South African choreographer Dada Masilo brings her latest work The Sacrifice to Salford
– Ritual and redemption inspired by The Rite of Spring danced to original new music played and sung live on stage.
The award-winning South African choreographer Dada Masilo’s re-imagining of Giselle was a huge hit when it came to Salford in 2019. On 21st and 22nd March 2023, Masilo and her company of eleven incredible dancers return to The Lowry with her latest work The Sacrifice, inspired by Igor Stravinsky’s monumental score and Pina Bausch’s seminal The Rite of Spring.
Soweto-born Masilo has attracted much attention for fusing different dance forms and her retelling of classic stories. She mines her cultural background to create a choreographic style unlike any other. For The Sacrifice, she combines the European heritage of The Rite of Spring with the uniquely rhythmic and expressive movements of Tswana, the traditional dance of Botswana, often used in storytelling and in healing ceremonies. At the piece’s heart is the epic struggle of the sacrificial victim, danced by Masilo herself.
Masilo’s The Sacrifice questions the evil that humans do to each other and explores the power of community to bring about change. Masilo says: “I wanted to explore ritual, what sacrifice meant to the Tswana people then and what it means now. Narrative is very important to me. I wanted to create a story that is deeper than a chosen maiden dancing herself to death.”
The all-South African cast deliver an exhilarating performance. Eleven spectacular dancers hold the stage with their earthy rooted mix of traditional Tswana moves and contemporary dance. They perform to an original score composed by violinist Leroy Mapholo, pianist Nathi Shongwe and opera and gospel choir singer Ann Masina who plays a powerful goddess figure. Joined by percussionist Mpho Mothiba, the musicians play live on stage, interacting with the dancers to powerful, sometimes humorous, effect.
The dancers are Dada Masilo, Leorate Dibatana, Lwando Dutyulwa, Lehlohonolo Madise, Songezo Mcilizeli, Steven Mokone, Refiloe Mogoge, Thandiwe Mqokeli, Thuso Lobeko, Eutychia Rakaki and Tshepo Zasekhaya. Costumes are by David Hutt with lighting and projections by Suzette le Sueur.
Dance Consortium is a group of 18 large-scale theatres with a mission to bring the best international dance to stages across the UK and Ireland.
Dada Masilo: The Sacrifice will be at The Lowry, Salford on 21st and 22nd March. For more information and tickets visit www.thelowry.com or call 0161 876 2000.
-ENDS-
For further information or to arrange interviews contact jennifer.dean@thelowry.com. For hi-res images visit https://www.flickr.com/photos/thelowry/albums/72177720305895708/with/52678643239/
Notes to the Editor
Listings
21 & 22 March 2023
The Lowry, Salford
Pier 8, The Quays, Salford, M50 3AZ
Box Office: 0161 876 2000 / www.thelowry.com
*Post-show In Conversation with Dada Masilo and company members on Tuesday 21st March.
65 minutes (no interval). Partial nudity. Advised age range: 12+
- Dance Consortium is a group of 18 large-scale UK venues with a shared passion for engaging people with the best contemporary dance from across the world. Since its formation in 2000, Dance Consortium has presented over 50 tours by 26 different companies (from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Cuba, France, The Netherlands, South Africa, Taiwan, Israel and the USA) to over 750,000 people. Their performances and education activities have been experienced by around 700,000 people across all parts of the UK. Dance Consortium receives investment as a national portfolio organisation of Arts Council England.
- Dance Consortium members are Grand Opera House Belfast; Birmingham Hippodrome; Alhambra Theatre, Bradford; Brighton Dome; Marlowe Theatre Canterbury; Wales Millennium Centre Cardiff; Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, Dublin; Festival Theatre Edinburgh; Eden Court Inverness; Sadler’s Wells Theatre and The Peacock London; Milton Keynes Theatre; Theatre Royal Newcastle; Theatre Royal and Royal Concert Hall Nottingham with Dance 4; Theatre Royal Plymouth; The Lowry Salford; Mayflower Theatre, Southampton; Hull New Theatre; Norwich Theatre Royal.
- Dada Masilo was born and brought up in Soweto in Johannesburg, South Africa. After formal training at The Dance Factory in Johannesburg from the age of 11, she studied at the Performing Arts Research and Training Studios in Brussels for two years. Returning to South Africa she was awarded the prestigious Standard Bank Young Artist Award for Dance. Three commissions from the National Arts Festival resulted in Romeo and Juliet (2008), Carmen (2009) and Swan Lake (2010) which have toured extensively throughout Europe and beyond, including The Joyce Theatre, New York, and Sadler’s Wells. In May 2017, Giselle premiered at Dansenshus, Oslo before worldwide tour to over 56 cities. Masilo is Artist-in-Residence at The Dance Factory in Johannesburg. Her awards include a nomination for a Bessie Award (Swan Lake) in 2016, Danza&Danza Award for ‘Best Performance in 2017’ (Giselle) and a Prince Claus ‘Next Generation’ Award in 2018.
- The Sacrifice is commissioned in part by: The Prince Claus Fund Next Generation Award 2018 (Netherlands); The Joyce Theatre Foundation’s Stephen and Cathy Weinroth Fund for New Work (USA). It is supported by: Buhnen Koln/Tanz Koln (Germany); Ruhrfestspiele Recklinghausen GmbH (Germany); RomaEuropa (Italy), Maison de la Danse, Lyon (France), La Villette, Paris (France). Special thanks to Karl Regensburger and the Impulstanz team, Vienna (Austria).