Dance Consortium, the group of 17 large-scale theatres located across the UK, recently announced details of the m¡longa UK tour 2017. Created by celebrated contemporary dancer and choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, m¡longa is a Sadler’s Wells production, and an exploration of tango for the 21st century.
The tour opens at The Lowry, Salford Quays in May 2017 and heads to London, Birmingham, Southampton, Nottingham and Edinburgh, concluding at Theatre Royal, Newcastle in June. Further tour information will be announced in due course, taking the production to even more audiences across the UK.
Internationally renowned for his ground-breaking and critically revered productions, with artists including Akram Khan and Maria Pagès, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui has created more than 20 productions and is widely acknowledged as one of Europe’s most exciting choreographers. m¡longa was originally co-produced with Théâtre Vidy-Lausanne; Migros Culture Percentage Dance Festival Steps; Théâtre du Jorat, Mėzières; deSingel, Antwerp; Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg; Les Nuits de Fourvière, Lyon; Movimentos Festwochen der Autostadt in Wolfsburg; Festspielhaus St Pölten; Fondazione Musica per Roma; and Eastman.
Inspired by the late night tango scene in bars across Buenos Aires, Cherkaoui draws on traditional tango influences and adds a contemporary twist in m¡longa. Created in 2013 for a cast of 17 performers - ten Argentinean tango dancers, two contemporary dancers and five musicians - Cherkaoui explores the social and choreographic vocabulary of Argentinian tango and brings his own choreographic style to the piece.
m¡longa features music from Argentinean composer Fernando Marzan, and tango superstar Nélida Rodriguez de Aure is artistic consultant for the production. An accomplished tango teacher, some of Nélida’s most well-known students include stars of stage and screen Rita Moreno, Sharon Stone, Ivan Vasiliev, Anthony Quinn and Robert Duvall.
Since its formation in 2000 Dance Consortium has presented 39 tours by 22 different companies from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Cuba, France, The Netherlands, Taiwan, Israel and the USA. Its performances and education activities have been experienced by hundreds of thousands of people across all parts of the UK.