Choreographer and performer Malik Nashad Sharpe will bring his latest work, Hang Time, to The Place this October for its UK premiere following performances in Germany and Denmark.
Created for eight performers, Hang Time is described as a choreographic meditation on loss, grief and brotherhood, drawing on contemporary and Caribbean dance forms to explore how communities and individuals respond to tragedy.
The production builds on Sharpe’s decade-long body of work, including He’s Dead and Goner, and examines cultures of masculinity among Caribbean men alongside themes of vulnerability, endurance and emotional transformation.
Developed over a two-year period, the piece has evolved into a large-scale ensemble work that investigates the lasting effects of extraordinary grief, expressed through movement, ritual and a layered soundscape.
Malik Nashad Sharpe said: “I want audiences to fall in love with this group of people, and to become invested in them as they move through something together. There’s a real collectivity to the work, but also a sense that grief changes the relationships between them and changes what we see in each person. The movement is big, athletic, decorative and maximalist. There are jumps, balleticism, social dances, moments of heightened virtuosity, but also exhaustion, collapse and bodies having to support one another whilst negotiating challenging and complex movement language.”
The title Hang Time draws on a range of cultural associations, from social connection and shared identity to more unsettling reflections on fragility, survival and loss. Caribbean musical influences including calypso, steel pan and tabla drums feature throughout the work.
Sharpe describes the production as existing between soca and bouyon, séance, ritual, social gathering and catastrophe, creating a visually striking performance world that examines what it means to be human in moments of vulnerability.
Malik Nashad Sharpe said: “There’s a lot of candy in Hang Time, a lot of sweets for people to enjoy. It’s beautiful, high-energy and virtuosic, and there’s real joy in it. But that pleasure exists right alongside the more emotional and psychological dimensions of grief. I’m interested in how dance can abstract those experiences without making them any less real: grief can become rhythm, exhaustion, virtuosity, decoration, repetition, a body falling, another body carrying it. For me, movement is probably the most apt form for synthesising the complexity of everything that Hang Time is dealing with.”
The creative team includes music director Tabitha Thorlu-Bangura, composer Harry MacGibbon, lighting designer Barnaby Booth, dramaturg Jay Miller, costume designer Erik Annerborn and rehearsal director Blue Makwana.
Hang Time runs at The Place from 29 to 31 October 2026.
Listings and ticket information can be found here.
