The Mother of Tension – a ground-breaking new Hip Hop dance theatre performance

Published 17th February 2023

A sepia image. The background is a photograph of a line of First World War soldiers, seen from the back, blending into a sheet of paper with handwritten text. The background is overlaid with an image of four performers from Inspire Youth Arts.

The Mother of Tension draws on a Hip Hop movement vocabulary and is accompanied by an original music score and visual motion design, making for a powerful and emotive aesthetic.

Informed by resources from Nottinghamshire Archives and Imperial War Museums’ collection, the performance explores themes of conflict and highlights lived experiences created by people who documented the major conflicts of the twentieth century. Archival materials inspiring the performance include the diaries and drawings of Raymond Pegg – a teenager during the First World War, and the tribunal papers of conscientious objector John Edward Hammill of Forest Town, Mansfield. All documents can be viewed for free at Nottinghamshire Archives.

The performance features talented young dancers from across the region who have been given the opportunity to collaborate with high profile professional artists within the field of dance, music, and digital. The performance has been choreographed and developed by Gareth Woodward (Founder and Co-Artistic Director of Unite The Scene, and champion of developing young people’s choreography through Xzibit Young Creatives) and Jasmine M Eccles (producer, choreographer, founder/artistic director of JME Dance Company). The accompanying music soundtrack has been composed by DJ and Music Producer James Power, and the visual backdrop motion design by creative technologist, Rebecca Smith of UrbanProjections.

The piece has been created from an exciting collaboration between Inspire Youth Arts and Inspire Nottinghamshire Archives, and is part of the IWM14-18 NOW Legacy Fund, a national partnership programme of 22 artist commissions inspired by the heritage of conflict. Led by Imperial War Museums, the IWM 14-18 NOW Legacy Fund was created following the success of 14-18 NOW, the official UK arts programme for the First World War centenary.

“We are thrilled to work with the Imperial War Museum on this innovative project. Connecting young people to
the stories held in our Archives through Hip Hop dance is probably a first, and
something we are very much looking forward to seeing in person”

Peter Gaw, Chief Executive Officer at Inspire 

“IWM is delighted to be working in close partnership with such a breadth
of UK organisations on this ambitious programme of art commissioning. After a
challenging couple of years for the arts sector, we hope that the unprecedented
opportunities enabled by the IWM 14-18 NOW Legacy Fund will kick-start cultural
dialogue as we recover from the wide-reaching impacts of COVID-19”.

Diane Lees, Director-General of IWM

Find out more and buy tickets for The Mother of Tension. 

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