Saskia Horton is the winner of the Startin’ Point Legacy Commission 2019

The Place is pleased to announce Saskia Horton as the winner of the Startin’ Point Legacy Commission 2019. The Commission is part of Startin’ Point Festival; founded and curated by Hakeem “Mr Impact” Onibudo, one of Arts Council England’s Change Makers, and celebrates the connection between music and dance of the African Diaspora.

The commission aims to champion UK artists, whose practice is rooted in dances of the African diaspora. In July, The Place launched an open call for three UK based choreographers/artists who wished to further develop an existing work and present it at the festival on October 20th 2018 at The Place.

Out of over 25 applications, the three artists shortlisted were Kloe Dean, Ffion Campbell Davies and Saskia Horton. Each of the three selected artists received £1000 to assist in the development of their work. On the night of the performance, Ffion Campbell Davies won the audience prize of £1000 with her piece Womb Paves Way.

A panel of industry experts comprised of Jessica Greer (Programme Manager, The Place), Maria Ryan (Creative Learning Producer, The Place), Freddie Opoku-Addaie (Choreographer, Performer, Educator), Jonzi D (Director Breakin’ Convention) and Oliver Carruthers (Director of Gulbenkian) judged the three works on the night of the performance and decided on the work they felt has the greatest potential for future development. The Startin’ Point Legacy Commission 2019 was awarded to Saskia Horton for her piece Life According to Motown.

The Startin’ Point Legacy Commission consists of significant financial support and mentorship to work towards developing the presented work into a full evening’s work and to find opportunities to present it across the UK in 2019/2020.

Saskia Horton is a 21 year old multidisciplinary artist, having trained in a variety of styles from Contemporary to Krump to Waacking. As a musician, Saskia is currently studying Jazz violin at university, playing with her Hip hop/grime/jazz fusion band Nihilism and producing her own music for Dance theatre pieces and for her performances of Spoken Word & Rap. She is currently finding ways to combine and choreograph with all of these influences and is interested in creating innovative, powerful theatre that connects people whilst making a deeply profound impact on the world.