Anna Symes is a multi-disciplinary artist and performer from a visual arts background, making dance, theatre and dance-for-camera exploring public space, architecture and heritage. Her work integrates dance fusion and social dance, set in brutalist or utopic spaces to create visionary performance which transforms our relationship to beauty, place and the built environment.
Click here for more information BACKGROUND
“I am fascinated by the expressive and artistic qualities of social dance; it’s meeting point with contemporary styles; the deep connection of working with a partner, combined with the element of rhythm creates a rich and entrancing space for improvisation.”
Image by Gabrielle Hall
Zara Thrust / Ra from Simon Foxall on Vimeo.
Zara Thrust / Ra
By Simon Foxall
Video installation as part of the "At the Violet Hour" exhibition at the Nayland Rock Hotel Margate, 2018.
Tango Fusion Showreel 2023
Here are examples of a crosssection of work that Anna has been involved with that combine Argentine Tango with a variety of performance styles via the work of Round in Circles as well as other projects by Ragroof Players and her collaborations with Leon Williams as part of Tango Margate.
Brutal Echo
R & D unedited footage, live streamed as part of a lockdown sketch performance in 2020. The project is going into full production in Autumn 2023 working with local young people in Cliftonville to create a new musical score inspired by the elements, directed by Anna Symes. This work is performed by Anna Symes & Leon Williams and Choreographed by Tiago Gambogi.
Love is a Stranger 2021
Fan video and lockdown participation project created by Round in Circles. Handsome stranger Guy Ladblokes (drag cameo by Anna Symes) causes trouble for a gorgeous team of drag queens.
Tango - Dance for Camera
By Round in Circles
Projected oudoors as part of dance / theatre production "In Search of Xanadu" written by Bob Chicalors & Directed by Tiago Gambogi. This was a response to research into 200 years of dance in Margate, support by HLF, ACE, Dreamland Trust, Margate Festival, Margate Pride, KCC & Thanet Council.
Showreel 2020
By Round in Circles
Featuring Ballroom, Latin, Swing and Argentine Tango dance performances and workshops for cabaret & corporate dance performances.
In Search of Xanadu
By Round in Circles
In Search of Xanadu takes the cult Olivia Newton-John film as a starting point and re-imagines the kitsch classic in an imaginative site. It draws on the last 200 years of Margate’s rich and eccentric heritage, via the collection of local memories and historical research.
iMambo Margate
By Round in Circles
Dance participation film starring 8 groups in Margate (including the RNLI) plus special guest performances from local dancers. Mambo - it's the wildest!!
We plan to make more of this kind of magic happen - watch this space for news.
Bridges y Puentes
A show about migration and the search for home, using a multiplicity of languages – spoken, sung, played, and danced. It is a promenade performance set in a car park or other transient space.
For more information click HERE
Happy Feet
By The Ragroof Players
A team of fabulous DJs and dancers take you on a non-stop dance-a-thon through the 100 years of dance in 100 minutes. Everyone’s a part of the action as the crowd is whizzed through a dazzling dance-off led by the Ragroof team.
Suspended in Time
A fan video to Xanadu power ballad by Olivia Newton-John Suspended in Time. Made in collaboration with Bob Chicolars and Nathan Ryan-Jones. This classic is re-imagined in the Mad Hatter Tea Room in Margate where it is always Christmas.
Our Dancing Feet
By Zap Arts & Inroad Productions in collaboration with The Ragroof Players
Our Dancing Feet is a site-responsive promenade theatre piece which is set in a dancehall or nightclub. It is produced by Zap Arts and Inroad Productions, and features a cast of fifty professional and community performers and artists.
Following a diploma in Foundation Art & Design she went on to study a BA Hons in Theatre with Visual Art - with an elective in Dance - at University of Brighton. Anna developed her process, making work via reminiscence, oral history collection and working with social dance as co-founder of Ragroof Theatre (2003–2013), associate artist with Ragroof Players (2013-18) and creative producer of Bridges y Puentes.
Anna trained from an early age in Ballet, Contemporary & Contact Improvisation and went on to complete intensive courses at Laban. Her professional development includes in depth training with a variety of leading dance artists: Wolfgang Hoffmann (Contact Improvisation), Julia Pond (Isadora Duncan Technique), Pablo Nievas, Eleonora Kalganova, Tomas Corbalan
(Argentine Tango 2019 - 23), Dorothy Max Prior (American Ballroom & Latin), Sam Gosk (IDTA Ballroom & Latin), Aila Floyd (Swing & Jazz).
As Artistic Director of Round in Circles, she creates site-specific dance, theatre & film work which often combine community engagement via participation. Pre-covid-19, Anna hosted social dance events in London and Margate creating an exciting meeting point for Ballroom, Latin, Swing and Argentine Tango and looks forward to reigniting this work in the coming months. Currently, she is developing some socially distanced participation film projects.
Anna presents theatrical dance performances inspired by the golden age of Hollywood, presented for cabaret & corporate entertainment and also tours to site specific festivals and venues throughout the UK.
Casting information: HERE
Contact: info@roundincircles.org.uk
