Dance student creates new work for festival

Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA) Dance student, Tiegan Doyle, has been awarded a Liverpool Dance Bursary to create a new piece of work for Leap Dance Festival.

Tiegan is one of five north west artists to receive the £500 bursary. All five will share their work at the Capstone Theatre on 2 May with a panel of industry experts selecting one for the Liverpool Dance Award and a development fund of an additional £1000. 

Tiegan’s piece is Midsommar, which she is choreographing. Tiegan says: “It’s going to be a contemporary dance work that follows a community of females as they surrender themselves to insanity.

“It will explore femininity, guilt, and the rewards of sacrifice. People can expect to see some beautiful movement, some fusion of modern contemporary dance with more traditionally Scandinavian folk steps - and some dirt (literally).”

Midsommar features fellow LIPA Dance students Zahra Smith, Megan Hayes, Ruby Wardlow and Elena De Melim. After the performance at Leap Dance Festival, Tiegan will work with a co-choreographer, second-year Dance student Paige Sinclair, to create a larger-scale version of the production for The Edinburgh Fringe Festival. 

Leap Dance Festival takes place in theatres, museums, venues and on the streets of Liverpool from 26 April to 10 May. You can find out more on the Leap Dance Festival site.