Two premieres from Crystal Pite and Kameron N. Saunders that cut straight to the core.

How do we interpret the world around us? How do we respond and react, in our bodies and in our minds? Crystal Pite and Kameron N. Saunders create two powerful works which go to the very core of the human experience.

This bold new programme features the UK premiere of Body and Soul (Part 1) from acclaimed choreographer Crystal Pite, who originally created the piece for Paris Opera Ballet and has worked with companies across the world.

This hypnotic work explores our response to bereavement and the resulting conflicting impulses. It opens with two dancers in black suits and white shirts, bathed in a stark light. They move to a voice, speaking in French, describing their actions. As the words repeat, with loops and echoes, the duet swells to a crowd, seamlessly blending precision and fluidity and morphing to create mesmerising waves of movement across the stage.

With intimate duets set to spoken text, and powerful moments harnessing the energy of a group of dancers, Body and Soul (Part 1) is reminiscent of Pite’s acclaimed pieces seen on stage at Sadler’s Wells, including Revisor (with Kidd Pivot), Emergence (with National Ballet of Canada) and Figures in Extinction (with NDT and Complicite).

Kameron N. Saunders has built a huge following as a commercial dancer for some of the world’s biggest artists, including Taylor Swift and Chappell Roan. He is also a prize-winning choreographer who has created pieces for Joffrey Ballet and Dallas Black Dance Theatre.

For this world premiere, Saunders brings his fresh choreographic voice to a new work in three parts, inspired by his personal experience. Saunders invites us to explore the battle to find our authentic self under crushing societal scrutiny – how we deal with judgements projected upon us, the decisions we make, and their impact on us and those around us. Harold Walker III and Brandon Finklea compose a new score, performed by English National Ballet Philharmonic.

Header image © Drew Forsyth

Header Image Description: Two male performers in black trousers. One stands straight with an arm above their head. Their other arm is holding the other performer who is leaning backwards with his other hand above his head. They stand within two red neon boxes.