THE HICCUP PROJECT

Comedy dance theatre duo

The Hiccup Project is Chess Dillon-Reams and Cristina MacKerron, two NSCD alumni.

Chess graduated from the BA (Hons) course in 2013, and went on to train and tour with Jasmin Vardimon's JV2 Company. Cristina graduated from the Foundation course in 2010, then finished her BA (Hons) in 2014.

Chess and Cristina founded The Hiccup Project in 2014, and now work as performers, Artistic Directors, choreographers, teachers, company managers and company producers.

After receiving the Pebble Trust Award in December 2015, their first show May-We-Go-Round? achieved two 5-night sell-out runs in Brighton, and a sell-out 10-night run at Edinburgh Fringe, followed by a two-year national tour. The piece won several awards such as the Fringe Review Award for Outstanding Theatre and the South East Dance Award, and was shortlisted for the Audience Choice Award.

It’s Okay, I’m Dealing With It premiered at the Brighton Fringe Window Showcase in 2016, and was re-developed, with mentoring from Ben Duke, for Brighton Festival in 2017. The show has since had two critically acclaimed UK tours.

Their third show Lovely Girls has had a successful UK tour with dramaturgy from Solène Weinachter and mentoring support from Bryony Kimmings. Lovely Girls will make its Fringe premiere in Edinburgh, performing at ZOO Southside Main House.

Alongside creating and performing, The Hiccup Project delivers workshops across the UK to schools, colleges and communities, with participants of varying degrees of dance experience ranging from ages 15 to 85. The company aims to create accessible and engaging work that fuses dance and theatre without compromising either art form, and to create shows that can be enjoyed by audiences without prior experience of theatre and dance.

The Hiccup Project is supported by South East Dance Emerging Artist Scheme, Arts Council England, Dance East and The Place.