Sadler’s Wells exciting socially distanced season sees dance back on stage

Sadler’s Wells Associate Artist, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui’s Laid in Earth is a “torn apart” quartet. It is set to Purcell’s famous aria from Dido and Aeneas – sung live by mezzo soprano Flora McIntosh, as well as new electronic music composed by Olga Wojciechowska.

Sadler’s Wells Associate Artist, Russell Maliphant creates ever shifting choreography and uses light as an integral partner in the creative process. He collaborates on this project with video artist Panagiotis Tomaras and with commissioned sound design by Dana Fouras.

A former principal dancer with the Bolshoi Ballet, Royal Danish Ballet and San Francisco Ballet, world-renowned choreographer Yuri Possokhov works with a UK company for the first time. His piece for four dancers, 7, is based on Vasily Grossman’s great novel, Life and Fate, about a Russian family caught in the Second World War and is set to Shostakovich’s Piano Trio No1 which is performed live by musicians of English National Ballet Philharmonic.

In Take Five Blues, Stina Quagebeur’s choreography responds to two of her favourite pieces of music, Bach’s Vivace and Paul Desmond’s jazz standard, Take Five – both performed live in arrangement’s by English National Ballet Music Director Gavin Sutherland.

Arielle Smith’s Jolly Folly is fast-paced, surprising, and energetic, driven by Latin and jazz-infused covers of Tchaikovsky, Strauss and Mozart by the Klazz Brothers’. English National Ballet gives four performances from 19 – 21 November.

Sadler’s Wells New Wave Associate Alexander Whitley and his company return to the main stage with performances of new work Overflow from 27 – 28 November, receiving its London premiere, following the cancellation of its original run in April 2020 as part of Sadler’s Wells Digital Edition due to national lockdown. Known for his adventurous use of technology, Whitley’s Overflow considers how our desires, fantasies and vulnerabilities are powerfully influenced by social platforms and explores what lurks beneath our compulsions to check, share and like.

Breakin’ Convention takeover in December, presents its first live events since lockdown and the cancellation of the 2020 Festival. Hosted by Sadler’s Wells Associate Artist and Breakin’ Convention Artistic Director Jonzi D, Social DisDancing is a mini-festival of new work showcasing the best of hip hop dance. The evening features performances from AIM, the high-energy all female popping crew; a London premiere for Jamaal O’Driscoll, featuring b-boy Marius in a duet exploring duality and mental clarity; and a world premiere from renowned East London company and Breakin’ Convention favourites, Boy Blue. The event will also feature film screenings, including a showing of Jonzi D and jessica Care moore’s recent work, the powerful Our Bodies Back, a riveting dance film that speaks out against anti-Black racism and honours the lived experiences of Black women past and present. Breakin’ Convention Social DisDancing runs 11 – 12 December 2020.

Christmas returns to Sadler’s Wells with performances of Ballo Arthur Pita’s magical family favourite The Little Match Girl, following five hugely successful Christmas seasons in the Lilian Baylis Studio. Based on Hans Christian Andersen’s classic story, director and choreographer Arthur Pita presents a beautiful reimagining of The Little Match Girl through dance, song and Frank Moon’s atmospheric music performed live on stage. On an icy cold Christmas eve in an imaginary Italian town, the little match girl wanders the streets with just one final match to keep her warm. Along her journey she encounters kindness and cruelty, in a timeless fable about family, friendship and hope. The Little March Girl runs across the festive season from 17 – 27 December, this time in Sadler’s Wells Theatre to allow social distancing for audiences to take place.

These events follow Sadler’s Wells’ first public socially distanced performances since lockdown, presented by Birmingham Royal Ballet at the end of October. Performances of Lazuli Sky, a new programme inspired by socially distancing and the first commissioned by Carlos Acosta in his new role as Artistic Director, run from Thursday 29 to Saturday 31 October 2020, in Sadler’s Wells Theatre. Further information about all performances and ticket sales are available from sadlerswells.com.