Press Release: Brazil's Grupo Corpo on UK tour this Autumn

[Jan McNulty]

Dance Consortium Presents Grupo Corpo

 

Full UK tour details: www.danceconsortium.com

 

Brazil’s internationally acclaimed dance company Grupo Corpo returns for a UK-wide Dance Consortium tour which begins at London’s Sadler’s Wells on 1 October and concludes at Edinburgh’s Festival Theatre on 5 November.

 

With a history stretching back nearly 40 years, Grupo Corpo’s dancers combine the precision of classical ballet with the sensuality and passion of Latin dance rhythms. Grupo Corpo translates as Group Body, reflecting the movement style of the dancers, who co-ordinate to fill the stage with unmatched energy and excitement.

 

This Autumn, each venue on the tour presents two works out of a selection of three pieces choreographed by Rodrigo Pederneiras.

 

Triz is the Brazilian term for the moment just before a catastrophe. The abstract dance, which was created in 2013, is performed in striking black and white costumes and sees dancers’ bodies vertically split like inanimate objects. A UK Premiere, Triz is a visually stunning dance experience.

 

Parabelo is inspired by life in rural Brazil. The piece was created in 1997 and features choreography full of hip swaying and feet stamping, with the dancers sweeping across the stage and moving rhythmically from group to solo and back again. It features moments of utter peace and stillness and others of raucous Brazilian carnival.

 

Sem Mim is beautifully melancholic and is set to a 13^th century Portuguese song cycle. It focuses on a group of villagers who wait anxiously on shore for the return of their fishermen. Dressed in intricately patterned bodysuits, the dancers move as waves; the ebb and flow of their bodies mimicking the calm and fury of the sea. An enormous shimmering net hangs over the stage, at times trapping the dancers in its folds.

 

Founded in 1975 by Artistic Director Paolo Pederneiras, choreographer Rodrigo Pederneiras and Technical Director Pedro Pederneiras, Grupo Corpo has attracted praise from both critics and audiences for reinventing classical ballet as an exuberant and rhythmic dance form.

 

The company has created 35 choreographies and given more than 2,200 performances to date. Grupo Corpo maintains ten ballets in its repertoire and gives 70 performances a year around the world, touring to countries including Iceland, South Korea, the United States, Lebanon, Italy, Singapore, the Netherlands, Israel, France, Japan, Canada, Mexico and the UK.

 

Following performances at Sadler’s Wells, Grupo Corpo tours to Southampton, Cardiff, Salford, Plymouth, Bradford, Birmingham, Belfast and Edinburgh.

 

Dance Consortium is a group of 17 large scale venues located across the UK, supported by the Arts Council England. Since its formation in 2000 Dance Consortium has presented 34 tours by 22 different companies from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Cuba, France, The Netherlands, Taiwan, Israel and the USA. Their performances and education activities have been experienced by hundreds of thousands of people across all parts of the UK.

 

“The uncomplicated exuberance of the super-able company is a pleasure, even a wonder to behold… The dancers seem to fizz with heat and light”. Evening Standard

 

Tour schedule

1 – 4 Oct                      Sadler’s Wells Theatre, London

7 & 8 Oct                     Mayflower Theatre, Southampton

14 & 15 Oct                 Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff

17 & 18 Oct                 The Lowry, Salford

21 & 22 Oct                 Theatre Royal, Plymouth

24 & 25 Oct                 Alhambra Theatre, Bradford

28 & 29 Oct                 Hippodrome, Birmingham

31 Oct & 1 Nov            Grand Opera House, Belfast

4 & 5 Nov                     Festival Theatre, Edinburgh

[Jan McNulty]

I've already booked for The Lowry!