DiSSENSiON

Company Apidae

Opening Act for Saving Face on Sat 27 May

DISSENSION is a 6 minute extract of a story that follows a group of individuals, each an entity of the qualities we hold in humanity. Between Manipulation, Disruption, Support and Naivety, these personified qualities are drawn into discord.  This piece aims to reflect back our own identity biases and the disharmony that follows.

Performance Dates

Curve Theatre, Leicester

Sat 27 May 2023
7.45pm GMT

Company Apidae is opening for Saving Face on Sat 27 May, they are previewing a snippet of their work DiSSENSiON.

Company Apidae are an emerging company of artists, multi-disciplined in dance, physical theatre, film and music. Using these hybrids of breakin’ and contemporary language, we tell stories and showcase themes of identity, freedom and the importance of individuality within community cohesion.

Apidae have performed as part of Breakin’ Convention 2022 where their work “UNCONDITIONAL” was brought to life. Since then they have dance live and on-screen as part of the TILT Festival, Unite the Scene, Play Short International Film Awards, and Stafford Film Festival.

They have also been focussing their efforts on training and their community based work. Their most recent project is the Solihull CEP “My Culture, My Heritage, My Place” where they provided a series of workshops for Hong Kong and Ukrainian refugee students to encourage the celebration their cultural heritage and identity, whilst sharing and celebrating other cultures in the Solihull Borough.

DiSSENSiON (choreographed by Aidan Yau, Shaq Shadare and Ellie Baker)


Artist bios

  • Aidan is a male dancer, emerging film maker, and co-artistic director of Company Apidae. He graduated from De Montfort University with a Film Studies BA in 2021. He has created dance short films that have been screened at varied festivals and events, most recently Creative Lab Showcase in London, and BIDF.

    His dance training began with Breaking, then later expanded to hip-hop and contemporary styles.

    During his time at university, Aidan was a performer and teacher for Code Crew, allowing him to compete nationally and internationally.

    More recently, Aidan has moved from competitions to hip-hop theatre, performing alongside Wayward Thread for the re-opening of Curve Theatre provided the stepping-stone to his creative shift.

    Aidan has recently been teaching, judging for events and schools, and as a representative of Take3 Talent agency, has appeared in Marvels’ upcoming series, ’Secret Invasion’.

    Instagram: @aidanceyau

  • Shaq is a male dancer, emerging musician and composer, and co-artistic director of Company Apidae. Graduating from De Montfort University with a degree in Medical Science and currently studying Physiotherapy at the University of Birmingham, Shaq has continued to train, teach and perform in a variety of styles; mainly focussing on breaking, hip hop, contemporary, and tricking.

    He has created original scores, played to national and international audiences, with his newest work played with RoguePlay Theatre and their new piece “Forests”, in Ypres, Belgium and the Takeover Festival in Goole, UK.

    Shaq has performed and competed across the UK and Europe. Previously, he was the 2019 BDO British Streetdance Champion, where more recently he focuses on hip-hop theatre, performing with Wayward Thread for the re-opening of Curve Theatre and the Migration Matters Festival.

    Once a qualified physiotherapist, Shaq hopes to use his knowledge and understanding of movement, to continue to support the dance community and create a field of creative work, built for longevity; both physically and mentally.

    Instagram: @shaqshadare

  • Ellie is a 23-year-old female dancer, based in the West Midlands. She first entered the dance-scene in 2018 through projects such as ‘#WomenCan100’ at Royal Welsh in Cardiff, and volunteering for The Commonwealth Games Handover opening ceremony. Ellie later went on to perform in a curtain raiser company for Motionhouse ‘Charge’, and Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures’, Cinderella’.

    She then began her training, and graduated from De Montfort University with a First Class, BA (Hons) Dance Degree in 2021.

    During her time at university, Ellie was also a volunteer for SideKick Dance Co, which provides inclusive dance opportunities for young people and adults with disabilities. She performed for the launch of Leicester Tigers inclusivity programme, in collaboration with Next Door Dance, U.Dance Mass Movement and Unify Arts NK Dance Festival.

    In the summer of 2022, she began an internship with ME Dance Company and was later welcomed into the company as one of their professional dancers. Since joining ME Dance she has performed in several works such as, ‘Women of the Water’ on stage and as a short film, ’Undivided’, multi-disciplinary mass performance of ‘Chain Stories’, as part of the Birmingham Commonwealth Games, ‘A Kiss Goodbye’ in which recently toured local libraries to share dance in varied communities, and is currently working on their new piece ‘Bella’.

    In 2022, Ellie also joined Company Apidae and has since performed at Curve Theatre’s ’Scratch Night’, Breakin Convention, TILT Festival and Unite the Scene.

    Instagram: @elliebakerdance

Project Partners