Eddie Ladd(born 18 April 1964) is a
Welsh television presenter and leading dance and performance artist.
Early life and education
Eddie Ladd's birth name is Gwenith Owen.
[Gareth Bicknell]
"Avant-garde Eddie is one of the Ladds; Gareth Bicknell gets to grips with the real and imaginary world of Eddie Ladd"
'' Daily Post'' (Liverpool), 27 September 2003. She grew up on a farm near
Cardigan,
West Wales
West Wales () is a region of Wales.
It has various definitions, either covering Pembrokeshire, Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire, which historically comprised the Welsh principality of ''Deheubarth'', and an alternative definition is to include Swa ...
. Subsequently she studied Drama and Music at
Aberystwyth University
Aberystwyth University () is a Public university, public Research university, research university in Aberystwyth, Wales. Aberystwyth was a founding member institution of the former federal University of Wales. The university has over 8,000 stude ...
.
She graduated in 1985.
["Net dancing award for Eddie"](_blank)
BBC Wales News, 3 July 2001. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
When Owen joined the acting union,
Equity, she registered her name as Eddie Ladd because "it sounded quite snappy".
Career
From 1989 she was the "controversial presenter"
of the
Welsh language
Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic languages, Celtic language of the Brittonic languages, Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales by about 18% of the population, by some in England, and in (the Welsh c ...
television music show ''
Fideo 9'' on
S4C
S4C (, ''Sianel Pedwar Cymru'', meaning ''Channel Four Wales'') is a Welsh language free-to-air public broadcast television channel. Launched on 1 November 1982, it was the first television channel to be aimed specifically at a Welsh-speakin ...
. She also fronted ''
The Slate'' (in English) on
BBC2
BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matter, incorporating genres such as comedy, drama and ...
.
Ladd was a member of the anarchic performance company,
Brith Gof
The ''brit milah'' (, , ; "covenant of circumcision") or ''bris'' (, ) is the ceremony of circumcision in Judaism and Samaritanism, during which the foreskin is surgically removed. According to the Book of Genesis, God commanded the biblical ...
, for ten years.
She toured with them internationally across Europe and South America.
She has created her own works and projects since the early 1990s. Her solo show, Club Luz, won an award at the 2003
Edinburgh Festival
__NOTOC__
This is a list of Arts festival, arts and cultural festivals regularly taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland.
The city has become known for its festivals since the establishment in 1947 of the Edinburgh International Festival and the ...
.
["Triumph for Welsh dancer"](_blank)
''WalesOnline
Media Wales Ltd. is a publishing company based in Cardiff, Wales. As of 2009 it was owned by Reach plc (formerly known as the Trinity Mirror Group). It was previously known as the Western Mail & Echo Ltd.
History
The ''Western Mail'' was fou ...
'', 23 August 2003. Retrieved 21 May 2013. In 2005 she was chosen by the
British Council
The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lang ...
to represent the best of Welsh theatre at the Edinburgh Festival, together with
No Fit State Circus and Volcano Theatre.
In 2009 Ladd created ''Ras Goffa Bobby Sands/The Bobby Sands Memorial Race'', a 50-minute theatrical piece about the Irish
hunger striker,
Bobby Sands
Robert Gerard Sands (; 9 March 1954 – 5 May 1981) was a member of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) who died on hunger strike while imprisoned at HM Prison Maze in Northern Ireland. Sands helped to plan the 1976 Balmoral Furnit ...
. The play, staged on a giant
running machine, toured Wales. The performance left Wales, with ''
The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'' reviewing her appearance at 'The Place', London. The audio content is in English and Welsh, reflecting Ladd's personal agenda which the reviewer says "at a London performance on an Irish subject, it felt like a different argument". Though the verbal content is difficult to hear, "the movement is strong. Ladd is a wiry, athletic performer, dogged and driven.".
Awards and recognition
*
NESTA
Nesta (formerly NESTA, National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts) is a British foundation, registered as a charity, which supports innovation.
Nesta was originally funded by a £250 million endowment from the UK National Lotter ...
Fellowship (2001)
* Edinburgh Festival
Total Theatre Award
Total Theatre Awards were first presented in 1997 and are given annually at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe to companies excelling in devised theatre, live art, visual performance, mime, puppetry, physical theatre, experimental theatre, dance, clo ...
(2003), for physical and visual theatre.
* Best Dance Artist, The Wales Theatre Awards (2016).
[, Wales Theatre Awards. Retrieved 7 February 2016.]
See also
*
List of dancers
A
*Fred Astaire ( – ), American film and Broadway stage dancer, choreographer, singer, musician and actor. He was an innovator in dance. He made 31 musical films, 10 featuring his dances with Ginger Rogers, and was honored with the fifth ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ladd, Eddie
Living people
Welsh female dancers
Welsh dancers
Welsh television presenters
Welsh-language television presenters
Place of birth missing (living people)
21st-century British dancers
1964 births
Alumni of Aberystwyth University