New Show 'The Knot' Challenges our Concept of Marriage

Didy Veldman’s company Umanoove is returning with an all new production called The Knot. The show will examine the concept of marriage in Western society. The Knot will be hosted at the Jerwood Dance House starting Friday 9 Febuary.
In The Knot the audience will have the opportunity to take part in the show by joining the professional performers who will take up the main roles in a wedding ceremony. The show will look at the role of ritual, religion, gender and doubt in marriage. Vows, speeches and photography will all feature. It will also feature a portrayal of how marriage has been romanticised by Disney, for example.
The aim of the production is to challenge people’s conception of marriage. Is marriage really what it seems? What does it really mean to be married? What does it feel like? What is it like?
The production was commission by DanceEast with support from Studio Wayne McGregor after the success of Didy Veldman’s Umanoove’s previous collaboration, The Happiness Project, in 2016.
The Knot will feature seven professional performers hand picked by Didy Veldman herself. Amongst the incredibly talented line-up are Dane Hurst and Mathieu Gaffré who are returning to the company for the new show.
Choreographer Didy Veldman’s relationship with DanceEast can be traced back to the moment she was awarded their Choreographic Development Award and was invited to the 8th Rural Retreat for future leaders in dance.
Veldman launched her own company Umanoove in 2016 with the production The Happiness Project. She has also worked with Rambert, Northern Ballet and Scottish Dance Theatre on several commissions.
The Knot has received funding from The Lindbury Trust, The Master Charitable Trust – The Marina Kleinwort Trut, Beth Krasna and a donor who has chosen to remain anonymous.
> Naomi Round