Sadler's Wells awarded £600,000 for commissioning new work

Published: 14 August 2012
Reporter: David Chadderton

Akram Khan, Desh Credit: Richard Haughton

Sadler's Wells has been awarded £600,000 to support its commissioning of new work by The Monument Trust, a Sainsbury Family Charitable Trust.

New work commissions have been a feature of the company's artistic policy since 2005 and last year included the Sadler’s Wells Production UNDANCE, a collaboration between Mark-Anthony Turnage, Wayne McGregor and Mark Wallinger and ZooNation’s Some Like it Hip Hop and Akram Khan’s DESH.

Sadler’s Wells chief executive and artistic director Alistair Spalding said, "We are extremely grateful to The Monument Trust for its recognition and endorsement of our commissioning policy. This generous grant is a significant boost allowing Sadler’s Wells to maintain its commitment to supporting artists to create new work, which, in addition to developing new talent, lies at the heart of our vision for dance."

One of the first productions to benefit from the award is a new commission of a contemporary version of the Brothers Grimm fairy tale Rapunzel from contemporary dance company balletLORENT for a large scale collaboration between choreographer Liv Lorent, Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy, composer Murray Gold and costume designer Michele Clapton. This is due to be seen on the main stage in March 2013 starring Lesley Sharp as the narrator.

More commissions are planned for associate artists Jasmin Vardimon, Hofesh Shechter, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and resident company Wayne McGregor | Random Dance, plus other artists with whom Sadler’s Wells has worked including Michael Keegan-Dolan, Daniel Linehan and Liv Lorent.

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