Red Ladies
Red Ladies features an iconic chorus of women identically dressed in red headscarves, red stilettos, black trench coats and sunglasses.
Whenever and wherever they gather, the Red Ladies’ enigmatic presence encourages people to look anew at their surroundings. The Red Ladies direct the attention of those around them to interesting or neglected features – architecture, objects, people, plants and animals, power structures…
They sit, they wait, they play the harmonica; they observe, they lament, they change; they remember. They count surveillance cameras; they watch the watchers. They map. They arrive on foot, by limousine, helicopter, jetski, yacht, bicycle, skateboard…
Sometimes they perform their acclaimed ‘‘theatrical demonstration’’. Here, a recipe for onion tart becomes a political manifesto; a knitting pattern becomes a lament.
Their choreography draws on the movement dynamics of groups they have observed: a flock of birds; a herd of bison; a parliament of owls; a constellation of stars; an army of soldiers; a hive of bees. Their chosen soundtrack is a web of hundreds of sampled voices in a constant state of transformation.
Paul Clark - Music; Suzy Willson - Direction; Sarah Blenkinsop - Design; Hansjörg Schmidt - Lighting; Peter Oswald - Words; Helen Marshall - Film Editor
2005 - 2014 missions produced in association with Fuel
The Arts Council; Esmee Fairbairn Foundation; Hackney Empire; Fierce Festival; Warwick Arts Centre; Awards for All; the Hinrichsen Foundation; the PRS Foundation
Developed at the National Theatre Studio
Since 2005 the Red Ladies have been photographed by:
Adam Weymouth; Andrew Ormerod; Calina de la Mare; Carlotto Destro; Emma Stenning; Helen Marshall; Jessica Jordan Wrench; Karim Secker; Katherine Williams; Manuel Vason; Natalie Jones; Neil Scotten; Peter Arnold; Tanya Leal; Tim Payne
2005 - Trafalgar Square
National Theatre (part of British Architecture Week)
2006 - Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry
Hackney Empire
Performance Studies International Conference, Queen Mary, University of London
2007 - British Library
Institute of Contemporary Arts
2008 - Serralves Museum, Portugal, Porto
The Old Fire Station, Oxford
University of Oxford Onassis Programme
July 2014 - Turner Contemporary and Margate Theatre Royal, Margate
Malvern Theatres, Worcestershire
Purcell Room, Southbank Centre
September 2015 - Coastal Currents Arts Festival, Hastings
Adura Onashile; Alessandra Ruggeri; Ann-Marie Cavanagh; Anna Atkinson; Anna Williams; Audrey Albert; Beth Harris; Bethan Ecclestone; Beynon Juckes; Calina De la Mare; Catrin Osbourne; Christine Collins; Christine Shepherd; Cindy Oswin; Cornelia Turner-Klier; Daniella Marshall; Diana Payne-Myer; Efi Dementi; Eleonora Cucciareli; Emily Mytton; Emma Bonnici; Eve Pearce; Fiona Mclean; Gaynor James; Greta Mendez; Habibat Ajayi; Hannah Ringham; Hannah Anderson Ricketts; Heidi Rustgaard; Irene Hardy; Jane Guernier; Janina Kopinska; Jennifer Parkinson; Karen Hutt; Karima El Amrani; Kate Goldsmith; Kathryn Symon; Kathy Briscoe; Kazuko Hohki; Leisa Rea; Li Leng; Lisa Cullingworth; Lucy Joy; Margriet Kim Nguyen; Mel Wilson; Moss Beynon Juckes; Nadia Albina; Natalie Rozario; Nicole Lyons; Ramona Nagabczynska; Ruth Ross; Ruth Woodhams; Sabina Netherclift; Sachi Kimura; Sarah Belcher; Sarah Cameron; Sarah Corbett; Selina Leleu; Silvia Mercuriali; Simone Saunders; Steffi Mueller; Susanna Dalcielo; Syreeta Kumar; Tamara Cole; Tamera Howard; Victoria Daniels; Victoria Moseley; Vanessa Dominique; Vanessa Earl; Vanessa Domonique; Zoe Bywater
“Brilliantly powerful; at once angry, funny, defiant and euphoric. The Red Ladies are a gorgeous enigma”
The Guardian
"Choreographed with military precision and pulled off with admirable panache"
Metro
"It was the kind of absurd, inspired happening that makes the city come alive. Keep an eye out.”
The Guardian (2005)
“Clod Ensemble’s witty new work, 'Red Ladies', is not plot driven so much as post modern mosaic […] a reference strewn meditation on the crowd or dramatic chorus”
Time Out
“when so many companies seem to make work that feels like it’s treading water, it’s invigorating to see something that is overflowing.”
Exeunt
Sophie Lally (2020) ‘Red Ladies: Walking, Remembering, Transforming,’ in Art and Dance in Dialogue: Body, Space. Object, edited by Crawley, M-L, Paramana, K., Racz, I. and Whatley, S. (Palgrave Macmillan: London)
Eastman, Helen (2010), ‘Red Ladies: Who are they and What do they Want?’, in The Ancient Dancer in the Modern World: Responses to Greek and Roman Dance, edited by Macintosh, Fiona (Oxford University Press: Oxford)
