THEY LIVE NEXT DOOR

IEVA KUNISKIS
Touring 2018 / 2019

'Compelling dance drama full of contrasts – playful, aggressive; tender & harsh
– excellent & intimate two-hander' !!!! Graham Watts, Dance Tabs
‘Thoughtful and sensitive – a low-key surface that subtly accumulates turbulent
undertones’ Sanjoy Roy, Dance Critic
 THEY LIVE NEXT DOOR

They Live Next Door is a highly physical dance theatre show performed by 2 professional
older dancers that takes its audience on an emotional rollercoaster as a relationship
between two men unravels. Witness their ever-changing bond through heart-warming
moments of love and tenderness, contrasted with bouts of conflict and manipulation.

This turbulent, touching and tender show combines intricate choreography with emotive
theatre, to cast light on our fascinations and preconceptions of others. In a world where
people are fixated with instant communication, social media and reality TV, They Live Next
Door is a refreshingly unhurried voyeuristic view into a private life of two people, who may
live next door to us.

Ieva (pronounced: Yeah-va) Kuniskis is a Lithuanian choreographer based in London. She
combines dance and theatre to share stories about everyday life, creating a unique
movement language and distinct authentic characters. Ieva interweaves universally relevant
themes with affecting, personal stories, inviting audiences to relate to them and follow their
own emotional journey in parallel to that of the characters.

WHAT AUDIENCE / PRESS SAY

“The enchanting work of London-based, Lithuanian choreographer, Ieva Kuniskis, has a fine-
tuned directorial skill, maintaining an arresting momentum across the brief vignettes of They
Live Next Door without any loss of her audience’s palpable fascination” – Graham Watts,
DanceTabs; Chair of the Critics’ Circle Dance Division and the National Dance Awards

“Kuniskis has created a piece with universal relevance” – Oxford Dance Writers

“The range of emotions packed into They Live Next Door was incredible, very raw and
engaging - and the music was wonderful” – Audience Member

 THE TEAM

Choreographer Ieva Kuniskis
Performers Mark Boldin
Nicholas Minns
Composer Dougie Evans
Costume & Set Ryan Dawson Laight
Lighting Designer Barnaby Booth
Dramaturg Lou Cope
Producer Spin Arts
Research Producer Step Out Arts



BIOGRAPHIES

IEVA KUNISKIS, Choreographer
Ieva’s (pron: Yeah-va) route into dance didn’t follow a
typical path, though she did try: 2 weeks of ballroom
before being kicked out for chatting, folk dance until
clogs gave her blisters; then contemporary dance aged
16, which she fell head over heels in love with, but such
a career didn’t seem possible at the time. After moving
to the UK and honing a career in photography, Kuniskis
joined a local adult contemporary class and took her first
ballet lesson aged 23. Six years later, in 2011, she
graduated with a First Class BA (Hons) in Dance Studies
from Middlesex University.

Her work to date includes 5 live and 2 video productions,
and collaborative site-responsive projects; she works as a movement director and
teaches professional dancers, dance/drama students, youth groups and, more recently
mature performers (notably Middlesex University; American International University
London; Ciurlionis Vocational Art School, Vilnius). She’s currently an Associate Artist at
Swindon Dance. In 2014 she was awarded a commission from Wilton’s Music Hall and
was shortlisted for the BBC Performing Arts Fellowship Award. This pivotal year was the
start of They Live Next Door.

NICHOLAS MINNS, Performer
After obtaining a BA in architecture at Cambridge
University, Nicholas studied classical ballet and
contemporary dance at the Rambert School, London. He
subsequently performed for two years in the US before
moving to Les Grands Ballets Canadiens in Montreal.

Returning to England at the end of 2009, Nicholas wrote
dance assessments for Arts Council England before
starting www.writingaboutdance.com and continues to
perform on a variety of projects that include House on
the Edge (Heather Eddison), The Perfect Form (Giulio
d’Anna and Cinzia Camela), Rites of War (Darshan Singh
Bhuller and Lindsey Butcher), Flow (Debbie Tiso), Inappropriate Behaviour (Sonia Yorke-
Pryce), They Live Next Door (Ieva Kuniskis) and Re-Defining Beauty (Jo Young).

MARK BOLDIN, Performer
Born in the UK Mark grew up in the city of Heidelberg,
Germany. Coming from a theatre family he continued his
parents’ restless way of life and embarked upon a voyage
through cities in Germany, the Netherlands, Austria,
Slovenia and Croatia where he danced with ballet as well
as contemporary dance companies. He settled down for
close to 20 years in Zagreb working as a soloist with the
Croatian National Ballet for over a decade, later
continuing on stage as a dancer and actor, whilst creating
work as choreographer. His works toured all the major
stages in Croatia and appeared in festivals and theatres in
Austria, Germany, Romania, the Republic of Serbia and
the UK.

London based since 2012 he teaches the Romana’s Pilates method in a North London
studio while maintaining his ties with companies and theatres in south-eastern Europe.
In May 2015 he created stage movement for Seneca’s Medea directed by Paolo Magelli,
with whom he collaborates on a regular basis along with director Dino Mustafić and
many other extraordinary artists he has grown fond of during his professional travels.

DOUGIE EVANS, Composer
Dougie is specialised in organic composition and sound
design. He is Co-Artistic Director of Lîla Dance, and has
worked extensively for contemporary dance with previous
collaborations including Commotion Dance, Ludus Dance,
Ieva Kuniskis, Yael Flexer & Nic Sandiland, The Ballet Boyz,
Bootworks Theatre Collective, The Mayakaras, Stopgap
Dance, Platform-K, Micadanses, Indepen-dance, Aya
Kobayashi, 3fall, Joe Darby, Kai Downham, Liz Richards,
Katie-Joan Lawson, and Jerrel Jackson Dance Company.

Recent collaborations include, 'Reclining Figure 2014' at
the Tate Britain with Japanese Dance Artist Aya
Kobayashi, a short opera called 'Out into the Cold' (2013) with award winning mezzo-
soprano Jane Turner, 'Devil's Dyke Soundwalk' with cellist and improviser Tim Scarlett,
and a score to Bliss, an audio short story by writer Ed Pratt for the iamjoy arts festival in
Chichester.

RYAN DAWSON LAIGHT, Costume & Set Designer

Ryan is a designer for performance, specialising in

set and costume, with credits that span theatre,
opera, cabaret and dance. He works both
nationally and internationally.

He has collaborated with Gary Clarke Company,
McOnie Company/ Drew McOnie, DeNada Dance
Theatre/Carols Pons Guerra, Le Gateau Chocolat,
Deaf Men Dancing amongst many others.

He is the Associate Designer for Creation Theatre
and an Associate Lecturer in Theatre Design at the
University of Chichester.

BARNABY BOOTH, Lighting Designer
Originally trained in dance, Barnaby is a graduate of
Nothern School of Contemporary Dance (NSCD) and the
Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance (SEAD). He
continues to work as a choreographer, combining his skills
in the fields of light and movement making. His work has
earned him multiple prizes at the Stuttgart International
Solo Festival, and at the Gdanski Festiwal Tanca in Poland.

Barnaby works mainly in the UK and in Austria, his credits
include work for Carlos Pons Guerra/DeNada Dance
Theatre, Sivan Rubinstein, Unholy Mess Theatre Company,
Utopia Theatre Company, Feet Off the Ground Dance, Mala Kline, Tora Hed and Lewys
Holt among others.


































 OTHER INFORMATION

REVIEWS:
dancetabs.com/2017/10/ieva-kuniskis-they-live-next-door-london

oxforddancewriters.wordpress.com/2017/07/30/they-live-next-door-ieva-kuniskis-the-
mill-banbury-29-july-maggie-watson-reviews

TRAILERS:
vimeo.com/ievakuniskis/tlndtrailerq
vimeo.com/ievakuniskis/tlndnick
vimeo.com/ievakuniskis/tlndmark

FULL LENGTH VIDEO:
(Footage from R&D period – work in progress sharing with costume and lights)
https://youtu.be/ApfoctueEgs

OUTREACH
Ieva Kuniskis and team can offer a range of outreach and audience development
opportunities. The company are committed to reaching new audiences and will work
with the venues to design and deliver a tailor made package.

TECHNICAL
Running time: 50min no interval 1 Technician required
Performance Area: 7x7m minimum stage size People on the road: 4
Floor: Black Dance floor provided by venue People on stage: 2
Get-in: On the day

CONTACT DETAILS CONNECT ONLINE
Producer – Sarah Shead, Spin Arts Website: www.ievakuniskis.com
sarah@spin-arts.com Instagram: @ieva_kuniskis_choreographer
+44 (0)7849670200 Facebook: IevaKuniskisDance
Ieva Kuniskis Twitter: @ievakuniskis
ieva@ievakuniskis.com


PARTNERS
Commissioned by: Swindon Dance
Supported by: Pavilion Dance South West, The Point, Bradford Theatre In The Mill,
Laban Theatre, The Mill Arts Centre Banbury
Funded by: Arts Council England using public funding through the National Lottery