Emotional, sensational, magnetic and deeply physical. You cannot stop watching. The highly skilled dancers of Sharon Eyal, express feelings that cannot be put in words. Eyal is considered one of the most important choreographers today. Her creations take us on a breathtaking journey along the emotions we face in life. Delay the Sadness is the new work by Eyal for S-E-D Dance Company, the new company founded by her and Gai Behar. Following their successful collaboration on ima for GöteborgsOperans Danskompani, Josef Laimon will compose the soundtrack for this new piece, exclusively for S-E-D.
June 22nd – 24th, 2025 Montpellier Danse, Montpellier July 29th – August 1st, 2025 ImPulsTanz, Vienna August 17th, 2025 Santander International Festival, Santander September 19th – 21st, 2025 Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg, Luxembourg September 26th – 28th, 2025 Théâtre Sénart, Lieusaint October 2nd – 18th, 2025 Théâtre de la Ville, Paris October 28th – November 1st, 2025 Sadler’s Wells, London November 5th – 6th, 2025 Romaeuropa Festival, Rome November 11th – 12th, 2025 Berliner Festspiele, Berlin November 19th – 20th, 2025 Tanz Köln, Cologne 65 minutes
Thikra: Night of Remembering is Akram Khan Company’s latest production created in collaboration with award-winning visual artist Manal AlDowayan.
Thikra draws inspiration from AlUla’s ancient landscapes, mythology and cultural heritage to evoke the idea that “without a past, there is no future.”
Blending Bharatanatyam with contemporary, the piece is performed by a collective of all-female voices, accompanied by an original score from Aditya Prakash, sound design by Gareth Fry, lighting by Zeynep Kepekli and dramaturgy by Blue Pieta.
May 22nd – 26th, 2025 Kunstenfestivaldesarts, Brussels June 1st, 2025 One Dance Festival, Plovdiv June 17th – 18th, 2025 PACT Zollverein, Essen July 3rd – 4th, 2025 Montpellier Danse, Montpellier July 9th – 10th, 2025 Julidans, Amsterdam September 24th – 25th, 2025 Theater Rotterdam, Rotterdam October 10th – 11th, 2025 Festival Actoral, Marseille October 22nd, 2025 Take Me Somewhere festival, Glasgow November 10th – 11th, 2025 Moving in November, Helsinki Duration: unknown
Choreographer Cherish Menzo examines the figure of the monster in FRANK —short for Frankenstein. More than (re)producing a physical or visual portrayal of the monster, she is researching the monstrous as an embodiment of beliefs and narratives that terrify and horrify, and yet also attract us. Distortion is a choreographic leitmotif used to generate movement material and as a tool to devour the dance and loosen its structure. Cherish Menzo investigates the action of decay and how something gradually breaking down and becoming less or worse can affect one’s gestures.
The performance space fabulates on the Baka Gorong, a place located at the back of the former plantations and in front of the wetlands, where enslaved people in Suriname secretly went to carry out Winti rituals – demonized under Dutch colonial rule – and to consider fleeing.
May 11th, 2025 Kunstenfestivaldesarts, Brussels June 26th – 29th, 2025 Montpellier Danse, Montpellier March 25th – 29th, 2026 New National Theatre, Tokyo 60 minutes
FRIENDS OF FORSYTHE is a collaboration between the renowned choreographer William Forsythe and Rauf “Rubberlegz” Yasit together with a group of outstanding dancers from different cultural and dance backgrounds. The piece explores the origins of folk dance, hip hop, and ballet, showcasing the diverse backgrounds and languages of the dancers through their physical communication on stage. It serves as a testimony to the power of movement as a universal language, capable of transcending cultural barriers and connecting people from different walks of life. In a captivating dialogue, the performers delve into the similarities and differences of these dance styles, celebrating the unique ways in which each style can be embraced and evolved. The choreography weaves a vibrant tapestry of storytelling that transcends the boundaries of traditional dance forms and emphasises the diversity and possibilities that arise when different dance styles merge harmoniously.
Pite and McBurney were transfixed when they saw each other’s work. But it was the ecological theme with which they found common cause. “Straight away we decided we wanted to make something centred on the climate crisis,” says Pite. “Which is not,” stresses McBurney, “separable from human crisis. We are all inescapably part of this living world.”
We are living in an age of extinction. Can we ever hope to give a name to what we are losing? What does it mean to bear witness to a violence in which we are both perpetrator and victim?
Across continents, choreographer Crystal Pite and Complicité Artistic Director Simon McBurney have exchanged ideas reflecting on their fears and cautious hopes for our age. Their process has drawn on a rich and surprising array of source materials: from the sound of ice caps melting to the clarion calls of climate change deniers, from scholastic lectures on the neuroscience of the brain to the cacophonous clatter of Instagram influencers.
Over a span of four years, the two world-renowned artists have created three works together for NDT 1, each developed in response to the last. Figures in Extinction [1.0] confronts us with everything that is dying on our planet, while [2.0] is a searing examination of our need for connection in a separated world. The third and final work will continue this cross-disciplinary exchange, making its world premiere in the UK in February 2025, and will offer a spark in the darkness as to where we – collectively, spiritually, and imaginatively – might go next.
January 22nd – 23rd, 2025 Opéra Berlioz / Le Corum, Montpellier March 7th – 8th, 2025 Berliner Festspiele, Berlin March 17th – 21st, 2025 Théâtre de la Ville, Paris May 3rd, 2025 Festspielhaus Bregenz, Bregenz 85 minutes
Freedom Sonata is a free, contemporary take on the classic musical sonata form, evolving through three distinct choreographic movements.
The soundtrack is a juxtaposition of two musical sources: Kanye West’s 2016 album The Life Of Pablo and L. V. Beethoven’s second movement from his last sonata #32. Played by Mitsuko Ushida and recorded in 2006.
‘Freedom Sonata’ is yet another chapter in a continuous study into the ways in which groups/individuals behave, function and strive to find a state of balance and fulfillment. It is a manner of looking at the way society organizes itself in different contexts and exploring possible alternative models.
‘Freedom’, the term and concept, is probably the most abused, misused and misunderstood word that exists. The truth is that nothing is easier than stripping people down from any sort of freedom, liberty or natural right. Choreography can serve as a space to examine how to solve the internal tension between the individual and the collective. When asked if my work is political, I answer that my work is not political, but the way in which I work, IS.
If I look at my work from an anthropological angle, as in a process of actively examining questions such as: models for groups organisation, governance modalities and political structures, economic models, resources management and so on, the way I would define it then would be something like:
A commitment, through a choreographic practice, to the idea that it can be possible to have a society based on principles of self organization, voluntary association and mutual aid.
Decentralizing the conventional hierarchies between choreographer and dancers, rethinking the distribution of power and responsibilities, defining what choreography/dance can change the established paradigms by placing individual freedom at the center of dance making, are the most valuable strategies through which dance can become a relevant force in pointing out societal anomalies and proposing alternatives.
January 30th – 31st, 2025 Scène nationale d’Orléans, Orléans February 18th – 19th, 2025 Montpellier Danse, Montpellier April 2nd – 3rd, 2025 Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg, Luxembourg 70 minutes
With his Compagnie 111, choreographer and director Aurélien Bory has carved a path as a visionary of spatial poetry and a virtuoso of stagecraft, receiving international acclaim for his mastery in blending diverse performance languages. His 2023 work invisibili is inspired by his encounter with the city of Palermo and The Triumph of Death, an anonymous fresco from the 15th century, in which death strikes everyone without distinction of class, rank, age, or gender. In Bory’s hands, the monumental mural becomes a mesmerising backdrop, wondrously integrated in a profound dialogue with the dancers on stage, where narratives of contemporary relevance, including the plight of migrants and the challenges of illness, take place. Far from being a macabre dance of death, invisibili offers a captivating anthem to life.
October 9th – 12th, 2024 Maison de la Danse, Lyon November 20th – 21st, 2024 L’Empreinte, Brive-la-Gaillarde November 24th, 2024 L’Archipel, Perpignan December 11th – 14th, 2024 Théâtre de la Ville, Paris December 18th, 2024 Le Corum, Montpellier February 7th, 2025 Le Forum, Fréjus February 11th – 12th, 2025 Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg, Luxembourg 60 minutes
In DUB, Amala Dianor explores how today’s globally connected youth has embraced the legacy of hip-hop culture to forge new choreographic identities. After travelling across continents seeking out the underground world of urban dance and delving into social media where movements are reimagined, extended, and exchanged, the iconic Franco-Senegalese artist has brought together talented dancers from diverse geographical backgrounds, each influenced by a plethora of aesthetics and encompassing different styles, from whacking and dancehall to jookin and pantsula. As they adapt their practices and blend their techniques to connect with each other, they create a space that’s even brighter and freer than their individual realms. Awir Leon’s live music and Grégoire Korganow’s evocative design contribute to the immersive, joyous atmosphere.
