Dancers and choreographers.
The company's home studios in Waterloo House provide a creative and welcoming space for rehearsals, workshops, and classes. These studios are located on the historic City Walls of Derry, adding to the unique atmosphere of the company. Echo Echo Dance Theatre Company was founded in 1991 by Ursula Laeubli and Steve Batts in Amsterdam and has been based in Derry since 1997.
Echo Echo values collaborative and co-operative working methods, organising itself as an ensemble of artists who are dedicated to long-term collaboration and support. The company creates a variety of productions, including touring, site-specific, and event-specific performances. They also host an annual festival of dance and movement, as well as a programme of artistic residencies featuring performances by visiting artists and companies.
In addition to their performances, Echo Echo is committed to engaging with the local community through participatory projects. These projects involve working with a diverse range of groups and individuals, such as pre-school children and parents, schools and youth groups, people with learning disabilities, people with physical and sensory disabilities, and older people. The company believes in the power of dance to bring people together and offer opportunities for self-expression and creativity.
The style of Echo Echo's work is diverse and encompasses a wide range of aesthetics and movement techniques. Rather than being confined to a specific aesthetic or idiom, the company approaches dance as the art of “poetic movement. ” They believe that dance, like poetry, has the ability to transform everyday movement into something meaningful and expressive. This approach is inclusive and accessible, allowing people of all levels of experience to engage with and participate in their work.
Echo Echo Dance Theatre Company is dedicated to high-quality artistic practise and strives to create opportunities for people to join in. Whether it's through attending performances, participating in workshops or classes, or engaging in community projects, the company aims to connect people through the joy of dance.