Yorke Dance Project (YDP), founded by Yolande Yorke-Edgell, combines the roots of American contemporary dance with the first wave of contemporary dance in Britain. Having worked with such modern dance luminaries as Bella Lewitzky, Richard Alston and Robert Cohan, Yorke-Edgell grounds her company in a deep, physical understanding of the roots of contemporary dance, while pushing them to discover where the future of the art form lies. The company was formed in Los Angeles in 1998 before relocating to the UK in 2009.  

In Modern Milestones, the company honours a hundred years of Martha Graham’s legendary dance company with Deep Song and celebrates Robert Cohan’s 100th birthday with his deeply moving duet, Lacrymosa. Christopher Bruce will create Troubadour (Epitaph), a new work set to songs by Leonard Cohen, to commemorate his 80th birthday. In recognition of another great dance pioneer, Bella Lewitzky, and the 60th anniversary of the founding of her company, YDP performs the UK premiere of the highly technical Kinaesonata. To complete the programme, YDP Associate Artist Liam Francis creates a new work, Cast |X|, with composer Jethro Cooke, marking the inaugural year of his company FranDanco.