Camerata and Company Chameleon mash up Mozart

Company Chameleon - dramatic Mozart

Is it a dance work - or is it a concert? When dance ensemble Company Chameleon and Manchester Camerata get together on October 30, in Black Skies Over Blue Hawaii, it's both...

In one of Camerata's more ambitious concerts of the season in Manchester's Stoller Hall (the concert venue attached to the city's famous Cheetham's School of Music), the orchestra will play a new horn concerto by Laurence Osborn, as well as Mozart's Haffner Symphony to accompanying dance from Company Chameleon.

The Haffner effectively becomes a living story, performed not just as music but as motion and collective expression. The symphony will be performed from memory, the players telling stories through movement and dance alongside Company Chameleon, whose work has been described as “a brilliant and moving piece of social commentary in the medium of dance”. Student dancers from the University of Salford will also be involved.

The concert's title comes from the third movement of the concerto, which alludes to Elvis Presley's filming of Blue Hawaii while atomic testing was taking place not a million miles away...

"There’s something unique and special about Manchester Camerata," said Chameleon's co-artistic director, Kevin Edward Turner.

"It’s not just their incredible musicians and music; it’s the way they embrace collaboration and experimentation, try new things and don’t shy away from taking risks.

"Their ethos speaks to me as an artist and it complements our approach at Chameleon, which is why together we’ve been able to create something really special."

More info and tickets here