Open call for dancers for Rugby League World Cup cultural festival

Pinwheel are working with Robby Graham of Southpaw Dance and Simon Sharkey of the Necessary Space on a new large-scale outdoor production for the Rugby League World Cup Cultural Festival, touring to four cities in the north of England this October and November.  

The Power of Performance: This Is Us is a new outdoor production using dance, aerial performance, special effects, music, poetic text and exciting staging and design to tell three distinct stories about Rugby League. The atmosphere and energy of the sport will be brought out into the streets of each city.  We will explore how the game has evolved from its roots into the diverse and inclusive sport we see today which inspires such passion in its fans, and the tries and the triumphs which have led to this point. 

The piece involves a central company of professional dancers as well as a large participant cast for each location. The event is being designed to operate across three performance “zones”, each telling part of the story. Each zone will be a separate accessible area, close enough to each other that audiences can easily move between them. It is anticipated that over the two hour run, the show could see audiences of up to 10,000. 

Southpaw’s movement language combines elements of contemporary, hip hop, gesture and storytelling. We’re currently casting dancers, wheelchair dancers and aerialists for the following roles: 

Dancer Roles 

• Factory workers / working class chorus: male-identifying dancers of all backgrounds 
• Lager lout: male-identifying dancers of all backgrounds 
• School bully: male-identifying dancers of all backgrounds 
• Clive ‘Sully’ Sullivan (the first black captain of a UK national team): black male dancer 
• The Unit: physically imposing hulk of a male rugby player, 6’2+ 
• Working class woman: female-identifying dancers of all backgrounds 
• Female rugby player: female-identifying dancers of all backgrounds 
• Female gym teacher: female-identifying dancers of all backgrounds 
• Female fan: female-identifying dancers of all backgrounds 

Wheelchair dancer roles 

• Male wheelchair rugby player: male-identifying wheelchair dancer 
• Wheelchair rugby player: wheelchair dancer of any gender 

Aerialist/dancer role 

• Aerialist rugby player: female-identifying aerialist dancer 

Dates 

 Rehearsals, North East 

1 week, EITHER 

WC19th Sept 

WC26th Sept 

WC3rd Oct 

Final rehearsals and performances 

WC10th Oct – 1 week (show day Sat 15th) - Newcastle 

WC17th Oct – 1 week (show day Sat 22nd) - Hull 

WC24th Oct – 1 week (show day Fri 28th) - Leeds 

WC14th Nov – 1 week (show day Fri 18th) - Manchester 

Fee is £650/week for 5 weeks total, plus travel, accommodation and subsistence. There is a separate access budget for performers with additional needs. 

We are looking to cast a diverse range of dancers, and welcome applications from dancers from underrepresented groups, including wheelchair users. 
 

Please only apply if you are available for all performance dates and have good availability during the rehearsal weeks.