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Press Release: Sadler's Wells Out of Asia 2 season commences next month


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Out of Asia 2

Sadler’s Wells, The Peacock, Lilian Baylis Studio
Monday 3 October – Saturday 3 December 2016

Tickets: £12 - £45
Ticket Office: 020 7863 8000 or www.sadlerswells.com

Building on the successes of its first Out of Asia season in 2011, Sadler’s Wells presents Out of Asia 2, another rare opportunity to experience outstanding dance from Asia’s vibrant and rapidly developing performing arts world, bringing new perspectives and energy to stages across the globe. From October – December 2016, the season showcases a range of works by established and emerging companies, including UK Premieres from China and Taiwan, as well as four independent choreographers from Malaysia, Japan, Indonesia and India, in a special collaboration with an artist from Singapore. 

For full details of the Out of Asia 2 season, visit www.sadlerswells.com/outofasia2

Opening the season is TAO Dance Theater at Sadler’s Wells on Monday 3 and Tuesday 4 October with two works, 6 and 8First established in 2008 by Beijing-based choreographer Tao Ye, the company is known for creating work of a mesmeric, trance-like quality. In 6, six dancers move in dynamic and hypnotising unison, in a shifting landscape of light. The company’s newest piece, 8, makes its UK Premiere this autumn. The work sees eight dancers perform lying instead of standing, restricting their bodies to the floor and limiting their movements to the range of their spines. Sadler’s Wells has previously presented all of TAO Dance Theater’s works.

At The Peacock, one of China’s most respected and innovative cultural exports, The China National Peking Opera Company returns to London following an acclaimed season in 2014. The company has staged more than 500 masterful historical dramas since its formation five decades ago. The General and the Prime Minister and The Legend of The White Snake can be seen at The Peacock from Thursday 13 - Saturday 15 October

In the Lilian Baylis Studio, Singaporean artist and performance maker Choy Ka Fai presents SoftMachine, a multimedia project investigating the contemporary status of dance across Asia. 

The project is split into two parts. The first is a free exhibition, across the Sadler’s Wells public spaces for the duration of the Out of Asia Season featuring video interviews and dance documentaries that map dance-makers across the region. The second is a performance programme, with two double bills on Thursday 13 & Friday 14 October and Friday 21 & Saturday 22 Octoberand the final element is a series of talks curated by Ka Fai called Inside Asia.

Expedition, the SoftMachine exhibition is made up of visual documentaries, choreographic encounters and contemporary dance archives, collected from a research expedition across the choreographic landscape of Asia, giving visibility to a rich community of independent artists redefining what contemporary dance is in the region. This collection of images and video interviews of dance, is an on-going choreographic narrative which examines the impossible lexicon of contemporary dance in Asia.

The second element of the SoftMachine project is four performances which work as live portraits of a selection of dancers from Asia, with an unusual mix of live performance, documentary film and live interview. The first of the two double bill performances showcases new dance and choreography emerging from India and China. 

Surjit Nongmeikapam is a contemporary dancer from Manipur, India, trained in classical Indian dance and martial arts. The performance presents the process of creating a new dance production for the consumption of a European audience, revealing artistic strategies, marketing ideologies and exploring the precarious practice of eroticising oneself. 

XiaoKe and ZiHan from Shanghai make collaborative works exploring the body in its extremes, reflecting on the social and political context of China. The performance investigates the boundaries of artistic freedom and speculates on the experience of constant cultural surveillance.

The second double bill showcases work from Japan and Indonesia, and includes work from Yuya Tsukahara a leading figure incontact Gonzo, a contemporary dance unit based in Osaka. contact Gonzo creates encounters that teeter on the edge of violence and tenderness. This rather brutal performance brings together live and film elements, and in an attempt to decode the logics of this practice and to explore how someone becomes part of contact Gonzo, Choy Ka Fai takes part himself in the performance.

Rianto is a dancer from Banyumas, Indonesia, who specialises in the traditional cross-gender erotic dance of Lengger. The performance explores the tension between traditional and contemporary choreographic practices during the global shift from rural to urban lifestyles.

In the main house, the UK Premiere of Under Siege from one of the most highly acclaimed dancers in China, Yang Liping visits Sadler’s Wells from Wednesday 2 - Saturday 5 November. The piece is Yang’s vision of Farewell My Concubine – the classical tale of the climactic battle between the Chu and Han armies, which changed the course of Chinese history, and a love that transcends death. This is Yang's first modern work as a choreographer and is more abstract than traditional narrative Chinese dance theatre, drawing inspiration from Chinese opera, contemporary dance, martial arts and hip hop. The production features set and costume design by Academy Award-winning designer Tim Yip (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) and lighting by 2013 Knight of Illumination winner Fabiana Piccioli.

Taiwan’s Cloud Gate 2 performs a triple bill from Monday 21 - Wednesday 23 November. The sister company of internationally celebrated Cloud Gate Dance Theater of Taiwan, the company presents the country’s most talented emerging dancers and choreographers, performing in the UK for the first time. Wicked Fish sees the dancers mimic a shoal of fish, as puzzle-like choreography competes with a complex score. The Wall examines ideas of protection and segregation, highlighting the physical and mental barriers built around us. The third piece, Beckoning, focuses on how people can shift identities instantaneously, creating a body language with movements subtly distilled from Taiwanese street dancing rituals, which give this abstract work a playful and poetic quality. 

National Ballet of China concludes the Out of Asia 2 season from Tuesday 29 November - Saturday 3 DecemberThe 16th century epic The Peony Pavilion is one of the most enduring love stories in Chinese literature. Originally performed as a Kunqu Opera in a 20-hour cycle, it is redrawn by director Li Liuyi and choreographer Fei Bo into a two-act fusion ballet, combining Western style choreography with traditional Chinese influences. First premiered in 2008, the work features an eclectic postmodern score that references Holst, Prokofiev and Debussy.

There will also be a series of specially curated talks by Choy Ka Fai that will take place throughout the Out of Asia 2 season called Inside Asia, opening a space for debate within the season.

Inside Asia 1: The Missing Revolution on Tuesday 4 October looks at the term ‘contemporary dance’ in China which has many interpretations. This conversation looks into the highly fragmented Chinese dance ecology and the impact of what can be controversially defined as a historical cultural “blackout” on the current generation of independent dance makers in China.  Speakers include choreographer Tao Ye (Tao Dance Theater), Professor Chris Bannerman, artist Choy Ka Fai and Sadler’s Wells Artistic Director Alistair Spalding. 

Inside Asia 2: Across the Choreographic Landscape of Asia on Saturday 22 October is a chance to hear more about SoftMachine as an ambitious artistic and political multi-media project from Choy Ka Fai.

Inside Asia 3: The Persistence of Exoticism on Tuesday 22 November looks at the persistence of exoticism in work from artists in Asia and seeks to delve into this controversial topic from different perspectives, focusing on the lesser known dance makers from Indochina and the more familiar dance narratives from India often retold in contemporary ways on Sadler’s Wells stage. Speakers include SoftMachine dramaturge Tang Fu Kuen; Belgium choreographer Arco Renz; and Karthika Nair, poet, producer and scriptwriter; as well as artist Choy Ka Fai.


Listings Information: 

TAO Dance Theater          
6 and 
UK Premiere                
Monday 3 and Tuesday 4 October
Sadler’s Wells
Tickets: £12 - £27
Performances at 7.30pm 
Ticket Office: 020 7863 8000 or www.sadlerswells.com

Inside Asia 1: The Missing Revolution
Tuesday 4 October at 6pm - 7pm (pre-show for Tao Dance Theater)
Lilian Baylis Studio
Tickets: £6.50; £15 for three talks booked together
Ticket Office: 020 7863 8000 or www.sadlerswells.com

The China National Peking Opera Company  
The General and the Prime Minister and The Legend of The White Snake
Thursday 13 - Saturday 15 October
The Peacock
Tickets: £15 - £45
Performances at 7.30pm, Sat matinee at 2.30pm
Ticket Office: 020 7863 8222 or www.peacocktheatre.com

Choy Ka Fai  
SoftMachine: Surjit & XiaoKe x ZiHan 
UK Premiere                     
Thursday 13 and Friday 14 October
Lilian Baylis Studio             
Tickets: £17
Performances at 8pm 
Ticket Office: 020 7863 8000 or www.sadlerswells.com
This production contains nudity

Choy Ka Fai                     
SoftMachine: Yuya & Rianto         
UK Premiere        
Friday 21 and Saturday 22 October            
Lilian Baylis Studio                
Tickets: £17
Performances at 8pm 
Ticket Office: 020 7863 8000 or www.sadlerswells.com

Inside Asia 2: Across the Choreographic Landscape of Asia
Saturday 22 October at 4.30pm – 6.30pm (pre-show for Soft Machine: Yuya & Rianto)
Rosebery Room
Tickets: £6.50; £15 for three talks booked together
Ticket Office: 020 7863 8000 or www.sadlerswells.com

Yang Liping Contemporary Dance
Under Siege
UK Premiere    
Wednesday 2 – Saturday 5 November
Sadler’s Wells 
Tickets: £12 - £38
Performances at 7.30pm 
Ticket Office: 020 7863 8000 or www.sadlerswells.com

Cloud Gate 2 
Triple Bill
UK Premiere 
Monday 21 - Wednesday 23 November
Sadler’s Wells 
Tickets: £12 - £27
Performances at 7.30pm 
Ticket Office: 020 7863 8000 or www.sadlerswells.com

Inside Asia 3: The Persistence of Exoticism 
Tuesday 22 November at 6pm – 7:30pm (pre-show for Cloud Gate 2)
Rosebery Room
Tickets: £6.50; £15 for three talks booked together
Ticket Office: 020 7863 8000 or www.sadlerswells.com

National Ballet of China         
The Peony Pavillion    
Tuesday 29 November - Saturday 3 December
Sadler’s Wells 
Tickets: £12 - £45
Performances at 7.30pm, Sat matinee at 2.30pm  
Ticket Office: 020 7863 8000 or www.sadlerswells.com


NOTES TO EDITORS

ABOUT SADLER’S WELLS
Sadler's Wells is a world-leading dance house, committed to producing, commissioning and presenting new works and to bringing the best international and UK dance to London and worldwide audiences. Under the Artistic Directorship of Alistair Spalding, the theatre’s acclaimed year-round programme spans dance of every kind, from contemporary to flamenco, Bollywood to ballet, salsa to street dance and tango to tap. 

Since 2005, it has helped to bring over 100 new dance works to the stage and its award-winning commissions and collaborative productions regularly tour internationally. Sadler’s Wells supports 16 Associate Artists, three Resident Companies, an Associate Company and two International Associate Companies. It also nurtures the next generation of talent through its New Wave Associates and Summer University programmes, its Wild Card initiative and hosting of the National Youth Dance Company.

Located in Islington, north London, the current theatre is the sixth to have stood on the site since it was first built by Richard Sadler in 1683. The venue has played an illustrious role in the history of theatre ever since, with The Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet and English National Opera all having started at Sadler’s Wells. 

Sadler’s Wells is an Arts Council National Portfolio Organisation and currently receives approximately 10% of its revenue from Arts Council England. 

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