About
Winding its way through airbrushed beauty, boob jobs and Botox, victim blaming, slut shaming, the might of motherhood and the challenge of childlessness, Motherland is a funny and moving show about having it all.
In Motherland, Vincent Dance Theatre’s brilliant, multi-talented ensemble of men, women and children take a look at the gender they were born into and the price they are paying for it.
Spurred on by Simone de Beauvoir, Caitlin Moran and the Spice Girls, Vincent goes into battle with the big boys, arguing against a narrow, over-sexualized definition of femininity to ask what it is that we really, really want. Uncompromising yet utterly accessible, Motherland has a broad appeal for both sexes through its potent blend of theatre and dance.
Motherland is a call to arms: one that sticks two fingers up at the shallow hypocrisies and inequalities of our time and asks ‘what do we hope for now?’
What gives Vincent’s work its power is that it is born not of hot-housed theory but of lived experience. It comes from the heart and that’s not always a pretty place.
The Observer
Delivers moments of extraordinary intimacy reminiscent of the late Pina Bausch.
The Guardian
Slick and stylish dance theatre… gritty, gutsy humour.
London Dance
Admirably uncompromising
The Times
Motherland was commissioned by Brighton Dome and Festival, South East Dance, Corn Exchange Newbury, The Point Eastleigh and Peak Performances @ Montclair State University, New Jersey, USA.
Motherland was also part of the Bitch MATERial exhibition in Berlin in 2018.
Credits
Delivered and Performed by
Aurora Lubos
Artistic Associate
As an independent artist she created solo performances “Knife, Horse and Stairs.”, “Unfinished” and “Zanzibar”, and installation/performances “Still Alive” (2011) and “Food Cycle” (2011), ” Four corners” (2010), ” .No 1″ (2003), and several short animations “winter 2010”. In 2005 she was nominated to The Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative. In the past she has worked extensively with Dance Theatre of Gdansk and Dada von Bzdülöw. She collaborated with Avi Kaiser, Tatiana Baganowa, Jerzy Mazzoll, Bronek Duży. With other three artist Jacek Staniszewski, Oskar Martin and Patrycja Kujawska she co-founded KLM’S Group and created “Te Takie Te”.
Aurora first came across VDT’s work when Charlotte was invited to Gdansk to workshop choreographic ideas as part of the Baltic University of Dance Winter Explosion festival. For VDT Aurora has performed in Caravan of Lies (1999), made and toured Drop Dead Gorgeous (2001), Let The Mountains Lead You To Love (2003), Punch Drunk (2004), Broken Chords (2005), Fairy Tale (2006), Look At Me Now, Mummy (2007), If We Go On (2009) and Motherland (2012-2014). Aurora lives in Poland.
Janusz Orlik
Artistic Associate
Janusz Orlik is a performer, choreographer and dance practitioner.
After graduating from ballet school in Warsaw, Janusz became a student of Brucknerkonservatorium Linz in Austria. During his studies he became a founding member of x.IDA Dance Co. and performed in productions created by Olga Cobos, Peter Mika, Catherine Guérin, Rebekka Murgi, Nicole Caccivio and Charlotte Vincent. Since 2002, Janusz has been a regular member of Vincent Dance Theatre. Simultaneously, Janusz creates his own choreographic works, including “Exérèse monobloc” (2004), “and thy neighbour as thyself” (2006), “Live on stage” (2008), “The Rite of Spring” (2011), “Insight” (2013) awarded by The Minister of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland for Janusz Orlik and Joanna Leśnierowska for the best choreography granted as part of Polish Dance Platform 2014, “Mute” (2018) and “Koda (a tribute)” (2019). In 2007 he performed in “nothing” by towarzystwo gimnastyczne and in 2009 in “Happy” by Nigel Charnock, in which he was also involved as choreographer’s assistant.
In 2010 Janusz joined Kwaad Bloed Company performing in “Forces”. In 2011 he joined Nigel Charnock + Company to create new work “Ten Men”. In the same year, he collaborated and performed in “Reconstruction” by Joanna Leśnierowska and in 2012 with Gary Clarke performing in “Horsemeat”. In 2013 he began a collaboration with Daniel Landau. In 2014 he performed in “… (Rooms by the sea) from the series Exercises in Looking” by Joanna Leśnierowska, in “Unintended Consequences” by Sjoerd Vreugdenhil, “Back to bone” by Rosalind Crisp and “Collective Jumps” by Isabelle Schad. In 2015 he performed in an excerpt of “Shirtology” by Jérôme Bel. In 2016 he worked as a movement director in “Ojczyzna” (Polish Theatre in Poznań), collaborated and performed in Polish-Brazilian production “Yanka Rudzka Project: Leavining”. In 2018 he collaborated and performed in Polish-Brazilian-Georgian-Armenian production “Yanka Rudzka Project: Polyphonies”.
Janusz is an author of a series of dance and movement workshops “Moved” which in a cyclical form took place throughout 2018 in cooperation with various institutions in Poland. Other works include “High heels” for the ballet ensemble of The Opera House in Kraków, “Alpha” for The Contemporary Dance Scene in Poznań, “Adagio” for the Musical Theatre in Poznań. As well as performing Janusz delivers movement and choreographic workshops in various venues, dance schools and community centres in Poland and abroad. Scholar of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland in 2011 and 2018.
Robert Clark
Artistic Associate
Robert Clark is a contemporary dance performer, choreographer and teacher working across Europe and the USA.
As a freelance performer Robert has worked with VDT since 2011 on a range of projects. Other employments include work with Charles Linehan, Fevered Sleep, Sasha Waltz and Guests, Cie Felix Ruckert, Cie Soit/Hans van Der Broek, Le Grand Jeu/Louis Zeigler, Lisa Torun Dance Company, Barebones (Rui Horta and Garry Stewart/Australian Dance Theatre), Ben Wrights Bgroup, Alletta Collins and Troika Ranch amongst others. In Loco Parentis is his 7th work with Vincent Dance Theatre.
Robert’s choreographic work has been recognised through a number of awards and prizes including the Simone Michelle Choreography Award and selection for the “Escalator Dance” programme, becoming a supported artist in the Eastern region of England. Robert has been; a Work place (associate) artist with The Place, London; a Resident Artist with Greenwich Dance, London; and an associate with Dance4 in Nottingham, England.
Robert regularly undertakes commission work. Recent commissions include work for Mapdance (University of Chichester), Wellcome Collection, Academy of Dramatic Art Zagreb and Koreokroj (Croatia).
Robert initially trained at the Laban Centre London BA (hons), before going on to complete his training at London Contemporary Dance School with EDge.
Dramaturgy
Directed and Designed by
Charlotte Vincent
Artistic Director & Chief Executive (She/Her)
Charlotte formed Vincent Dance Theatre (VDT) in 1994 and has directed all the company’s collaborative work to date, on stage and on film. Vincent has also designed the work since 2005 and performed with the company until 2002. Vincent’s distinctive, contemporary choreography ‘stages ideas’ and embeds her own and her collaborators’ lived experience within the work, raising awareness of personal and political issues, breaking down the barriers between professional and non-professional performers and in VDT’s film installation and engagement spaces, between audience and participant.
Vincent is recognised as a sector leader in movement based socially engaged creative practice and creative health, particularly around her work with care-experienced young people and women at risk, championing gender equality and advocating for best practice to support parents and carers working in the performing arts. Her pioneering work on film ensired VDT were ‘covid ready and able to work through Covid and consequently allows Vincent’s work to be purposefully ‘applied’ in non-arts settings as well within conventional arts venues and settings.
Charlotte is an experienced speaker, lecturer and Mentor, working with early and mid-career artists to develop their creative practice and production work. Vincent has also worked as a director, dramaturg, and facilitator for other artists and companies, most notably Two Destination Language (Near Gone, winner Total Theatre Awards for Innovation and Experimentation 2014), Keira Martin (Here Comes Trouble Sadlers Wells Wild Card and Good Blood) and facilitating early R&D for Sue MacLaine’s Can I Start Again Please (2013).
In the past, Vincent has performed and collaborated with Professor Liz Aggiss as V&A Artefacts, curated an inaugural 4-week festival of experimental performance practice, Juncture at Yorkshire Dance in Leeds and co-hosted The Table, a forum to nurture dialogue across disciplines between established female artists with Dr Claire Macdonald. Charlotte sat on the Artists Advisory Group at Yorkshire Dance for several years and Steering Group for Dance UK’s National Choreographic Conference in 2013. Most recently she has been a driving force behind the development of the London Road Network in Brighton, a collaborative group of organisations and individuals working towards deeper interaction between arts orgs and grassroots organisations in one of Brighton’s more deprived areas.
Vincent is Safeguarding Lead for VDT, trained in Trauma Informed Practice, Mental Health First Aid, therapeutic parenting, and First Aid. She completed a Clore Leadership Short Course (2010), the Clore Programme for CEO/Artistic Directors (2011) and Clore Brave Conversations Programme (2013). Vincent is also trained in FA Football Coaching.
Vincent has written chapters and been written about in several Routledge Publications (resources) and PhD’s, and her work Art of Attachment lies at the heart of Dr Cath Lambert‘s imminent publication Troubling Adoption.
In 2023, Dr Vincent gained a PhD in Performing Arts from Canterbury Christ Church University, reflecting on VDT’s socially engaged practice, supervised by Professor Angela Pickard, Director of the Sidney de Haan Centre for Arts and Health.
Dr Charlotte Vincent lives in Brighton with her son, who loves mountain biking, fishing and gaming.
Rehearsal Director
Production Manager / Lighting
Sound Engineer
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Press
“There's a sequence in Vincent Dance Theatre's Motherland that's repeated at intervals throughout the two-hour piece. Aurora Lubos enters with a bottle of blood-red dye, slops a great gob of it on the all-white backdrop and, hitching her skirt up to her waist, leans back against it so that it seems to be welling from inside her, then fixes us with a sad, abject gaze.”
Luke Jennings, The Observer, 18 November 2012
“Charlotte Vincent's new work about physical and sexual politics revolves around the anxious, quizzical presence of a 12-year-old girl. As Leah Yeger observes the behaviour of the nine adults around her, we can see her sharp-featured, haunting little face pondering what it will feel like when she is grown up, too.”
Judith Mackrell, The Guardian, 11 November 2012
“American author Hanna Rosin recently published a book called The End of Men, arguing that women were moving towards being the dominant sex, more capable of adapting to our fast-changing world. The patriarchy is morphing into a matriarchy, apparently.”
Lyndsey Winship, The London Evening Standard, 9 November 2012
“Charlotte Vincent’s new “Motherland” is a challenging, multi-layered and often thought-provoking journey through motherhood, women’s choices and image. Much of the time that journey is messy.”
David Mead, Ballet Dance Magazine, 1 November 2012
“Charlotte Vincent packs a lot of thought and feelings into her latest work for the Sheffield- based Vincent Dance Theatre”
Donald Hutera, The Times Online, 25 October 2012
“Life is a messy business, starting, as Charlotte Vincent does in Motherland, with periods. Aurora Lubos, elegantly dressed in black evening wear and high heels walks on to the bare, white stage with a bottle of red wine.”
Nicholas Minns, Writing About Dance, 11 October 2012