Overview

The Mother of Tension was a theatre performance work that drew on a hip hop movement vocabulary. It was produced and choreographed by Jasmine M Eccles and Gareth Woodward from Xzibit Young Creatives, following co-creation sessions with young people across Nottinghamshire. It was accompanied by an original music score composed by DJ and music producer Jimmy Power and visual motion design by Rebecca Smith.

Informed by stories and material from Nottinghamshire Archives, the performance explored themes of conflict. Several local, personal stories drawn from the archives were woven into the performance, including the diaries and drawings of Raymond Pegg – a teenager during the First World War - and the tribunal papers of conscientious objector John Edward Hammill of Forest Town, Mansfield.

Audiences
5 March 2023
Djangoly Theatre, Lakeside Arts, Nottingham
Project Partners

Inspire: Culture, Learning and Libraries 

Communities and Places

The performance featured young dance artists from across the region who had been given the opportunity to collaborate with a professional team drawn from the fields of dance, music, and digital. Xzibit Young Creatives, an artist-led hip hop dance theatre project, led the development of this work. The young people engaging in this piece were offered mentoring from associate choreographers Nathan Marsh and Kloe Dean, some of the UK’s most respected hip hop innovators. The Mother of Tension was designed to provide opportunities for young people to present their own work to live audiences in a professional setting.  

Watch Film

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Watch a short film about the making of Mother of Tension

Find Out More

  • Ruth Imeson, Project Lead discusses how The Mother of Tension made use of archive material from Inspire: Culture Learning and Libraries in Nottinghamshire

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