PIA, a new production by Katya Bourvis in collaboration with creative producer Tala Lee-Turton and performed to music by award-winning composer Hannah Peel, receives its world premiere at Milton Court Concert Hall, Barbican, on Friday 23 October.
The production features a 17-piece brass band performing Peel’s critically acclaimed Mary Casio: Journey To Cassiopeia, a seven-movement odyssey originally recorded in Barnsley Civic. PIA contributes to a rich and multifaceted Barnsley culture that Tala and Hannah, both Barnsley artists, are part of.
The story follows Pia, a woman from Barnsley, over three generations of her life as her mind journeys amongst the collieries of her hometown and vivid dreams of space travel. Exploring the ephemeral nature of human existence, memory and imagination, the work reflects the subtle and seismic moments in our lives, and the stories that shape who we are.
PIA marks the first production by Red Robin Productions, the company directed by dance artist and creative producer Tala Lee-Turton.
Tala Lee-Turton creates multidisciplinary work, spanning live performance, visual art, film and creative research. She is an Associate Artist of Barnsley Civic, a partnership that has enabled Tala to evolve from emerging creative practitioner to producer of large-scale dance productions.
Tala says, “I’m proud to be contributing to Barnsley’s cultural legacy through PIA. As an intersectional artist from Barnsley, it means a great deal to be telling a story that transcends typical social realist portrayals of my hometown- instead, fashioning a dreamscape which oscillates between the magnitude of the cosmic and the sensitivity of the everyday. I try, through my work, to celebrate the richness of Barnsley history. We hold many different and powerful stories that make tiny tears in the fabric of sociopolitical narratives. PIA is one such story- a collage of a town, a woman, a community.”
The production features choreography by Katya Bourvis, an award-winning choreographer. In 2021, she was selected as an artist-in-residence at Sadler’s Wells. Most recently, her work was presented as part of The Royal Ballet’s International Draft Works 2026.
She says, “For me, PIA is a profound moment of recognition, a celebration of the imagination and of a woman’s life lived.”
Hannah Peel is an Ivor Novello winning composer and multi-instrumentalist with an ever-expanding catalogue of solo and collaborative projects. Hannah’s work spans studio albums, concerts and scores for theatre, film and television.
She said: “I wanted these huge slabs of planetary sounds to echo the excitement and wonder of our human need to explore and develop. Outer space is where only a select few can reach; yet it is somewhere we dream of going.”
PIA is part of a double-bill of performances featuring the work of composer Hannah Peel at the Barbican. Alongside PIA, Peel will also appear in the Barbican Hall with internationally acclaimed percussionist Beibei Wang for a performance of their forthcoming album The Endless Dance on Saturday 24 October.
Tickets for PIA are on sale now from £24 at barbican.org.uk.
