Theatre in Yerevan inSeptember 2015. The Tramway performances mark the Small Theatre’s UK debut.
Meaning ‘homesickness’ in Welsh, Hiraeth charts the sometimes remarkable journey of the Armenian people throughout their nation’s history: their yearning for a lost homeland and struggle to create an identity in a new country.
