Award-winning South African choreographer Dada Masilo and her company of 11 dancers return to The Lowry (March 21-22) with her latest work The Sacrifice, inspired by Stravinsky’s The Rite
Of Spring.
The Soweto-born choreographer is noted for fusing different dance forms and her retelling of classic stories, using her cultural background to create a unique choreographic style. The company's reimagining of Giselle was a big hit at the Lowry four years ago.
For The Sacrifice she combines the European heritage of Stravinsky with the rhythmic and expressive movements of Tswana, the traditional dance of Botswana, often used in storytelling and healing ceremonies. At the piece’s heart is the epic struggle of the sacrificial victim, danced by Masilo herself. She 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 perform to an original score by violinist Leroy Mapholo, pianist Nathi Shongwe and opera and gospel choir singer Ann Masina who plays a powerful goddess figure.