ACCA is thrilled to present Occupational Hazard's national pilot tour 2024!
Occupational Hazard follows the day in the life of two air hostesses Becky and Linda, ACCAirways’ creme de la creme on a low budget airline where casual sexism and oppressive codes of conduct are normalised.
Fusing choreography, comedy and clowning, Occupational Hazard, though at times tongue in cheek to entertain a plane full of passengers, is inspired by the #metoo effervescence of recent years. The show delves deeper than the interplay between Becky and Linda, as they navigate consent and unsolicited touch as a female in the service industry, asking audience members to ride the waves of their individual emotional journeys. The underlying message of the show - female allyship, having a voice and using it is essential to calling out the systemic.
Becky and Linda, initially not friends, but bolstered by their shared experience declare a feminist emergency by the end of the show, and although the flight is scheduled to travel nowhere, perhaps lands somewhere in the land of empowerment and action.
Using comedy and dance theatre in Occupational Hazard, ACCA aims
to educate all that it's a fundamental human right that women should be respected, and that everyone (yes everyone) should be a feminist.
You’re in safe hands when you fly with Becky and Linda, so sit back, relax, and let them lull you into a false sense of security. Boarding passes at the ready, this flight is about to take off!
The show deals with the themes of sexual consent, objectification and navigating sexism including the representation of sexual assault which individuals may find triggering. Audience participation is encouraged throughout, but not mandatory.
Tour dates
Engagement opportunities
My Body is My Castle
CURRENT WORK
Leeds based ACCA Dance Theatre and Dortmund based company Vier.D have been collaborating and developing a partnership since 2022. Over 2023 we co-created the project ‘Femxle Spaces’ which aimed to tell the stories of women from our twin cities through film and physical performance.
In 2024, we want to bring together four women from Dortmund and four women from Leeds, alongside two professional dancers in the new collaborative, intergenerational project: My Body is My Castle.
My Body is My Castle will look at the female body, its complexity, and its perception as well as strengthening and empowering female voices and opinions. During the project, the ten women will share stories about their bodies, how they relate to it and empower one another which will then be woven together by ACCA and Vier.D to create a contemporary dance performance incorporating spoken word and live video on stage that champions and celebrates the female body.
At the moment this will be performed in Dortmund, Germany, but we would also like to repeat the project in Leeds, UK in 2025 subject to funding.
