Claire Cunningham, one of the UK’s most acclaimed and internationally renowned disabled artists presents the UK premiere of her new solo Songs of the Wayfarer, on Wednesday 4 – Friday 6 December in the Lilian Baylis Studio, co-commissioned by Sadler’s Wells.
In this new piece, Cunningham returns to the Lilian Baylis Studio to examine the act of journeying, drawing comparisons with the world of mountaineering and taking inspiration from Gustav Mahler’s ‘Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen’ (‘Songs of a Wayfarer’). In the work, Cunningham also re-engages with her past as a classical singer, by singing Mahler’s piece live to reframe our vision of journeying, craft, and outdoor encounter through a Crip* lens.
Cunningham is a performer and creator of multi-disciplinary performance based in Glasgow, Scotland. In October 2023, Claire joined the Inter-University Centre for Dance (HZT) in Berlin as the Einstein Professor of “Choreography, Dance and Disability Arts”.
Cunningham’s work is often rooted in the study of Crip & disabled experience, practices of care and questioning societal ideas of knowledge and value. A self-identifying disabled artist, Cunningham’s work combines multiple art forms and ranges from the intimate solo show ME, to the large ensemble work 12 made for Candoco Dance Company.
