What is it?
Laura Cannell’s Modern Ritual is an assembled collective of musicians and writers whose work responds to what the concept Modern Ritual means to them through words and music.
The idea began during a conversation with a promoter and fellow musician when Laura was performing at Latitude festival in Suffolk, a usually quiet village with 40,000 weekend visitors highlighted the all or nothing life of being a performer, going from quiet rehearsal room and composing to extreme audiences and travel.
She set about creating a touring group where the artists could explore new works in front of audiences, supporting each other and bringing exciting and new works to audiences while also reducing the sometimes solitary experience of solo touring.
A common strand through all of the work is the idea of ritual, and questioning of personal ritual and traditions, in life, art, writing, music and performance. Whether it’s how you create, where you create, habits or frustrations, all repeated actions become rituals.
[Modern Ritual] is ancient, modern, experimental, real, fictional, personal, folkloric. It explores human and mechanical rituals, failure of ritual and provides a platform to premiere new works in the UK.
[Modern Ritual] – is a night of new performances exploring ideas of ritual through music and words, evoking real and fictional landscapes.
The first series and subsequent UK tour featured at its core: Charles Hayward (This Heat, TINTH) performs his 30 MINUTE SNARE DRUM ROLL, medieval experimentalist performer/composer Laura Cannell playing newly composed works playing two recorders simultaneously and deconstructing her violin bow to create otherworldly soundscapes, Hoofus (aka André Bosman) an electronic composer produces music where oscillating melodies meld with distorted rhythms exploring machine and marsh.
Writer/researcher Jennifer Lucy Allan performs her piece ‘Fowlis’s Daughter: A Short History of the Foghorn in 30 Interrupted Acts’, and Luke Turner, writer and co-founder of The Quietus reads extracts from his forthcoming book ‘Out of the Woods’ exploring concepts of masculinity and sexuality, civilisation and wilderness.
The cast is joined in Liverpool by Ex-Easter Island Head, and Swansea by Rhodri Davies, they are also joined by guests for their collaborative piece ‘These We Hold Close, These we Hold Dear’. (see selected individual listings).
Laura Cannell was awarded funding from the Arts Council of England National Lottery Funding to commission, develop and tour Modern Ritual in the UK, starting on 28th October 2017 at Full of Noises, Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria and finishing at the Barbican’s LSO St Lukes in June 2018.
Please visit Tour Dates for the full list of dates and venues as well as new dates, events and projects.
MODERN RITUAL 