Four of the professional dance stars of BBC television show Strictly Come Dancing will show off their moves next spring as part of Sadler’s Wells’s new season.
Anton du Beke and Erin Boag will perform a celebration of Latin and ballroom dance, Cheek To Cheek, from 22 to 26 April as part of the Spring Dance at the London Coliseum, while Darren Bennett and Lilia Kopylova take to the Peacock stage in their show Latin Fever from 27 May to 28 June.
Du Beke and Boag – who is currently partnering rugby ace Austin Healey on the sixth series of Strictly Come Dancing – perform a mix of dance styles in their show Cheek To Cheek, including tango, rumba, cha-cha-cha, waltz and foxtrot. Singer Richard Shelton and a live orchestra accompany the pair with music by Cole Porter, Irving Berlin and George and Ira Gershwin. Three times World Salsa champions Chris Marques and Jaclyn Spencer guest star.
Cheek To Cheek is presented by Sadler’s Wells as part of the dance venue’s annual Spring Dance at the Coliseum series. Also performing in this year’s line-up are Birmingham Royal Ballet, Russell Maliphant and American Ballet Theatre.
At Sadler’s Wells’s West End venue the Peacock theatre, Bennett and Kopylova’s Latin Fever is a journey through Latin American dance styles, from the streets of Brazil to the bullrings of Spain, via the American dancehalls of the 1920s. The couple are joined in the show by four Latin American dance duos and a Latin band.
The two shows form part of the Sadler’s Wells’s spring 2009 season, which showcases a huge variety of dance styles and welcomes companies from the UK and abroad. Popular shows Havana Rakatan and Tango Fire return to the Peacock, Matthew Bourne brings Dorian Gray back to Rosebery Avenue, choreographer Adam Cooper presents his first new show in three years, Shall We Dance, and world renowned dancers Agnes Oaks, Thomas Edur, Sylvie Guillem and Russell Maliphant display their skills.
Next year sees the expansion of Sadler’s Wells into other venues in the capital. As well as its shows at the Peacock and the London Coliseum, Sadler’s Wells presents work in collaboration with the Young Vic, the Tate Modern and the Roundhouse.
Also next spring, Sadler’s Wells’s popular festivals and dance weekends return, including Sampled (24 to 25 January), Flamenco Festival London (14 to 29 March) and hip hop festival Breakin’ Convention (2 to 4 May).
For more information about the new season, visit www.sadlerswells.com
CB