FINAL WAVE ANNOUNCED – TRANSFORM 21-22

Today we announce the final wave of Transform 21-22, a reimagined festival for our times. Transform 21-22 is an experiment to reimagine what an international festival can look like and represent in the future. 

Following the Autumn where we launched with the world premiere of ‘12 Last Songs’ by Quarantine, and unveiled evolving installation ‘The Ofrenda’ by The Grief Series, we are excited to be announcing a final instalment of bold, brave, vivid and socially-conscious performance to take you up until April 2022.

The final wave of Transform 21-22 looks to the future, with series of performances and projects that are as reflective and cathartic as they are epic and celebratory. 

Artists, audiences and citizens are invited to join us in acts of hope and bravery. To travel with us to see panoramic views of the city, to experience collisions of artforms and perspectives; to remember with us, to revel with us, to dance with us.

From epic new shows, explosive events and contemplative encounters by extraordinary artists from the UK, Brazil, Mexico, Europe, the USA and beyond – dive in and be part of Transform 21-22…     

• ‘The more you rehearse, the worse it gets’ by extraordinary Brazilian collective MEXA is an attempt to collectively build an artwork confined to a limited time frame, to see what can be created. This electric, unfiltered presentation of process and performance is presented as an online performance
• The UK premiere of ‘The History of Korean Western Theatre’ by Jaha Koo at Leeds Playhouse attempts to smash age-old traditions of self-censorship and look to the future, in an intelligent and visually arresting documentary theatre performance that seamlessly interweaves the personal and the political
• JUMBIE by Jamal Gerald is an interdisciplinary performance created by a Black queer ensemble, and a ritual for our sickened times. Part ritual, part sex club, part dance party – and fully WTF, JUMBIE will takeover CLAY: Centre for Live Art Yorkshire for a night of sensual revelry
• The UK premiere of ‘Quartiers Libres’ by Nadia Beugré will take over the stage of The Stanley & Audrey Burton Theatre with breathless, raw energy. This arresting solo performance calls out to humanity with immediacy and unnerving energy
• FORGE by Rachel Mars will explore who memorials are for, what happens to the places where traumatic events take place and who decides. Examining how objects become contaminated by history, FORGE will culminate in an immersive installation at Testbed, and series of long table discussions at The Tetley.
• At an extraordinary rooftop location overlooking Leeds, Amanda Piña presents the UK premiere of ‘Frontera I Border – a Living Monument’.  Merging hip-hop culture, colonial tales, native practices and mysticism, this monumental dance is a homage to the power and resilience of those whose bodies carry borders, to those who dare to cross

• Following a process of creative development support with Transform and Bradford Producing Hub, Lua Bairstow will present an early sharing of ‘The Sound Grief Project’ within the rock void at Leeds Playhouse. This informal listening party is designed to stimulate vital discussion and reflection around death and grief
  
• Transforming the traditional club space into an otherworldly experience, ‘a Soft Rapture’ by Sable Radio will challenge what we know as a club environment to shape a vibrant, inclusive and alternative experience. Combining DJ’s, performance and movement practices, Sable Radio will explore how club spaces can facilitate both hedonism and healing
• For one night only, Transform is taking over iconic Leeds venue The Holbeck – the oldest working men’s club in England, for an equally iconic evening of adventure and revelry. We’re inviting some of the artists we’re most excited about from across Leeds, alongside trailblazing performers, artists and DJ’s to fill one of our favourite venues with riotous and rebellious performance, creating  ‘A Party for Our Times’.

In addition to these extraordinary productions and events, we are continuing to embark on hyper-local residencies and kickstart exciting new collaborations, sparking new projects for our next festival Transform 23…

• Lowri Evans and Martha Kiss Perrone (two of the artists behind coletivA ocupação’s ‘When It Breaks It Burns’ at Transform 19) will return to Leeds to work with older women based in the city and ask: what can you teach us? As part of a wild residency, ‘Linda Maestra (Beautiful Teacher)‘
• Brazilian collective, MEXA will undertake a remote residency in Brazil on new production ‘Transatlantica’
  
• USA based choreographer and performer jumatatu m. poe will come to Leeds to explore and consider landscape, the environment and indigenous dance practises and to connect with the city’s various ecologies as part of residency ‘Terrestrial‘
• As part of our commitment to nurturing bold new performance and reimagining what a festival can look like and do, we have recently launched ‘the collective’, an ambitious programme inviting 16-21’s to dream up projects and ideas for Transform festivals. As part of Transform 21-22, a group of young curators have invited Icelanic artist Ásrún Magnúsdóttir to undertake a hyper-local residency and to give young people across Leeds space to speak up, be seen and be listened to.
• At our Festival of the Future – Conversations, we’ll be asking important questions that speak to the topics of our times, and exploring what an international festival can look like and represent in the future. Join us for two informal conversations alongside a drink and a snack, at one of our favourite Leeds based haunts, Outlaws Yacht Club.

As these collaborations develop, we will share insights, film and interviews over on the Thinking section of our website, so check back for updates.

All tickets are pay what you can – discover and book now….