Newcastle’s Dance City has announced its performance programme through to July 2022. It begins at 6:00 on 18 January with a Theatre Season Launch Event which includes introductions to the shows by Dance City team members, with video trailers. There will be some surprise live performances as well as drinks and nibbles.
The rest of the season consists of:
29 January @ 7:30
Trails
Dora Frankel Ensemble
An evening of extracts from the trilogy inspired by the work of landscape painter J M W Turner, created by Dora Frankel and composer Peter Coyte with costumes by Kate Collins. The trilogy comprises: The Unfolding Sky: Turner in the North (2013); Figures in a Floating Landscape (2019); Tread Lightly on the Planet (2022).
The evening is completed by the premiere of #Tread by visual artist diz_qo.
This is a Dance City commission and forms part of Dora Frankel’s 70th year celebrations.
4 February @ 7:30
DONUTS
By Extended Play, presented by The Place
Inspired by classic sitcoms of the 1990s and 2000s, DONUTS follows a group of friends as their friendship evolves over time. DONUTS is a celebration of how music brings people together, no matter what life throws at them. It is a playful ‘groove along’ to jazz and funk.
26 February @ 7:30 (plus pre-show foyer activity from 7pm)
The Monocle
Rendez-Vous Dance
The Monocle is inspired by the secretly notorious 1930s Parisian lesbian club, Le Monocle. It will reshape traditional theatre settings into a club where audiences can participate in a highly virtuosic evening mixing dance and live music. In here, the air is thick, warm and wavy with secrets and sensuality.
Dance City led the consortium of nine North East venues which commissioned this work with the support of The Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and Arts Council England.
5 March @ 7:30
Kattam Katti
Pagrav Dance Company
This neoclassicist dance with specially composed live music tells tales inspired by the colourful yet ruthlessly competitive Uttarayan kite festival, highlighting the parallels with today’s divided societies. Rooted in classical Indian Kathak styles fused with contemporary storytelling and design, it brings uplifting stories with lyricism, exquisite technique and drama. Co-programmed with GemArts.
9 March @ 7:30
Triple Bill
VERVE
VERVE is the resident postgraduate company of Northern School of Contemporary Dance (NSCD). Its dancers restage Vertical Road by Akram Khan, an award-winning work by one of the world’s most renowned choreographers, and perform two bold new commissions by international artists Sita Ostheimer and Alesandra Seutin.
19 March @ 7:30
Speakeasy
Southpaw Dance Company
Welcome to Speakeasy, a reinterpretation of the classic tale of Faust, where Faust enters a seemingly normal prohibition era bar, unaware that it is owned by the devil and populated by his demons, including the charismatic barman, Mephistopheles. Speakeasy features a spectacular 1920s themed set, world-class projection visuals, a cinematic soundtrack comprising big band classics and contemporary hits, alongside the distinctive Southpaw atmospheric and vigorous movement style.
26 March @ 7:30
Overflow
Alexander Whitley
Overflow considers how desires, fantasies and vulnerabilities are powerfully influenced by social platforms and explores what lurks beneath our compulsions to check, share and like. Digital technology, now a seemingly indispensable part of modern life, is radically transforming how we experience and act in the world.
29 March @ 6:30
Emerge+See
Breakin’ Convention
Emerge+See is the latest programme to come from the internationally renowned Breakin’ Convention, led by UK hip hop cultural pioneer Jonzi D. Emerge+See will result in the creation of brand new, cutting edge work that speaks to new audiences of the Hip Hop generation.
8 April @ 7:30
Family Honour
Produced by Spoken Movement, choreography by Kwame Asafo-Adjel
Co-Produced by TIN Arts and Yorkshire Dance
A young girl trapped in moral codes mandated by her immediate environment confronts her past ‘sin’ against tradition. How far would you have to go to maintain your family’s honour, and is it truly honourable or just another traditional taboo? A powerful piece of hip-hop theatre.
16 April @ 7:30
Alesandra Seutin World Premiere
National Youth Dance Company
NYDC once again collaborates with internationally renowned choreographer Alesandra Seutin as thirty young dancers present a new contemporary work, exploring the relationship between movement, voice and music.
28 April @ 7:30
The Girl With The Tale
The Mischief Company
Inspired by Hans Christian Anderson’s The Little Mermaid, The Girl With The Tale is a new full-length physical theatre work focusing on themes of identity, diversity within society, human relationships both loving and abusive, and the central idea of acceptance. This piece is created with a young company of dancers as they begin their lives in the profession and is therefore ideal for but not exclusive to a youth audience.
5 May @ 7:30
Double Bill
The Collective
The Collective is Dance City’s MA Advanced Dance Performance Company. Twelve early career dancers form the 2021–22 cohort. This new double bill features two works created by choreographers Lucy Suggate and Victor Fung.
7 May @ 2:00 and 6:00
Tin Man
Joss Arnott Dance
For age 7+ and their families
Joss Arnott Dance presents a new retelling of a classic story, seen through the rusty eyes of the Tin Man as he journeys to find his heart and happiness. Told with humour, Tin Man should resonate with children and adults alike with its storytelling, choreography, costume and lighting, and a newly commissioned score which will be performed live on stage.
27 May @ 7:30
Infinite Ways Home
Richard Chappell Dance
Infinite Ways Home is a transformative production, highlighting the human need for connection. A multisensory experience, the work redefines our understanding of home, looking at community, companionship and self-purpose. The diverse choreographic languages of ballet, contemporary dance and improvisation combine to create a feast of colour and pulsating sound.
11 June @ 1:30 & 4:30
HEDGE
The D Project Dance Company
Immersive dance theatre, costumes, props and puppetry tell the tale of a young hedgehog waking up from hibernation to find the world is not as it once was. A show which encourages children to explore their surroundings and be brave in the face of uncertainty. (Suitable for ages 4+)
9 July 8pm (Doors at 7pm)
Curious Vogue Ball
Age: 18+ adult content and alcohol served
The ultimate celebration of North East LGBTQIA+ and Vogue Culture—the 5th annual Curious Vogue Ball!
Community members, allies and professional vogue houses from across the north take the catwalk to serve unique looks and vogue the night away at "the fiercest party in the North East."
Voguing is a highly stylised, modern house dance developed in the 1980s by LGBTQIA+ people of colour to create and own their own space, becoming a celebration of their culture.