Dance GB

Dance GB is a first in a lifetime chance to see Britain’s national dance companies perform three specially created new works by leading choreographers on the same stage.

Performed by Scottish Ballet, Martin Lawrance’s Run For It is a high energy work inspired by the power of Olympic athletes. This dynamic piece is set to the propulsive rhythms of John Adams’s Son of Chamber Symphony and features a striking sculptural installation created by Turner Prize-winning artist Martin Boyce. Read more …

For National Dance Company Wales, Christopher Bruce has created an uplifting new work capturing the essence of celebration. Set to the soaring soundtrack of Ravel’s famous Bolero, this is an expression of the sheer joy of movement.

And the Earth Shall Bear Again, choreographed by Itzik Galili for English National Ballet, takes traditional classical ballet in a new, highly physical direction. Inspired by the John Cage’s works for prepared piano, the piece makes creative use of light to conjure a mysterious, otherworldly atmosphere.

Dance GB will also feature the screening of a short film created as part of Dancing Parallel, a national project run by the three national companies bringing young people together to create a unique performance combining ballet, contemporary dance and parkour.

Part of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad.

The critical consensus

Rather than generating an evening of competitive pyrotechnics, the concept has inspired each of the companies to explore fresh, even surprising options.

(*) Judith Mackrell, The Guardian, 20/06/2012

Something solid is needed to bring the evening together, but Itzik Galili fails to find such relevance in And the Earth Shall Bear Again.

Thom Dibdin, The Stage, 20/06/2012

How Team GB fairs in August is still unknown, but for Dance GB, the result is pure gold.

Kelly Apter, The Scotsman, 20/06/2012

Is ballet a sport? Of course it’s not, in the competitive sense, although the physicality and athleticism on the bill for Dance GB, a three-way collaboration between Scottish Ballet, National Dance Company Wales and English National Ballet to celebrate the forthcoming Olympics, would surely impress any national selectors.

(*) Anna Burnside, The Independent, 20/06/2012

Three national companies present three very different new works as the UK's dance-makers carry a torch for the spirit of the London 2012 Olympics.

(*) Mary Brennan, The Herald, 20/06/2012