Where We Choose to Stand
Photo by Brian Hartley
Where We Choose to Stand
By Penny Chivas & Collaborators
A powerful new dance-theatre show inspired by climate activism and political change. Blending movement, music, real stories, and moments of audience connection, it invites us to reflect on the choices we make—and what it means to stand together today.
"In a world that's as obsessed with empowerment as it is with spectacle, this softly Boalian play of subjectivity has real potency." Douglas Rogers, The Skinny
★★★★★
2025 Dates
19 & 20th September, Tramway, Glasgow
25th September, Eastgate Theatre, Peebles
Lighting Design Laurie Loads
Composer Nicolette Macleod
Ecoscenograhy Mona Kastell
Dramaturgy Emma Jayne Park
Produced by the Rural Touring Agency
Photo of Dance Base residency sharing by Mona Kastell.
Composer Nicolette Macleod
Ecoscenographer: Mona Kastell
Producer: Sheena Miller (the Rural Touring Agency)
Sustainability Collaborator: Katy Dye
Outside Eye: Skye Reynolds
Choreographic Mentorship: Dora Frankel
Dramaturg: Emma Jayne Park
Audio Cleaner: Sonia Killmann
Marketing & PR: Wendy Niblock
Admin support: Mina Heydari-Waite
Project support workers: Amy Dakin Harris, Elspeth Thomson & Hannah Deus Draper
Thanks to Patricia Suarez, Anne Kjær and Alasdair Sim and Collaborator Workshops
‘Where we choose to stand’ is an ambitious dance theatre work inspired by climate activism amid political upheaval. Embedded in Nicolette Macleod’s evocative soundscape are first hand accounts from people from across the UK who have been involved in direct action, amplifying the voices of those often silenced for their actions. Through audience interaction, ‘Where we choose to stand’ challenges audiences to reflect on where they stand, asking how we position ourselves in moments of crisis. This urgent work highlights individual voices caught within a crowd, creating a timely exploration of personal and collective responses to the climate crisis.
Development of the work has been supported by Dance City (Newcastle), The Work Room (Glasgow), City Moves (Aberdeen), Tramway (Glasgow), Dance Base (Edinburgh) and the National Lottery through Creative Scotland.
The project centred accessibility by supporting team members with access needs, including Mona Kastell, whose participation was shaped by fluctuating capacity—highlighting the ongoing impact of conditions such as Long Covid in the creative industries, and the importance of normalising access support for all artists and workers as part of building more inclusive and holistic sustainable ways of working.
Photo by Brian Hartley.
Audience responses to the work after sharing at City Moves in January 2024:
“Endurance, discomfort honest, silence, control, pressure, cyclical, connection, collective action, informed, empathy, constrained, passionate, scary, addictive, intriguing, quietly powerful, intense, moving, relevant, brave, passionate.”