Sadler's Wells Theatre, London

Book Tickets: Telephone 0844 847 1722 - or use the online links below

Rafaela Carrasco and company: Vamos Al Tiroteo
20 and 21 February 2010
Award-winning modern flamenco choreographer Rafaela Carrasco presents the UK premiere of her latest work. Vamos Al Tiroteo is set to a selection of popular Spanish songs originally recorded by Federico García Lorca with the flamenco star La Argentinita on vocals in 1931. Carrasco transfers these songs to the present day, finding new life and energy in the music that inspired a hugely influential generation of artists, who came to be known as the 'Generation of 27'. Directed, choreographed and performed by Carrasco, alongside four sensational male dancers, a live band and two flamenco singers, Vamos Al Tiroteo delighted critics and audiences alike at its world premiere. Presented as part of the Sadler's Wells' Flamenco Festival.

Maria Pagés and company: Autorretrato
22 to 25 February 2010
Bold, innovative and technically astonishing, Maria Pagés has shaped modern flamenco in her own image. With this intimate new work she presents a study of herself, inspired by the process that painters follow when creating a self-portrait. Touching and poetic, tragic and humorous, Autorretrato paints a beautiful and very human image of Pagés in her many guises. Featuring a cast of nine dancers, including Maria Pagés herself, with music performed live by a band of six musicians, this is thoroughly contemporary flamenco of the highest order. Presented as part of the Sadler's Wells' Flamenco Festival.

Gala Flamenca: Todo Cambia
26 and 27 February 2010
This year's gala features some of the most important new figures in flamenco: the sensuous Pastora Galván, a versatile dancer able to navigate easily between classic and modern flamenco; Manuel Liñán, a master of technique who is steeped in tradition and known for his dramatic choreography; the passionate Belén López, who has caused a sensation in flamenco circles in recent years; and Rocío Molina, the fiery dancer who has become "one of the finest soloists in the world today" (New York Times). Presented as part of the Sadler's Wells' Flamenco Festival.

Mara Galeazzi: A Gala for Africa
28 February 2010

Richard Alston Dance Company
3 and 4 March 2010
The centrepiece of Richard Alston Dance Company’s new programme at Sadler's Wells Theatre is Alston’s remarkable distillation of images from the Stravinsky ballet Petrushka. Movements From Petrushka links the anguish of the main character to the very real mental suffering of Nijinsky, the great dancer who created the role of Petrushka. This brand new production boasts designs based on the original dropcloth by Alexandre Benois and choreography revolving around a grand piano, which is played centrestage. Martin Lawrance’s To Dance And Skylark, his latest work, is a joyous celebration of Bach’s vigorous and colourful Brandenburg Concertos. The company’s high-spirited athletics pick up on all the elation of this wonderful music. To close the evening, Alston’s Overdrive is a highly charged and relentless onslaught of sharply etched energy, catching the urgency of American composer Terry Riley’s Keyboard Studies and running with it to the wire.

Don Pasquale - English Touring Opera
8 March 2010
Performing for the first time at Sadler’s Wells, English Touring Opera presents three comic masterpieces of the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. Opening English Touring Opera’s spring season at Sadler's Wells Theatre is Donizetti’s Don Pasquale - a comedy with zest, cream and an Italian accent - in a new production directed by William Oldroyd, with Dominic Wheeler conducting. Keel Watson plays Don Pasquale, a stubborn, competitive, old bachelor - and here a tyrant conductor - who aims to procure a young wife... with disastrous consequences.

The Marriage of Figaro - English Touring Opera
9 March 2010
Performing for the first time at Sadler’s Wells, English Touring Opera presents three comic masterpieces of the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. One of the most popular, life-affirming of operas, Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro takes place on one day in steamy Seville. This elegant, period costume production by James Conway is revived by dancer-director Bernadette Iglich.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream - English Touring Opera
10 March 2010
Performing for the first time at Sadler’s Wells, English Touring Opera presents three comic masterpieces of the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. English Touring Opera’s hugely successful production of the Britten/Shakespeare A Midsummer Night’s Dream returns, with Michael Rosewell conducting this eerie, highly theatrical score, and a cast led by Jonathan Peter Kenny, Claire Ormshaw and Andrew Slater. In a fairy-haunted wood, lovers’ knots are tangled, and strange dreams create monstrous romances.

Gateway to Music
11 March 2010

Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui / Antony Gormley / Shaolin Monks: Sutra
13 to 26 Mar 2010
Winner of the prestigious Ballettanz Production of the Year award, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui’s remarkable collaboration with Antony Gormley and monks from the Shaolin Temple makes a triumphant return to Sadler’s Wells. Performed by 17 monks from the original Shaolin Temple in China, with dancer Ali Thabet in the role originally performed by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Sutra is a fascinating exploration of the philosophy and faith behind the Shaolin tradition, its relationship with Kung-Fu, and its position within a contemporary context. With a striking set design consisting of 21 wooden boxes by Turner prize-winning artist Antony Gormley and a beautiful score by Polish composer Szymon Brzóska, which is played live, Sutra has delighted audiences and critics alike, both at its Sadler's Wells world premiere in 2008 and on tour around the world.

Danza Contemporanea de Cuba: Double Bill
19 and 20 March 2010
Cuba today produces some of the world’s finest contemporary and ballet dancers who perform around the globe, setting standards of excellence both as teachers and as performers. Leading the field is the unique and exciting Danza Contemporanea de Cuba, which this year celebrates an outstanding 50 years with its first ever major UK tour. World famous, but rarely seen outside of Cuba, this breathtaking company of 21 dancers brings the heat and passion of Cuba to the stage with an eclectic mix of contemporary dance fused with Afro-Caribbean and Spanish styles. This programme features the London premiere of leading Swedish choreographer Mats Ek’s Casi-Casa, plus Danza Contemporanea de Cuba Principal George Cespédes’ Mambo 3XXI. Don’t miss this rare chance to catch this exciting company performing in London. Please note the advertised programme has changed and will not include Folia.

Family Weekend: Aracaladanza's Clouds
2 and 3 April 2010
Family Weekend is a two-day festival aimed specifically at children, where the fun continues before and after the performance. With an array of exciting games and workshops happening all over the building, there is something for all ages. Spanish dance company Aracaladanza delighted audiences at the first Family Weekend in 2008 and now the company returns with a brand new show, co-commissioned by Sadler's Wells. Inspired by the work of the Surrealist artist Magritte, Aracaladanza’s new work, Clouds, is a dance production for audiences aged 4 to 104! In this 50 minute show a cast of eight dancers create a magical world of moving objects, marionettes and dream-like imagery – wildly imaginative and packed full of energy.

Prima Donna: An opera by Rufus Wainwright
12 to 17 April 2010
Following its hugely successful premiere at Manchester International Festival in 2009, acclaimed singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright's debut opera, Prima Donna, makes its London premiere at Sadler's Wells. Wainwright’s first foray into opera is inspired by perhaps the best known figure of the art form; the diva. A portrait of a fading opera singer, Régine Saint Laurent, the action is set on Bastille Day in 1970’s Paris. Once the world’s most revered operatic soprano, Saint Laurent is preparing for her return to the stage after six years of silence. But in doing so, she is forced to confront the ghosts of her past. Sung in French with surtitles, the libretto is co-written by Rufus Wainwright and Bernadette Colomine.

An Evening with Rufus Wainwright
13 April 2010
Sold Out

Pictures from an Exhibition
23 to 24 April 2010
Sadler’s Wells and the Young Vic are delighted to offer London audiences a second chance to see this remarkable dance theatre collaboration inspired by, and set to, Modest Mussorgsky’s classic piano suite Pictures from an Exhibition. Moments from death, Mussorgsky's life flashes before his eyes. Vivid memories of his past and his closest relationships return in powerful fragments, brilliantly staged by director Daniel Kramer (Angels in America, Punch & Judy), choreographer Frauke Requardt and poet James Fenton. Generally acknowledged to be his greatest solo piano composition, Modest Mussorgsky composed Pictures from an Exhibition in memory of his friend, the artist and architect Viktor Hartmann, in 1874. In this Sadler’s Wells and Young Vic co-production, Kramer and Requardt uncover a rich seam of emotion beneath the surface of Mussorgsky's classical composition. The most powerful urges of worship and domination, love and loss, death and commemoration burst out of the music and onto the stage in a beautiful nightmare.

Akram Khan: Gnosis
26 to 27 April 2010
Multi award-winner Akram Khan is one of the most exciting choreographer/dancers of his generation, internationally acclaimed for his cross-cultural, cross-disciplinary work. Inspired by the Mahabharata story of Queen Ghandari, who blindfolds herself for life to follow her blind husband, Gnosis explores the notion of inner knowledge and clouded vision, of ‘seeing darkness yet being blind to light’. This new solo show features choreography by Khan developed in collaboration with the internationally renowned kathak masters Sri Pratap Pawar and Gauri Sharma Tripathi, plus puppetry by Blind Summit Theatre and a band of live musicians including Yoshie Sunahata (taiko drummer from Japanese company KODO).

Breakin' Convention 2010: International Festival of Hip Hop Dance Theatre
1 to 3 May 2010

Compagnie Marie Chouinard: bODY_rEMIX / gOLDBERG_vARIATIONS
7 and 8 May 2010
Montreal-based Compagnie Marie Chouinard is a firm fixture on the international dance scene, renowned for artistic director Marie Chouinard’s distinctive choreographic style, which explores the poetics of the body in immediate, intelligible and ever-surprising ways. In this hypnotic work the company’s 14 dancers explore themes of beauty and freedom, often appearing en pointe: on one, two, and even four at a time. Chouinard uses different devices – crutches, rope, horizontal bars, and harnesses – that by turns liberate, restrain and define the dancers’ movements. This use of accessories gives rise to playful explorations of body shape and gestures, painting a startling metaphor for the human condition. Set to a soundtrack by electroacoustic musician Louis Dufort, which mixes Johann Sebastian Bach’s Goldberg Variations with vocal extracts of Canadian pianist Glenn Gould (famed for his interpretations of Bach’s music), bODY_rEMIX/gOLDBERG_ vARIATIONS is a highly emotive, visually stunning work of stark contrasts – subtle and extravagant, sumptuous and wild.

Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Damien Jalet and Antony Gormley: Babel (words)
18 to 19 May 2010
Sadler’s Wells Associate Artist Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui presents the UK premiere of Babel (words), the long-awaited final instalment of a triptych of works he started with FOI and Myth. Once again working with Damien Jalet, co-choreographer in the three-part project, Cherkaoui will also collaborate with renowned visual artist Antony Gormley, with whom he has enjoyed enormous success with previous productions zero degrees and Sutra. Continuing his exploration of the links between ethnicity and identity, and the myths that shape our belief systems, in this new work Cherkaoui traces a path between the heavily thematic worlds of FOI and Myth, and the stark, modular aesthetics of zero degrees and Sutra. Language – both spoken and physical – and space emerge as the driving forces behind all human interaction as Cherkaoui and Jalet combine western contemporary dance with different movement styles from around the world, against a soundscape of voice and rhythms.

Rambert Dance Company: A Triple Celebration
25 to 29 May 2010
Rambert Dance Company's May visit to Sadler's Wells is a celebration of some of the world's most outstanding and popular choreographers. Following its unprecedented success earlier this year and due to overwhelming public demand, artistic director Mark Baldwin brings back to London the irresistible samba-inspired lines and curves of Itzik Galili's A Linha Curva. In complete contrast, Rambert honours the life and work of American dance icon, Merce Cunningham with the UK revival premiere of his illustrious piece, RainForest. With its electronic score by David Tudor and reflective silver pillows by Andy Warhol, RainForest is a wonderful artefact from the 1960s. Siobhan Davies returns to Rambert with the London revival premiere of the Olivier Award-winning work The Art of Touch. The speed and wit of Domenico Scarlatti's sonatas are the triggers for the irascibly fast footwork that propel the dancers across the space scooping the air as they go, beautifully completing this eclectic programme.

Kabuki: featuring Ebizo Ichikawa XI
4 to 15 June 2010
Kabuki superstar Ebizo Ichikawa XI returns to Sadler's Wells following his hugely acclaimed performances in 2006. He brings with him both long tradition, as a direct descendant of the 17th century Ichikawa acting dynasty, and a thoroughly modern glamour that has helped win new audiences for this riveting and highly stylised art form. The programme is taken from the epic play Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura (Yoshitsune and the Thousand Cherry Trees), in which Ebizo – together with over 40 distinguished actors and musicians – gives a virtuosic display of Kabuki stagecraft. He takes on the dual role of Yoshitsune's loyal retainer and the enigmatic fox spirit, performing the dazzling sequence of stage tricks that has made this one of the most popular works in all of Kabuki. Dating from the early 17th century, Kabuki is a highly stylised performing art that employs flamboyant costumes, elaborate make-up and exaggerated body movements to create a sense of the spectacular. Combining acting, dancing and live traditional music, Kabuki is as rich as its heritage. Simultaneous commentary headsets are included in the ticket price.

les ballets C de la B: Out of Context- for Pina
17 to 18 June 2010
For much of his recent career, Alain Platel has focused on developing a body language with which to physically translate exaggerated human emotions, exploring themes of hysteria and madness through movement. In his latest work Out of Context - for Pina, Platel continues this investigation, starting with the notion that the word ‘choreography’ is derived from ‘chorea’; a medical term referring to a disorder of the nervous system, the symptoms of which are sudden, rapid, uncontrolled and hysteric movements of the body. In contrast to the elaborate stage designs of recent works vsprs and pitié!, this intimate and intense piece is performed by nine dancers on an empty stage. Using only basic lighting and a soundtrack that will grow from the creative process, the absolute focus is given to the movement of the dancers and their relationship with the audience as the behavioural codes of both performer and spectator become intimately entwined.

Classical Opera: Mozart's Zaide
24 to 26 June 2010
The Classical Opera Company makes a welcome return to Sadler’s Wells to present the world premiere of its new completion of Mozart’s Zaide. Mozart wrote some seventy minutes of music for this remarkable opera, including the celebrated Ruhe sanft, and clearly held it in high regard. He feared, however, that the work was too serious for Viennese taste, and the unfinished score was left to gather dust. This new completion has been created by conductor Ian Page, with a new English text by Michael Symmons Roberts and Ben Power. The opera is directed by Melly Still, whose previous work includes the award-winning Coram Boy at the National Theatre and Rusalka at the Glyndebourne Festival. The title role is sung by the exciting young South African soprano Pumeza Matshikiza, with rising tenor Andrew Goodwin as Gomatz.

Paco Peña: Flamenco sin Fronteras
29 June to 3 July 2010
Legendary flamenco guitarist Paco Peña returns to Sadler’s Wells Theatre in London with his latest show Flamenco sin Fronteras, after receiving huge critical acclaim at its premiere in 2009. Working with 12 virtuoso musicians, singers and dancers from his own company and guest artists from Venezuela performing live on stage, Paco Peña explores the many dance styles that emerged through the migration of Spanish performers to Latin America in the early 1900s, and their significant impact on flamenco today. Joyful, superbly danced and packed with all the intensity, depth and raw energy that have become this maestro's trademark, this is a guaranteed way to bring some heat to the British summer!

Nederlands Dans Theater: 50th Anniversary Programme
6 to 10 July 2010
Nederlands Dans Theater celebrates 50 years as one of the world’s most innovative contemporary dance companies with two programmes of works performed by all 50 dancers of both NDT I and II.
Programme One: Tuesday 6 and Wednesday 7 July at 7.30pm - Programme One features Paul Lightfoot and Sol León’s Subject to Change for NDT ll, which pitches a beautiful duet against the threatening outside forces of four male dancers. NDT I and II perform together for Jiri Kylián's acclaimed Whereabouts Unknown, which is inspired by the choreographer's interest in the tribal movements of the Australian Aborigines and for Dissolve in this - a new creation by Johan Inger, newly appointed Associate Choreographer of NDT.
Programme Two: Friday 9 and Saturday 10 July at 7.30pm - Programme Two features two works performed by NDT I; Kylián’s final work as Resident Choreographer, Mémoires d’Oubliettes and his austere and angular masterwork Symphony of Psalms. Lightfoot and León will present Studio 2 - a new work for the dancers of NDT ll.

Hofesh Shechter: Political Mother
14 to 17 July 2010
Sadler’s Wells Associate Artist Hofesh Shechter presents his highly anticipated new work Political Mother – his first full evening creation for his internationally acclaimed company since the worldwide success of In your rooms / Uprising. Commissioned by Sadler’s Wells & Brighton Festival, Political Mother brims with Shechter’s gritty and emotional complexity. Ten dancers of the Hofesh Shechter Company present an ever more surreal chain of encounters, leading to a series of shocking, amusing and touching events, which challenge our notion of what is ‘normal’. Political Mother is accompanied by a cinematic score composed by Shechter himself and performed by a band of live musicians. Since his first performances at Sadler’s Wells in 2007 Hofesh Shechter has become one of the UK’s most celebrated young artists.

Sylvie Guillem / Robert Lepage / Russell Maliphant: Eonnagata
28 to 31 July 2010
This remarkable Sadler's Wells production brings together three of the world's foremost creative minds: internationally acclaimed dancer Sylvie Guillem, world-renowned theatre-maker Robert Lepage and award-winning choreographer Russell Maliphant. Eonnagata tells the story of the Chevalier d'Éon, Charles de Beaumont - diplomat, writer, swordsman and a member of the King's Secret, a network of spies under the control of Louis XV. De Beaumont was perhaps the first spy to use transvestitism in the furtherance of his duties and, until the day he died, his true gender was a source of constant speculation, even provoking public bets in the late 18th century. Eonnagata features stunning lighting by Michael Hulls, lighting designer for the Olivier award-winning PUSH, beautiful costumes by internationally renowned fashion designer Alexander McQueen and an evocative sound design by Jean Sébastian Côté.

Tanguera
3 to 22 August 2010
After performing to sell-out audiences and gathering rave reviews across the globe, Argentina's smash-hit tango musical Tanguera comes to Sadler's Wells for a strictly limited run.