Sadler’s Wells announce new season

Sadler’s Wells have announced the Autumn / Winter 2016 season including Matthew Bourne’s The Red Shoes, Carlos Acosta’s farewell, Cuban and Argentine dance shows and Alvin Ailey’s American Dance Theater.

Highlights include:

The world premiere of Vamos Cuba! (26 July – 21 August) from acclaimed Cuban choreographer Nilda Guerra. Set in the chaos of Havana Airport, where families are separated, lovers reunited and times flies when you’re having fun, Vamos Cuba! is an exuberant mix of traditional and modern dance styles including salsa, rumba, cha-cha-cha and reggaeton, with a live band, a DJ and a cast of the hottest dancers Cuba has to offer.

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (6-17 September) returns to Sadler’s Wells with three programmes which showcase the extraordinary artistry of a company that has changed the face of American dance over the past six decades. All programmes feature Alvin Ailey’s 1960 American masterpiece Revelations, one of the most acclaimed and widely seen modern dance works in the world.

Canadian contemporary circus crew Cirque Éloize blasts back into the West End with iD, a smash-hit show of daring stunts and dazzling theatricality.
Blending circus arts, acrobatic skills and breakdance, iD transports audiences to a vibrant urban streetscape. The stage fizzes with infectious energy and phenomenal physical feats, as the 15 talented cast members perform against a kaleidoscope of video projections. (Peacock Theatre: 20 September – 8 October).

Sadler’s Wells teams up with West Ham United Foundation for Home Turf, a community dance production inspired by football and featuring over 100 professional and non-professional dancers (24 September).

Carlos Acosta bids farewell to classical ballet with his final performances at the Royal Albert Hall. Carlos Acosta, The Classical Farewell celebrates highlights from Acosta’s career, which led him to become the most famous male dancer of his generation (3-7 October).

Birmingham Royal Ballet presents an evening of work to mark the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death. David Bintley’s new ballet, The Tempest, José Limón’s The Moor’s Pavane, a one-act tragedy of Othello, followed by the Shakespeare Suite, and Jessica Lang’s one-act ballet Wink, inspired by the poetry of Shakespeare’s sonnets.

One of China’s most respected and innovative cultural exports, The China National Peking Opera Company returns to Sadler’s Wells with The General and the Prime Minister and White Snake (Peacock Theatre: 13 -15 October).

High energy ballroom dance spectacle Burn the Floor features 14 champion dancers breathing new life into classics such as the Viennese waltz, foxtrot, samba, tango and jive. Backed by a live band, singers cleverly re-interpret a diverse range of music from Santana to Led Zeppelin. (Peacock Theatre: 18 October – 5 November).

Award-winning choreographer and Sadler’s Wells’ Associate Artist Jasmin Vardimon presents a new adaptation of Carlo Collodi’s classic fairy tale, Pinocchio (24 – 25 October).

Celebrating its 90th anniversary, Rambert present two programmes, Contemporaries and The Creation (7-12 November).

New English Ballet Theatre (NEBT) returns with a programme showcasing five new works from the UK’s top choreographic talents including Marcelino Sambé, Kristen McNally and Valentino Zucchetti, Daniela Cardim Fonteyne and George Williamson (9 – 12 November).

Sadler’s Wells’ Associate Company English National Ballet presents a new version of the romantic ballet Giselle, choreographed by Sadler’s Wells Associate Artist Akram Khan (15 -19 November).

Matthew Bourne’s highly anticipated new production of beloved fairy tale and Academy Award-winning film The Red Shoes (6 December – 29 January 2017).

World-leading Argentine dance sensation Tango Fire returns to The Peacock to take audiences on an explosive journey through the history of tango, showcasing the rawness, sophistication and intoxicating passion of this seductive art form (31 January – 18 February 2017).