Press Release: Nora returns to Sadler's Wells following successful international and UK tour - June 2017

[Jan McNulty]

Nora
Nora invites Aggiss, Burrows, Fargion and Tanguy
Lilian Baylis Studio, EC1R 
Thursday 1 & Friday 2 June at 8pm
Tickets: £17
Ticket Office: 020 7863 8000 or www.sadlerswells.com


“They are intellectually curious, funny and rude, possessed of chameleon stage talents and a taste for risk” The Guardian

Following a successful international and UK tour, dancers Eleanor Sikorski and Flora Wellesley Wesley, AKA Nora, return to Sadler’s Wells on Thursday 1 and Friday 2 June. Nora Invites is a programme of specially commissioned duets by renowned duo Jonathan Burrows and Matteo Fargion, up and coming French choreographer Simon Tanguy and the provocative Liz Aggiss. 

Sikorski and Wellesley Wesley, who create, perform and curate Nora Invites, offer an evening of energy and wit as they shift between the contrasting characters and worlds of three pieces. It is a thoughtful, engaging programme that brings a distinctive feminist voice to the Lilian Baylis Studio, returning here after launching their company at Sadler’s Wells with their critically acclaimed premiere in Autumn 2015.  

Eleanor And Flora Music overflows with free-ranging, rhythmical dancing whilst Digging slips between road trips, plant biology and sexual desire, and BLOODY NORA! concludes with a riot of hormones and provocation.

Eleanor And Flora Music, by celebrated choreographer and composer Jonathan Burrows and Matteo Fargion, is a playful landscape of touch and synchronicity with free-ranging movement and rhythmical dancing. A retranslation of Morton Feldman’s musical score ‘For John Cage’, this piece looks at the rediscovery and revelation inherent in acts of translation and the emergence of new choreographies from situations of collective practice, acting as a meeting point between two generations of artists.

Simon Tanguy’s Digging is a dialogue that continuously slips between subjects - road trips, plant biology, sexual desire - creating a unique and intricate portrait of the two women and the world they live in. They question one another and dig into their bodies and voices as speech and gesture twist the stage into all corners of the imagination. French choreographer and dancer Tanguy has previously worked with the likes of Boris Charmatz and Maud Le Pladec.

BLOODY NORA! by Liz Aggiss, is a story of competitiveness, hormones and friendship and concludes the evening with gusto. This piece is inspired and framed by clippings, offcuts, personal history, archives and assorted individuals: Malvina McGuire, Niddy Impekoven, Max Wall, Hilde Holger, an enthusiastic sock seller in Singapore and domestic drivel. The incomparable British artist Aggiss is a dance performer, choreographer and dance film-maker. 

Furthermore, Sadler’s Wells will host a Nora Talks event on Monday 5 June. Nora Talks is one of a series of talks in which Nora, recently joined by regular collaborator and current Sadler’s Wells Summer University artist Stephanie McMann, share the fruits of a period of international research. Alongside guest speaker dancer Susanna Recchia (Candoco Dance Company), they will expose the often hidden process of the curator. Nora will present a short, reflective offering before inviting those present to join the conversation, making dialogue an integral part of their research.

Sikorski, Wellesley Wesley and McMann have worked collaboratively and independently for many years, performing improvisation, touring festivals, writing about dance and curating live events. Sikorski and Wellesley Wesley previously performed at Sadler’s Wells in 2013 as part of the inaugural Wild Card series. In 2014, with the support of Sadler’s Wells and DanceEast to launch their vision, they formed Nora as a dancer-led project, a highlight of the Lilian Baylis Studio season in Autumn 2015.

Contains some strong language

Post-show talk on Thursday 1 June and Nora Talks event on Monday 5 June at 7pm

Commissioned by Sadler’s Wells and DanceEast. Co-commissioned by South East Dance and supported by Arts Council England

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 130 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 three International Associate Companies. It also nurtures the next generation of talent through research and development, running the National Youth Dance Company and a range of programmes including Wild Card, New Wave Associates, Open Art Surgery and Summer University.

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 9% of its revenue from Arts Council England.