cell
A playful exploration of cellular biology.
“I never expected to be so moved by Impelo’s fusion of dance, music and science. It was genuinely surprising and touching to see such a beautiful performance centred on the immune system. The quality of the dance, music and the set were really wonderful. It’s also very entertaining.”
Impelo loves creating stimulating work to inspire the next generation of dance audiences. We specialise in creating work for children aged 7 - 11 to explore science through dance.
In CELL we worked with a team of leading scientists from Imperial College London and the University of Oxford and award-winning artists to develop the immersive landscape choreographic world of CELL.
We created an inflatable world designed with D/deaf children in mind but accessible to all - it comes alive with movement that makes you marvel at your body’s power, quirks and hidden landscapes.
After shows in London and Swansea we received funding from Ashley Family Foundation and Powys Churches Endowment Fund to tour Powys schools with our CELL Lab - which along with the performance created a day of workshops exploring dance and the science behind the show.
From our previous production Flying Atoms we knew that 70% of children had never been to a professional venue. Being committed to bringing the most exciting dance to people that don’t usually access ‘culture’ we know that schools are the best place to connect and inspire the next generation of scientists and artists.
With lockdown we had to postpone much of the tour to later in 2021 but in the meantime we are working digitally with schools on CELL digi dance - Live Zoom classes for KS2 learners, CELLebrating cells and the amazing way our bodies work to fight infection. This online dance & wellbeing course for 8 - 12 year olds explores the wonderful world of our 100 trillion cells, looking at DNA coding, cell division and the building and repairing of everything in our inner world. Together we create a digital dance performance to share with parents. This is based Based around our touring production.
Spring 2022 saw CELL able to get back out on the road and into 14 schools across Powys not only exciting students with its performance credentials but delivering workshops and CELL comics to all learners to enhance and continue this immersive movement learning. It was noted that students felt fully engaged in the piece and workshop and loved guessing the elements of the show. Younger audiences were captivated by the visuals and music.
Developed in association with Imperial College London, MRC Molecular Haematology Unit, University of Oxford, Coney, Dr Anna Fenemore, Abingdon Science Partnership and access consultant Jonny Cotsen. Supported by the Arts Council of Wales, Welsh Government, the National Lottery and BOSE Professional.
Composer: Tchad Blake
Set Design: Steve Messam
Director: Amanda Griffkin
