fri 29/03/2024

Sadler's Wells, 2010-11 Season | reviews, news & interviews

Sadler's Wells, 2010-11 Season

Sadler's Wells, 2010-11 Season

The full listings announced by London's dance and performance theatre

The spring 2011 season at Sadler’s Wells opens booking on 15 November. Featured attractions include horses and mass nudity on stage, the Pet Shop Boys' first ballet, William Forsythe, New York's American Ballet Theatre, the usual hip hop, flamenco and tango seasons, and generous helpings of Belgian and Catalan contemporary dance. Full season guide below.

 

Autumn-Winter 2010

 

Lost Musicals, Darling of the Day, 22 Aug-19 Sep, The National Portrait Gallery’s Ondaatje Wing Theatre

Based on Arnold Bennett's The Great Adventure, and adapted by Jule Styne (Gypsy, Funny Girl), E.Y. Harburg (Finian’s Window, Wizard of Oz) and Nunnally Johnson (The Grapes of Wrath, Roxie Hart).

ShoesShoes, 3-11 September, SWT

Composed by Richard Thomas, in his first large-scale production since the West End and Broadway hit Jerry Springer - The Opera, and featuring the work of a team of leading choreographers, Shoes is a dance revue that sees life told from street-level perspective. Directed and choreographed by Stephen Mear (Mary Poppins, Sweet Charity), with input from Aletta Collins, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Kate Prince (Into the Hoods) and Mark Smith (Deaf Men Dance). A cast of 12 dancers, four singers and a live band; films by Tim Hope (videos for Coldplay and R.E.M and projections for The Mighty Boosh UK tour).

British Youth Opera, La Bohème/Euridice, 4-11 Sep, Peacock Theatre

Puccini’s much-loved Bohème and a new Stephen Oliver opera using 16th-century Jacopo Peri’s vocal writing to create a modern Euridice. With Southbank Sinfonia and 18 singers.

aileyAlvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Two programmes on UK tour, 14-25 Sep, SWT

Programme 1: Suite Otis / In/Side / Dancing Spirit / Revelations, 14, 16, 18 mat, 19mat & eve, 22, 24, 25,
Programme 2: Hymn / New Christopher Huggins work /Revelations, 15, 17, 18, 21, 23, 25 mat

Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, 14-25 Sep, Peacock Theatre

Programme 1: "abstract ballet" ChopEniana, the Merce Cunningham-inspired Patterns in Space, La Vivandière and Raymonda's Wedding. 14-19 September
Programme 2: Swan Lake Act II, a pas d'action from Marius Petipa's Harlequinade, and Valpurgeyeva Noch ("Walpurgisnacht") set to music from the opera Faust. 21-25 September

Lone Twin, Street Dance, 19 Sep, Rosebery Avenue

Community dance project, free afternoon and evening performances

Rosemary Butcher, Festival of Miniatures, 23 Sep-3 Oct, Lilian Baylis Studio

Radical choreographer Butcher curates a series of four pieces, including two new ones of her own.
23-25 September, Philipp Gehmacher and Vladimir Miller’s multimedia dead reckoning
27-28 September, Nicole Beutler’s Dialogue with Lucinda (inspired by US radical choreographer Lucinda Childs)
1-3 October, Rosemary Butcher’s Lapped Translated Lines, a collaboration with filmmaker Daria Martin, and Destructive Navigations, created with visual artist Pablo Bronstein.

maliphant_afterlight_glendinningRussell Maliphant Company, AfterLight, 28-29 Sep, SWT

New 60-minute trio contains the solo AfterLight (Part One) which was shown at Sadler’s Wells in October 2009 as part of In the Spirit of Diaghilev. Inspired by Nijinsky’s drawings, using Satie's music, Gnossiennes 1-4.

Les 7 Doigts, Traces, 28 Sep-30 Oct, Peacock Theatre

French-Canadian circus show returns for second run

Akram Khan Company, Vertical Road, 5-9 Oct, Sadler's Wells Theatre

Latest full-scale contemporary ensemble work with a commissioned score by long-term collaborator Nitin Sawhney. Khan draws inspiration from universal myths of angels that symbolise "ascension" - the road between the earthly and the spiritual, the Vertical Road.

maqoma_cherkaouiGregory Maqoma & Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Southern Comfort/ Bound, 6-9 Oct, Lilian Baylis Studio

New double bill featuring Maqoma’s acclaimed Southern Comfort and the world premiere of Maqoma and Cherkaoui’s Bound.

Birmingham Royal Ballet, Romeo & Juliet / Pointes of View, 12-16 Oct, Sadler's Wells Theatre

MacMillan’s Romeo and Juliet. Tues-Thur (Wed mat)
Pointes of View: MacMillan’s Concerto/ Balanchine’s Slaughter on Tenth Avenue / Tharp’s In the Upper Room. Fri & Sat (mat & eve)

Jonathan Burrows & Matteo Fargion 13-15 Oct, Lilian Baylis Studio

UK premiere of Cheap Lecture, a rhythmic spoken performance set to music, and The Cow Piece, a chaotic meditation upon dance, music and mortality.

Rosas, The Song, 19-21 Oct, Sadler's Wells Theatre

UK premiere of Belgian leading-light Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker’s The Song.

ARcosmArcosm Company, Echoa, 22-23 Oct, Lilian Baylis Studio

French company Arcosm’s dance-percussion spectacular Echoa is a children’s show timed for half-term, with drums of all descriptions cleverly organised on scaffolding so that seven distinctly different dance scenes can unfold below.

Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch, Iphigenie auf Tauris, 27-31 Oct, Sadler's Wells Theatre

Based on Christoph Willibald Gluck's opera, created in 1974 and very rarely performed, Bausch’s Iphigenie comes to London for the first time.

emanuel_gatEmanuel Gat Dance, Winter Variations, 2-3 Nov, Sadler's Wells Theatre

New work from Israeli choreographer who showed Winter Voyage at Sadler's Wells in 2008

Balé de Rua, 2-20 Nov, Peacock Theatre

A high-energy mix of hip hop, African dance, samba and capoeira, internationally touring Brazilian dance show Balé de Rua, created by Marce Antonio Garcia, makes its debut. Balé de Rua translates as "street ballet".

Rambert Dance Company, featuring Awakenings, 9-13 Nov, Sadler's Wells Theatre

Triple bill includes Aletta Collins’ premiere of Awakenings, inspired by Dr Oliver Sacks' book, the return of Christopher Bruce’s Hush and a premiere by ex-Pina Bausch colleague Henrietta Horn, making her Rambert choreographic debut with Cardoon Club. All three works will be played live by the Rambert Orchestra.

mcgreg_random_swtWayne McGregor | Random Dance, FAR, 17-20 Nov, Sadler's Wells Theatre

Latest work FAR is set for 10 dancers to a new score by electronic superstar Ben Frost.

Royal Academy of Dance presents, Genée International Ballet Competition 2010, 21 Nov, Sadler's Wells Theatre

RAD's flagship event returns to London for the first time in five years. The best international young dancers compete in 19th-century and 20th-century classical repertory, and new variations by Liam Scarlett, young Royal Ballet choreographer.

Jasmin Vardimon Company, 7734, 25-26 Nov, Sadler's Wells Theatre

Main-stage debut by Sadler's Wells Associate Artist with a new piece containinng video combining with text and music, co-commissioned by Sadler's Wells in association with Soho Theatre.

MBourne_CinderellaMatthew Bourne's Cinderella, 30 Nov-23 Jan 2011, Sadler's Wells Theatre

Set in London during the Second World War, Bourne's 1997 interpretation of Prokofiev's haunting score has, at its heart, a true wartime romance. Completely revised, this brand-new production is created to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Blitz, and will be performed in Surround Sound. (Pictured left)

Robert North's The Snowman, 1 Dec 2010 – 9 Jan 2011, Peacock Theatre

Christmas staple based on Raymond Briggs' The Snowman, choreographed by ex-Scottish Ballet director Robert North and directed by Bill Alexander, music by Howard Blake including "Walking in the Air"

Bourgeois & Maurice, Can't Dance,
7-23 Dec, Lilian Baylis Studio

Garlanded neo-cabaret pair have a new show Can’t Dance, parodying TV reality shows.

 

Winter-Spring 2011

 

Antonia Baehr, Laugh, 26-27 Jan, Lilian Baylis Studio

UK debut for German choreographer, performer and filmmakder in a solo in which she laughs continuously. It is said to be a European cult hit.

Sadler's Wells Sampled, 28-29 Jan, SWT

Two days of samples of all sorts of SWT shows, from flamenco to contemporary ballet. Also includes a showing for the winner of the online Global Dance Contest.

American Ballet Theatre, Two Mixed Bills, 1-6 Feb 2011, SWT

Programme 1: Alexei Ratmansky’s Seven Sonatas / Twyla Tharp’s Known By Heart pas de deux / George Balanchine’s Duo Concertant / Benjamin Millepied’s Everything Doesn't Happen at Once. 1, 3, 4 Feb
Programme 2: Balanchine’s Theme and Variations / Antony Tudor’s Jardin aux Lilas / Pas de Deux / Paul Taylor’s Company B. 2, 5 mat & eve, 6 mat & eve Feb

Flamenco Festival London, 8-19 Feb, SWT

Performances by traditionalist Estrella Morente, moderniser Israel Galvan, vocalist Miguiel Poveda, Aida Gomez's Carmen, Rocio Molina, guitarist Tomatito Luz de Guia and diva Eva Yerbabuena.

Richard Thomas and Stephen Mear's Shoes, 8 Feb-3 Apr, Peacock Theatre

Second run for the populist celebration of footwear.

The Forsythe Company, I Don't Believe in Outer Space, 22-23 Feb, SWT

One of Forsythe's more recent pieces, with 14 dancers and a Thom Willems soundtrack, and theme of the world's fragility. There is an age guidance on it of 14+.

Bartabas - Ko Murobushi, The Centaur and the Animal, 1-6 Mar (no perf 3 Mar), SWT

Celebrated rider Bartabas puts his Zingaro Equestrian Theatre (dancing horses) on stage with Japan's butoh specialist Murobushi. A truly odd and intriguing prospect.

Pet Shop Boys & Javier De Frutos, The Most Incredible Thing, 17-26 Mar, SWT

Pop legends join the dance iconoclast to create a full-length fairytale ballet starring former Royal Ballet leading man Ivan Putrov.

Connect Festival, 14-25 March

Community festival involving children, local dancers and creative artists in a special commission.

Balletboyz, The Talent, 29 Mar-2 Apr, SWT

Well-known from TV, the former ballet dancers introduce a new generation of ballet boyz in a programme of four works, including Russell Maliphant's classic male duo Torsion.

Russell Maliphant Company, AfterLight, 4-5 Apr, SWT

Return run for the gorgeous piece inspired originally by Nijinsky's experience of lunacy, with extraordinary lighting and video effects.

Daniel Linehan, Not About Everything & Montage for Three, 6-7 Apr, Lilian Baylis Studio

London debut for New Yorker trained in Belgium's contemporary dance/art school, interacting with photographs.

Rosas, Early Works, 10-16 Apr, SWT

A retrospective series of leading Belgian dancemaker Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker's career, from her early minimalist period, including performances of Fase, Four Movements to the Music of Steve Reich (10 Apr), Rosas Danst Rosas (12 Apr), Elena's Aria (14 Apr) and Bartok/Mikrokosmos (16 Apr).

Tango Fire, Flames of Desire, 12-23 Apr, Peacock Theatre

Argentinian international company shows new production exploring varieties of tango old and modern with dancers including three tango "world champions".

London Children's Ballet, Rumpelstiltskin, 28 Apr-1 May, Peacock Theatre

Aged 9 to 16, more than 50 young dancers involved in a new ballet based on the Brothers Grimm fairytale.

Breakin' Convention, 30 Apr-2 May, SWT

Easter holidays weekend fills with hip-hop, b-boying, poppin', lockin' and house dancing from around the world, performances, workshops and free classes.

 

Summer 2011


Tap Olé, Tapeando, 3-7 May, Peacock Theatre

After success at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Catalan company makes London debut with a show mixing tap, Spanish guitar and percussion.

DunasMaria Pagés & Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Dunas, 5-7 May, SWT

Contrasting schoolings, flamenco and contemporary dance, combined by two well-known soloists. (Pictured right)

les ballets C de la B, Pénombre, 5-7 May, Lilian Baylis Studio

World premiere of French-Spanish dancer Rosalba Torres Guerrero's dance-with-video for the Belgian contemporary dance company usually associated with Alain Platel. Video by French video artist Lucas Racasse brings a male-female theme.

Dutch National Ballet, Hans Van Manen - Master of the Dance, 12-14 May, SWT

HETHET Ballet (its Dutch name) has long punched in top circles, and Van Manen is a major ballet choreographer underrepresented in the UK. Live orchestral performances of Beethoven and Frank Martin music for this triple bill. (Picture left)

Northern Ballet, Cleopatra, 17-21 May, SWT

New full-length production by the Leeds company with a specially composed score by Miss Saigon composer Claude-Michel Schönberg, played live by the Northern Ballet Sinfonia.

Rambert Dance, features Paul Taylor's Roses, 24-28 May, SWT

Long-overdue showing for work by the great, witty American Paul Taylor on a mixed bill also with work by Tim Rushton and Henrietta Horn. Rambert Orchestra plays live.

Merchants of Bollywood, 31 May-3 July, Peacock Theatre

Return of the theatrical dance extravaganza about the history of world Indian cinema, colour, costumes and beats, created by choreographer Vaibhavi Merchant.

Sum of Parts, 31 May, SWT

Huge new collaborative work for a community cast of over 200 performers from London, involving input from Hofesh Shechter, Russell Maliphant, Matthew Bourne, Kate Prince, Wayne McGregor and Nitin Sawhney.

Dave St Pierre, Peu de Tendresse Bordel de Merde, 2-4 June, SWT

Twenty nude dancers on stage in a light-hearted naked romp by Canadian choreographer, including "explicit adult material that some may find shocking". Age guidance 18+.

Nats Nus Dansa, Momentari, 4 June, Lilian Baylis Studio

Award-winning children's show from a Catalan company about a magical cube inhabited by characters who take the audience on strange journeys.

Jasmin Vardimon Company, Yesterday, 9-10 June, SWT

Production made from snippets of 10 years' shows by Vardimon, a dance-theatre creator who is a Sadler's Wells associate artist. Age guidance 14+.

Saburo Teshigawara/ KARAS, Mirror and Music, 15-16 June, SWT

Return of the regular Japanese visitor with his sophisticated visuals and symbolical dancing.

Martin Creed, Work No 1020, 21 June, SWT

Second showing for Turner prizewinning artist Creed's first dancework created for SWT last year, using five ballet dancers as material for video and multimedia ideas. Age guidance 18+.

Sol Picó, El Llac de les Mosques, 23-24 June, SWT

Catalan dancer's debut at the Wells with a show half rock 'n' roll, half surreal flamenco, all about nostalgia.

Gardenia_ballet_CdelaBles ballets C de la B, Gardenia, 29 June-2 July, SWT

Now it's Alain Platel and Frank Van Laeke's turn to choreograph for the Belgian troupe, a collaboration with transvestite actress Vanessa Van Durme to tell the story of the closure of a TV cabaret in Barcelona and the lives of its artistes. Age guidance 18+.

Hofesh Shechter, Political Mother - The Choreographer's Cut, 12-16 July, SWT

Return of an expanded version of the rock-dance show that was so deafeningly brilliant last year. Now with 12 dancers and 20 musicians.

 

Autumn 2011


Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui with Japanese manga art (autumn 2011)

Composer focus: a new series, launched with Mark-Antony Turnage collaborating with Wayne McGregor and Mark Wallinger (autumn 2011)

Share this article

Add comment

newsletter

Get a weekly digest of our critical highlights in your inbox each Thursday!

Simply enter your email address in the box below

View previous newsletters