Dancing Nation, Part One (2021)

World-class dance also featuring Candoco, HUMANHOOD, and Rambert. In this, the first of three Dancing Nation programmes, BBC Arts and Sadler’s Wells present a festival of dance featuring: Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures - Spitfire. Before his legendary Swan Lake, Nutcracker! and Cinderella, Matthew Bourne created his first hit, Spitfire (1988). This hilarious work places the most famous nineteenth-century ballet showstopper Pas De Quatre in the world of men’s underwear advertising. Candoco Dance Company, choreographed by Yasmeen Godder. A sensual and disturbing ode to intimacy and imagination, expressed through striking images interwoven with daring and uninhibited dance. Window Shopping, a brand new work from hip-hop dance powerhouse Breakin’ Convention, led by their Artistic Director Jonzi D. Starting from the outside looking in, popping, voguing, flamenco and ballet dancers welcome you into Sadler’s Wells. A new piece, Orbis, by break-through dance company HUMANHOOD. This visually astonishing duet explores the relationship between humankind and the dark side of Earth’s permanent natural satellite, the Moon. Rouge is an explosive collaboration from world-renowned Rambert and French choreographer Marion Motin, whose hip hop-influenced style is best known through her work for Christine and the Queens and Dua Lipa’s IDGAF music video. The result is fresh and bold, with four-to-the floor beats, tight unison bodies and glorious costumes. Dancing Nation is a celebration of dance featuring many of the UK’s leading dance companies and the most exciting new emerging talent. Presented by Brenda Emmanus as part of BBC Arts’ Culture in Quarantine, this unique festival has been curated in lockdown by Sadler’s Wells, London - one of the world’s leading dance houses.