Fallen Angels brings Holding Light to the Liverpool Everyman

An inspiring production involving eight community dancers and which celebrates and shines a light on human resilience and the power of hope over adversity will be staged at the Liverpool Everyman next week.

Fallen Angels Dance Theatre's Holding Light comes to the venue in aptly-named Hope Street on October 17 following a sold-out premiere at the Royal Opera House. 

Community dancers from Liverpool, Wirral and Chester, all in recovery from addiction or mental health issues, will be joined on stage by two professionals - Arianna Sansone and Jo Freeman.

The dancers, aged from 20s to their 70s, spent six months working with three acclaimed leading choreographers including Russell Maliphant. 

The resulting trio of short dance pieces blend powerful movement and resonant soundscapes to connect audiences to courageous and honest stories of lived experience rarely seen on stage. Each offers a different perspective on the recovery journey. 

Maliphant (Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet, DV8, Michael Clark Company, Russell Maliphant Dance Company) and fellow choreographers Alice Godfrey (Netherlands Dance Theatre, Sharon Eyal Dance) and Fallen Angels co-founder Paul Bayes Kitcher worked with the dancers to weave their stories through the three pieces. 

All the performers started their Fallen Angels journey at free weekly sessions run by arts and recovery organisation at the Everyman and at Storyhouse in Chester, with instruction on somatic dance - a free-form movement practice that prioritises internal physical sensation over external performance. 

The hour-long performance, which has music by  sound artist  and composer Feri Gyemant and costumes by  Alena Kuderais, also includes a behind the scenes film and insights.

Fallen Angels was founded in Chester in 2011 by professional dancers Claire Morris and Paul Bayes Kitcher, a former Birmingham Royal Ballet soloist who has lived experience of addiction and recovery. 

Morris says: "At the heart of Holding Light are the voices and experiences of people in addiction and mental health recovery. 

"Through Fallen Angels’ unique co-creation process, performers draw on their own journeys to create work that is honest, courageous and deeply human." 

Holding Light is at the Liverpool Everyman on Thursday, October 17. Tickets HERE