Southbank Centre today announces Deborah Colker as Artist in Residence. Six years after their last sold out show in the UK, Deborah Colker Dance Company returns to London for four nights in the Queen Elizabeth Hall with the UK premiere of their acclaimed latest work Dog Without Feathers – winner of the international Prix Benois de la Danse 2018. Inspired by the poem ‘Cão Sem Plumas’ by Brazilian poet João Cabral de Melo Neto, the show uses movement to explore the mythology and influence of North East Brazil’s Capibaribe River, staging the mud, the mangroves, the beauty, the vulnerability of the river and those who live along its banks amidst the growing disregard for the environment. Dog Without Feathers blends classical, contemporary and ritual dance, music, poetry and spectacular film by Claúdio Assis to create a striking vision of Brazil (QEH, 7 – 10 May).
Southbank Centre also brings the London premiere of avant-garde dance theatre piece The Mother, by master-storyteller Arthur Pita, to Queen Elizabeth Hall in June. Starring internationally renowned principal of the Royal Ballet Natalia Osipova alongside the multi-award winning dancer Jonathan Goddard, The Mother is based on The Story Of A Mother, a dark and powerful fairytale by the Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen. Including an original score by Frank Moon and Dave Price performed live, this inventive new production conjures a dangerous, kaleidoscopic world, combining narrative dance and drama (QEH 20 – 21 Jun).
ZooNation Youth Company makes a welcome return to the Queen Elizabeth Hall with Tales of the Turntable, a toe-tapping, heart-warming dance and music show for all the family this August (QEH, 15 – 26 Aug). Commissioned by Southbank Centre, this innovative piece of dance theatre follows a boy and his grandfather as they journey on a musical adventure through time – from the early origins of hip-hop, funk and soul through to disco, house and rap. Written by Carrie-Anne Ingrouille and featuring music by DJ Walde, Tales of the Turntable is inspired by moments from Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure and Back to the Future.
In September, radical and influential choreographer Deborah Hay and pioneering musician and composer Laurie Anderson unite with Sweden’s renowned Cullbergbaletten (Cullberg Ballet) for the UK premiere of Figure a Sea. A meditation on seeing, this performance sees dancers match technical precision and minimalist expression to the electronic, meditative sounds of Anderson, based on a set of questioning instructions by Hay (QEH, 6 Sep).
In partnership with Shubbak Festival, Southbank Centre also presents two distinctive London premieres exploring the Arab World by Tunisian artist Mohamed Toukabri and Moroccan acrobatic company Groupe Acrobatique de Tanger. Toukabri, who has performed with renowned dance companies including Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, uses movement and video to explore his personal yet universal migrant experience in The Upsidedown Man (PUR, 29 Jun). Groupe Acrobatique de Tanger’s Halka brings the thrill of Moroccan street life to Queen Elizabeth Hall, as 14 young acrobats and musicians recreate the sights and sounds of life in the Maghreb. Acrobatic feats, visual humour and stirring music mix the traditional and modern (QEH, 11 Jul). Halka is presented in partnership with Shubbak Festival, Crying Out Loud and Abu Dhabi Festival.
Also in June, Southbank Centre in partnership with Border Crossings’ ORIGINS Festival welcomes a second South American based company with the UK premiere of Ino Moxo by Peruvian company, Grupo Integro. This multi-award winning visual show mixes psychedelic imagery, mesmerising chants and abstract movement to evoke a journey through the Amazon in search of the legendary Ayahuasca shaman Ino Moxo (PUR, 15 – 16 Jun).
Returning to Southbank Centre is interdisciplinary performance company, Clod Ensemble with their new production, On The High Road. Directed by Suzy Willson, and with an original score and songs by Paul Clark, this gripping, vivid piece of theatre looks at the themes of migration, difference and intolerance through a disparate group of people caught in a terrible storm on the High Road. The company of dancers, actors and singers warp time and perspective to create an epic moving sculpture accompanied by Clark’s richly layered score (QEH, 24 – 25 Apr).
Rupert Thomson, Senior Programmer for Performance and Dance, Southbank Centre, said: “It’s so exciting to see the best artists break new ground and that’s exactly what audience will have the opportunity to see this summer at Southbank Centre with our wide ranging dance programme. We’re especially proud to announce Deborah Colker as our new Artist in Residence and present the premiere performance of her new award-winning work Dog Without Feathers. We also have the London premiere of The Mother starring superstar ballerina Natalia Osipova and the brilliant Jonathan Goddard, choreographed by one of dance’s finest storytellers Arthur Pita. We’re also excited to have commissioned our Associate Company ZooNation Youth Company to bring their dynamic and joyous new show here in August.”
Tickets for Figure A Sea, The Upsidedown Man, Halka and Ino Moxo go on sale to Southbank Centre members on 5 March and on general sale on 6 March. All other shows are currently on sale.
