A Big Pulse Dance Alliance co-production, co-produced by Dance Umbrella and Sadler’s Wells. Featuring music from Sergeï Rachmaninoff and Jamie xx.

Award-winning choreographer Oona Doherty makes her Sadler’s Wells stage debut as she returns to Dance Umbrella Festival following critically acclaimed productions Hard to Be Soft (named Best Dance Show of 2019 by The Guardian) and Hope Hunt and the Ascension into Lazarus (included as part of Sadler’s Wells and BBC Arts’ Dancing Nation series).

Using her distinctive and visceral choreographic style, Doherty creates an unsettling atmosphere for latest work Navy Blue as a dark night descends and a group of 12 dancers generate a sense of dread, trapped within a destructive algorithm. Featuring music from Sergeï Rachmaninoff and Jamie xx this compelling new piece considers where we have been and where we are heading, as it urgently appeals for societal change.

Doherty is a Big Pulse Dance Alliance selected artist and Associate Artist at Dublin Dance Festival. Her ambitious work has drawn international attention and in 2021 Doherty was named winner of the Venice Biennale Danza Silver Lion Award. Doherty has collaborated with numerous artists, recently creating music videos with Jamie xx and Rubber Bandits.

This event is part of Dance Umbrella Festival 2022, 7-23 October
London’s international dance festival celebrating contemporary dance, bringing some of the world’s most exciting talent to stages across London and online.

Read the performance transcript

[Image description] Five figures, four of whom are out of focus, are stood in a line and stare off to the side with blank expressions. In the centre is one woman (Oona Doherty) who is the only person in focus. They all wear navy blue overalls.

Credits:
Choreography: Oona Doherty
Music: Sergeï Rachmaninoff and Jamie xx
Projection Artist: Nadir Bouassria
Lighting designers: John Gunning
Production: Gabrielle Veyssiere, LEAD
Writer collaborator: Bush Moukarzel
Dancers: Amancio Gonzalez Miñon, Andréa Moufounda, Arno Brys, Louise Gourvelec, Hilde Ingeborg Sandvold, Joseph Simon, Mathilde Roussin, Ryan O’Neill, Sati Veyrunes, Thibaut Eiferman, Tomer Pistiner, Zoé Lecorgne, Doublure Magdalena Öttl.

Navy Blue is a Big Pulse Dance Alliance co-production, co-produced by Dance Umbrella (UK), Dublin Dance Festival (Ireland), Torinodanza Festival (Italy) and Julidans (The Netherlands), co-funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union.

Co-producers: Kampnagel, Hamburg, Germany; Sadler’s Wells, London, UK; Venice Biennale, Venice Italy-Théâtre National de Chaillot,Paris, France; Dance Umbrella Festival, London, UK; Maison de la Danse, Lyon France; Belfast International Arts Festival, Belfast UK; Dublin Dance Festival, Dublin, Ireland; Torino Danza, Turin, Italy; Julidans Festival, Amsterdam, Netherlands; MC2, Grenoble, FR

Partners: Pavillon Noir, Aix en Provence, FR; KLAP, Marseille, FR.
With the support of Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels

Header image © Ghislain Mirat