Dan Daw returns to Sadler’s Wells with a new London premiere, after curating a Wild Card evening in 2017. In The Dan Daw Show, Dan is unburdening himself of any notion of expectation. After having spent a lifetime being an inspiration to others, Dan is finally seizing the moment to inspire himself and let go of who he once was, to make room for who he wants to be.

Teaming up with theatre director Mark Maughan (Petrification, The Claim), Dan is joined in an intimate evening of play by performer Christopher Owen (Joe Moran, Scottish Dance Theatre) where Dan takes back the power by being dominated on his own terms.

The Dan Daw Show is a peep into the shiny and sweaty push pull of living with shame while bursting with pride. This is a show about care, intimacy and resilience, about letting go and reclaiming yourself.

This performance contains depictions of kink experiences, suffocation, humiliation, dominant behaviour, sexually explicit depictions and language, descriptions of feeling othered, loud noises, flashing lights and sexy disabled people. Recommended for age 16+.

Image description: Dan Daw looks down at us with an ironic smile. His chest is bare, his arm and shoulder covered in tattoos, and there’s a glimpse of black leather at his waist. He wears a thick chain round his neck and large studs in his ears. Behind him is another dancer, his face unseen. His arms wrap round Dan, fingers splayed at his throat and belly, as Dan arches back, gripping the other man’s arms.

Dan Daw is a Sadler’s Wells Summer University (2015-18) artist.
Supported using public funding from Arts Council England through project grants. Co-commissioned in 2019/20 by Sadler’s Wells, Arts House Melbourne, DanceHub Birmingham, The Lowry, Déda, Cambridge Junction, DanceXchange and Dance4. Supported by Shoreditch Town Hall, Candoco Dance Company and I’m Here, Where Are You? Festival. Research supported by Jerwood Choreographic Research Project II.