CAST
(Playground Workshop)
Heather Craig began her training at The Royal Academy of Dance. She holds her LRAD and ARAD and is a fully qualified and registered teacher. Deciding she was too young to teach, she studied both classical, jazz and contemporary techniques at The Rambert School. She is also co-founder of Moving Stories Dance Company, a small, UK based dance company, composed of ex and professional dancers who enjoy telling narrative through dance.
She danced the classics with Weiner Ballet Theatre throughout Europe and then went on to dance in various Musical Theatre productions including: Phantom of the Opera (London, UK Tour and Asia), The Pajama Game (Toronto and UK) and On Your Toes (Leicester, UK).
She also performed in various Opera's including: Die Fledermaus and Midsummer Night's Dream with Glyndebourne Opera, The Mikado with ENO and Hansel and Gretel with Diva Opera.
Film credits include: Alice through the Looking Glass and Muppets Most Wanted with choreography by Francesca Jaynes.
She thoroughly enjoyed her assisting role to Will Tuckett of The Royal Ballet in his productions of Wind in the Willows and Pinocchio at ROH2.
In the mix of all of the above and having two lovely children, she is also a fully qualified Pilates Instructor both Matwork and Equipment and has been teaching this, as well as Adult and Children's ballet classes in South West London for over 25 years!
She danced the classics with Weiner Ballet Theatre throughout Europe and then went on to dance in various Musical Theatre productions including: Phantom of the Opera (London, UK Tour and Asia), The Pajama Game (Toronto and UK) and On Your Toes (Leicester, UK).
She also performed in various Opera's including: Die Fledermaus and Midsummer Night's Dream with Glyndebourne Opera, The Mikado with ENO and Hansel and Gretel with Diva Opera.
Film credits include: Alice through the Looking Glass and Muppets Most Wanted with choreography by Francesca Jaynes.
She thoroughly enjoyed her assisting role to Will Tuckett of The Royal Ballet in his productions of Wind in the Willows and Pinocchio at ROH2.
In the mix of all of the above and having two lovely children, she is also a fully qualified Pilates Instructor both Matwork and Equipment and has been teaching this, as well as Adult and Children's ballet classes in South West London for over 25 years!
Alice de Gouveia (le Roux) is a South African-born professional dancer, now based in London, with nine years’ experience performing on stage and working with a professional ballet company. She began her classical training in the Cecchetti and Vaganova methods and later, trained at the Joburg Ballet Academy. She joined Joburg Ballet in 2016. Her career highlights include performing principal and soloist roles in Les Sylphides, The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Giselle, and Don Quixote.
Alice’s artistry spans both classical and contemporary dance, including works by Jorge Perez Martinez, Akram Khan and Mavin Khoo, and Corey Baker. As a freelance artist in London, she will appear as a soloist with the British Festival Ballet in their upcoming tour of The Nutcracker and Swan Lake throughout Belgium, Finland, and the United Kingdom.
Her early background studying cello and piano nurtured a deep love for music, greatly enriching her musicality and stage presence. Alice is dedicated to artistry, movement quality, and bringing genuine emotion to audiences.
Marina Fraser is a professional dancer, actress, and choreographer based in London. She trained at Tring Park School where she was featured as a dancer in Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron. Marina then joined the Royal Ballet School in Covent Garden, London, where she was awarded the Lynn Seymour Award for Expressive Dance, by Monica Mason, and an Ursula Moreton Award for Choreography, by Wayne McGregor, Christopher Wheeldon and Aletta Collins. She has performed internationally with English National Ballet, Viviana Durante Company, Milwaukee Ballet, McNicol Ballet Collective, and Joffrey Ballet Chicago, where she was appointed as a Joffrey Young Moves Choreographer 2021. Marina portrayed the titular roles of ‘Swanhilder’(sic) in Kevan Allen's acclaimed Coppelia - remixed with KVN Company; and ‘Mairead’ in Swan of Salen, a Scottish film adaptation of Swan Lake by Ballet Folk, in collaboration with Thistle Ridge Film Co. and The Willow Trio. Marina co-choreographed Ballet Folk’s production Freedom to Roam: The Rhythms of migration, UK summer tour with Deborah Ward. She has movement directed for music videos, fashion shoots, film and art installations. A couple of highlights are her work for the London Design Biennale 2023’s Symphony of Inner Peace at Somerset House, and the play Reverie: a dream of autoimmunity at Cambridge Junction Theatre 2025. As an actor Marina trained with acting coach Andrew Darren Elkins, and has featured in several short films, plays and improv theatre productions in London. She is a cast member of The Pilot: an improvised sitcom, and has collaborated frequently with independent film company, Dreamfuel. In the quiet moments Marina is a poet, and loves to perform spoken word poetry around London.
Shannon McAvoy is an American performer based in London. After training in a variety of dance styles from a young age, she continued her education at The Young Americans College of Performing Arts in California. She then concentrated on ballet and contemporary at Hubbard Street’s Lou Conte Dance Studio in Chicago and musical theatre at Broadway Dance Center’s Professional Semester in New York City. Shannon has had a wide range of professional experience in operas, musicals, pantomimes, concert dance, six-star cruise ships, variety shows, TV and corporate events. Some recent credits include Glyndebourne Opera’s Saul, The Welsh National Opera's Candide, Graziella in West Side Story, Ensemble in Mary Poppins, The Evil Stepmother in Snow White: Reimagined, Jingle Bell Christmas at the Barbican Theatre in London, Jack and the Beanstalk at Birmingham Hippodrome, The Little Mermaid and Cinderella at Newcastle Theatre Royal.
Naomi Sorkin was one of America's leading classical and dramatic ballerinas. She began her career at 14, dancing with the Chicago Lyric Opera, then joined American Ballet Theatre at 17, where she rose quickly through the ranks to become a principal artist, as well as with both the Eliot Feld company and the San Francisco Ballet. She became known for her varied repertoire, which spanned dramatic, classical, lyrical and contemporary dance. Her dramatic power and lyricism combined with a strong classical technique made her a favourite with choreographers world wide and a leading guest artist. She became a freelance artist to pursue an even broader repertoire, guesting with many of the major dance companies (both ballet and contemporary) and shortly thereafter starred in the PBS film Swan Lake Minnesota, a critically acclaimed avant garde version of Swan Lake, well ahead of it's time. She came to Europe as a guest artist with the Lindsay Kemp company, where she created the Ballerina role in his Nijinsky Il Matto, touring Italy and the settling in London. As a guest artist with William Forsythe's Ballet Frankfurt, she performed the central speaking role in his full length masterpiece, Artifact, in Stockholm, Frankfurt, Tokyo, Yokohama and Lisbon. In London she played principal roles in two West End shows, Grand Hotel and Brigadoon. While in London she also began work as an actress. Theatre work includes The Creditors at the Gate Theatre, The Dancing Master at the BAC, Blue Eyes Red at The White bear, amongst others.
Recently Naomi was seen as Ida in Ida Rubinstein, The Final Act at The Playground Theatre. She has also starred in three short films, Madame Ida with Celia Imrie and Maryam D'Abo, Roman Fever, and most recently, The Nightmare, inspired by the Tale of Genji.
Recently Naomi was seen as Ida in Ida Rubinstein, The Final Act at The Playground Theatre. She has also starred in three short films, Madame Ida with Celia Imrie and Maryam D'Abo, Roman Fever, and most recently, The Nightmare, inspired by the Tale of Genji.
Silvia Titotto is an Italian–Brazilian performer, choreographer, scholar, and educator whose award-winning works bridge science and art. She began preparatory ballet and tap at age three, danced her first Swan Lake solo at seven, and then trained intensively in the Vaganova method in Brazil. A further background in architecture has deepened her inquiry into movement and space from new perspectives, culminating in her creations that merge dance with kinetically responsive installations and were presented across the Americas and Europe, including Waterfront at the Off-Biennale of São Paulo, Wings of Desire at MUBE, Poetics of [At]trac on at MAC-USP, Dews at Politecnico di Milano, Corbusier at Memorial, Tarantula at Fondazione Carilucca, and [Un]foldings: Art, Movement and Technology at the UFABC Red Floor. She was recognized by Fundación Carolina as one of the Top 50 Young Leaders in Ibero-America, Portugal, and Spain and among the Top 5 Young Leaders in Brazil. Silvia holds dual PhDs from the Politecnico di Torino and the University of São Paulo and leads research in programmable movement and biomechanics, decoding motion in both biological and artificial systems. She is the principal investigator of the 4DB Group whose research has been funded by prestigious agencies, including the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, FAPESP, Erasmus+, and Fundación Carolina. Appointed a permanent professor at PPGINV at the Federal University of ABC in metropolitan São Paulo in 2017, she is recognized for her disruptive design innovations, with her latest award honouring her bioinspired choreographic processes in contemporary dance. Her experiences assisting the Royal Ballet and Opera, together with artistic development at Acosta Dance Centre and Sadler’s Wells, have helped shape a choreographic voice rooted in forms from classical ballet to Tanztheater and other contemporary art forms. A committed advocate for inclusion, she develops accessible learning and performance strategies for dance artists and audiences with visible and invisible disabilities, opening paths from rigorous technique toward experimental, poetic expression.
Viola Turberville-Smith is a performer based in London, originally from Dorset in the South West. She began her training with the Swindon Dance Centre for Advanced Training (CAT) Scheme in Exeter, before continuing her studies at London Studio Centre, where she specialised in contemporary dance. During her final year, she was a member of INTOTO Dance Company, performing works by Amy Morvell and Faye Stoeser.
Since graduating, Viola has performed with Ballet Folk in Rhythms of Migration (Artistic Director Deborah Ward) and with Pugmill Dance Work in Progress at The Lab, Theatre Royal Plymouth, choreographed by Jonny Hibbs. She has also appeared in music videos and live immersive events, enjoying opportunities to perform across a range of settings.
Viola enjoys working with narrative-led movement and the combination of classical technique with contemporary styles. Alongside performing, she is a qualified reformer Pilates instructor and has also worked within TV and film.
Since graduating, Viola has performed with Ballet Folk in Rhythms of Migration (Artistic Director Deborah Ward) and with Pugmill Dance Work in Progress at The Lab, Theatre Royal Plymouth, choreographed by Jonny Hibbs. She has also appeared in music videos and live immersive events, enjoying opportunities to perform across a range of settings.
Viola enjoys working with narrative-led movement and the combination of classical technique with contemporary styles. Alongside performing, she is a qualified reformer Pilates instructor and has also worked within TV and film.
Music Playlist
Ecclesiastes 3
(NIV)
1 There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
6 a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8 a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
6 a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8 a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
The book of Ecclesiastes is attributed to the historical figure of King Solomon (900 B.C. - 931 B.C.)
Director's Notes
This five day workshop is the first step on a journey of bringing this ancient text to life with human physicality and the influence of music/sound. As a classically trained dancer, who pursued a BA in music and an MA in acting, and as a movement artist who has worked professionally in the genres of ballet, opera, musical theatre, stage combat, and motion capture, as well as being an invested music educator, I am endlessly interested in how the human body can portray emotion and the collective human experience in both conventional and unconventional ways...especially when utilizing the powerful influence of music. Most of the musical choices in this workshop are pieces that resonate deeply with me and invoke a creative response. Some, however, are the antithesis of delight for me....which perhaps is exactly the point.
The concept of this show has been in my head for several years, but having no way to explore it properly without time, space, and funding, I put it on the "back burner" indefinitely. Deep gratitude to Peter Tate and The Playground Theatre for inviting me to participate this Incubation Season and enabling me to explore my ideas in this way.....and huge thanks to The Linbury Trust for their grant that made it all possible. Extended gratitude to the wonderful Viviana Durante, for being willing to lend her esteemed skills as a mentor and movement artist.
Further acknowledgement and thanks to Simon Beyer for his lighting design, to Anastasiia Artiushok with DeeRECting for capturing our work, and especially to Dana Hudson for her invaluable assistance in organizing and producing.
Endless thanks to my cast of remarkable dancers and movement artists for endeavoring to bring my ideas to life and share their own talents of choreographic creativity and physical storytelling.
I hope that viewing even a short, working excerpt of this show will encourage you in knowing that everything we experience in life-- the highs and the lows-- has a time and a place and that there truly is nothing new under the sun. The most exquisite and the most devastating moments of our physical (and mental) lives have already been experienced, in another time and another place. We are not alone...in joy or sorrow. There is an Ultimate Comfort to be found.
~ Sophia Priolo
The concept of this show has been in my head for several years, but having no way to explore it properly without time, space, and funding, I put it on the "back burner" indefinitely. Deep gratitude to Peter Tate and The Playground Theatre for inviting me to participate this Incubation Season and enabling me to explore my ideas in this way.....and huge thanks to The Linbury Trust for their grant that made it all possible. Extended gratitude to the wonderful Viviana Durante, for being willing to lend her esteemed skills as a mentor and movement artist.
Further acknowledgement and thanks to Simon Beyer for his lighting design, to Anastasiia Artiushok with DeeRECting for capturing our work, and especially to Dana Hudson for her invaluable assistance in organizing and producing.
Endless thanks to my cast of remarkable dancers and movement artists for endeavoring to bring my ideas to life and share their own talents of choreographic creativity and physical storytelling.
I hope that viewing even a short, working excerpt of this show will encourage you in knowing that everything we experience in life-- the highs and the lows-- has a time and a place and that there truly is nothing new under the sun. The most exquisite and the most devastating moments of our physical (and mental) lives have already been experienced, in another time and another place. We are not alone...in joy or sorrow. There is an Ultimate Comfort to be found.
~ Sophia Priolo
