Stairworks, Protein’s first piece for The Wapping Project, was commissioned as part of the Jerwood 10 X 8: Stairworks series, and guest–curated by Siobhan Davies. Eight choreographers were invited to make a 10-minute piece intended to be caught out of the corner of the viewer’s eye, and to play with the idea of what a dance performance could be and where it can be performed.  

Stairworks mixes news coverage with Vivaldi’s music and images of men wearing only white bath towels. Performed on an outdoor staircase, it could only be viewed through windows and doors from the restaurant inside the building. Following its premiere, the piece became so popular (and re-named “the Boys in Towels” piece) that its filmed version went on to be shown on screens around The Wapping Project building in the following years.

“Protein’s piece (…) established a benchmark for dance pieces to come.”
The Wapping Project On Paper

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