Newcastle exhibition 'A is for Alma'joins with balletLORENT

Newcastle artist Katie Cuddon invited balletLORENT to respond to the artworks in her exhibition, titled 'A is for Alma' at the Hatton Gallery.

Katie’s clay forms explore the union between mother and child and were all created since she gave birth to her daughter in 2018.

Choreographed by artistic director Liv Lorent, the dancers and their children will move freely in the space around the artworks, bringing living sculpture to the collection.

balletLORENT explores Katie Curran's A is For Alma exhibition at Hatton Gallery, Newcastle (Image: SARA TEIGER PR)

The dancers are Natalie MacGillivray and three-year-old Aiden, Alys North and 23-month-old Solmaz and Benedicta Valentina Mamuini and 11-month-old Maverick.

For Natalie and Alys, it's not the first time they have performed with their children. Aiden and Solmaz, alongside their mums, were part of the community cast of balletLORENT's retelling of Rapunzel, which finished a national tour in Derby in February.

Katie said: "A is for Alma explores the private realm occupied by a mother and child as somewhere on the edge of the outside world.

"Working with ballet LORENT, we have come together to explore how dance can give further form to the emotions embedded within this exhibition."

Dancer Natalie McGillivray with her son Aidan (Image: SARA TEIGER PR)

Liv said: "We were fascinated by this opportunity to reveal, through shared artistic expression, the beautiful and shifting existence we go through as we evolve as parents.

"The changing cycles of our development are driven by our babies and children, and they shape forever our unfolding as artists and people.

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"In this collaboration with Katie, we had an opportunity to share our experiences as women who are parents and perhaps to reflect back to audiences some of the relatable stories we have shared."

This will be Katie’s first solo exhibition in Newcastle for 15 years. The title, A is for Alma, evokes the ABC books read to small children and in the exhibition, Katie exhibits for the first time a clay alphabet of hand-modelled letters.

Natalie MacGillivray and three year old Aidan (Image: SARA TEIGER PR)

The A is for Alma performances are on Saturday (May 4), which is the final day of the exhibition. They are at 11am, 2pm and 3pm and last approximately 10 minutes. Pre-booking is not required. The Hatton Gallery, part of the University of Newcastle is on King's Rd, Newcastle NE1 8QB.