Clod Ensemble is a multi-award winning performance company and

registered charity A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, Religion, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definitio ...

based in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, UK. Founded in 1995 by director

Suzy Willson Suzy Willson (born 1970) is a British director and choreographer. Willson is co-artistic director of London-based performance company Clod Ensemble. Early life and education Willson was born in Northwood, Middlesex in 1970. She graduated with a ...

and composer

Paul Clark Paul Clark may refer to: * Paul Clark (composer) (born 1968), British composer * Paul Clark (designer) (born 1940), British designer * Paul Clark (educator) (born 1954), American labor historian and educator * Paul Clark (keyboardist) (born 1962), ...

, the company creates performances, workshops and other events in the UK and internationally.

Artistic work

Each production has a unique visual identity and distinctive musical score, ranging from acoustic work to multi-speaker installations. Performances take place in

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perfor ...

spaces,

festivals A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, Melā, mela, or Muslim holida ...

, galleries and public spaces including

Sadler's Wells Sadler's Wells Theatre is a performing arts venue in Clerkenwell, London, England located on Rosebery Avenue next to New River Head. The present-day theatre is the sixth on the site since 1683. It consists of two performance spaces: a 1,500-se ...

Tate Modern Tate Modern is an art gallery located in London. It houses the United Kingdom's national collection of international modern and contemporary art, and forms part of the Tate group together with Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. It ...

's Turbine Hall, Serralves Museum

Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropo ...

and

Public Theatre The Public Theater is a New York City arts organization founded as the Shakespeare Workshop in 1954 by Joseph Papp, with the intention of showcasing the works of up-and-coming playwrights and performers.Epstein, Helen. ''Joe Papp: An American Li ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. Their work explores the relationship of

music Music is generally defined as the The arts, art of arranging sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Exact definition of music, definitions of mu ...

and movement, bodies and spaces. Performances sometimes draw on medical themes and the complex relationship we have with our bodies and the medical profession. Selected performances include ''Silver Swan'', featuring a choir of seven unaccompanied singers, ''Under Glass'', where performers are contained within glass cases, from a jam jar to a test tube; ''An Anatomie in Four Quarters'' in which the audience cut a path through the auditorium of a large theatre; ''MUST'', a collaboration with

performance artist

Peggy Shaw Peggy Shaw (born July 27, 1944) is an actor, writer, and producer living in New York City. She is a founding member of the Split Britches and WOW Cafe Theatre, and is a recipient of several Obie Awards, including two for Best Actress for he ...

; and ''Red Ladies'', in which a chorus of identically dressed women transform, celebrate and interrupt the familiar streets of a city. They run a programme of education and participation projects in schools, higher education institutions and

NHS The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...

Trusts. Their award-winning Performing Medicine project delivers courses, workshops and events which draw on techniques and ideas in the arts to provide training to

medical students A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, or part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS, M ...

and healthcare professionals. Performing Medicine was cited an example of best practice in the 2017 report from the

All-Party Parliamentary Group An all-party parliamentary group (APPG) is a grouping in the Parliament of the United Kingdom that is composed of members of parliament from all political parties, but have no official status within Parliament. Description and functions All-part ...

on Arts, Health and Wellbeing. They are recipient of a Sustaining Excellence Grant from

Wellcome Trust The Wellcome Trust is a charitable foundation focused on health research based in London, in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1936 with legacies from the pharmaceutical magnate Henry Wellcome (founder of one of the predecessors of Glax ...

and are an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation.

Education and Participation projects

* Performing Medicine - a sector leader in arts-based approaches to professional development in health and social care contexts * Reboot - a programme of artist development workshops * Living Room Music - composition masterclasses for GCSE and A Level Music students * Ear Opener - A youtube channel for young composers, featuring exclusive interviews with leading composers. * Extravagant Acts for Mature People - a programme of free arts events for over 65's * Beginners Guide to Classical Music - workshops to introduce young people to classical music through embodiment

List of Productions

Direction and Choreography by

. Music by

Other Productions

References

External links

*
performingmedicine.com
*{{EW charity , 1064633 Organizations established in 1995 Charities based in London