About
Who we are
AΦE (AE) is a Medway, Kent (UK) based dance company founded by Aoi Nakamura and Esteban Lecoq. Our uniqueness lies in the use of technology to completely reinvent audience participation. We were the UK’s first dance company to tour internationally with VR and AR productions. We toured to 15 counties, over 60 venues & engaged over 21000 live audiences and participants. As trailblazers in our sector, we want to rethink live performances. To help us in this process, we have partnered with high end technology brands such as EPSON and The Scalable Display who we are inviting into the dance world to push its boundaries. In only 6 years, we have managed to gather the support of some of the most prestigious venues around the world such as Sadler’s Wells, Chaillot Theatre National de la Danse Paris & Sydney Festival.
We also actively share our expertise. We consulted number of VR projects including for the development of Jasmin Vardimon’s Alice VR. AΦE Artistic Directors has been part of Creative Estuary’s commissioning group.
AΦE has opened AΦE Creative Hub, its charitable arm in 2020. Its first event in 2021 was an outdoor interactive digital art programme called ALT*ASH and took place during lockdown in Ashford’s High Street, engaging 29,000 live audiences, & 139,000 online audiences.
AΦE became Associate Artists of the Institute of Cultural and Creative Industries (iCCi)/University of Kent and are moving into a building within the iCCi at Historic Dockyard Chatham in spring 2022. This space is home to AE’s Creative Hub, where we will produce innovative productions and deliver creative & new technology workshops to professionals and members of the local community, especially young people, alike.
“Suitably disorientating, great art” Hedley Swain, CEO Royal Pavilion & Museums Trust Brighton & Hove
"Powerful, refreshing, exciting” Creative Review
“A boundary breaking piece. A truly beautiful, compelling and important work.” VICE, The Creators Project
“an innovative UK dance company” TimeOut Sydney
Individually Aoi and Esteban have been performing over 15 years with renowned dance and immersive theatre companies such as Punchdrunk, Jasmin Vardimon Company, State Theatre Kassel, Saarbruecken and Wiesbaden, and have also choreographed, directed and performed for works by other prestigious producers, including Sean Roggs’ immersive experience The Waldorf Project, a 360° film for Elbphilharmonie Hamburg (Google Arts & Culture) and short film “Kai”. They were also guest curators for an visual art exhibition and a Digital Performance Weekender for Devonshire Collective in Eastbourne in November 2017.
Our team
Aoi Nakmaura - Co-Artistic Director
Esteban Lecoq - Co-Artistic Director
Rachel Bradbear - Executive Director
Kuan Chi Chen - Asisstant Producer
Aoi Nakmaura - Co-Artistic Director
Esteban Lecoq - Co-Artistic Director
Rachel Bradbear - Executive Director
Kuan Chi Chen - Asisstant Producer
What we do
Our main strand of work includes:
• Create and produce production merging performance (dance theatre) and technology
• Creative workshops (professional, non-professional of all ages)
• Curation of cultural events and program
• Consultation for art and tech project
• Mentorship
Use our space and equipment
Our building A+E Lab is a space for experimentation and creation. We curate, organise and host wide range of activities at A+E Lab including event, rehearsal, production, workshop and shooting a film or photography. We work with our technical partner Visual Elements to accommodate the need for each activity.
Collaborations
Our work is collaborative and bring team of creatives and technologists depending on the project needs. We can take on projects from ideation through to delivery of the project.