From September to December, dance remains a feature within the Barbican’s Autumn season for 2017.
Barbican Artistic Associate Michael Clark Company will return to the venue with an extended version of his latest show. Having premiered at the Barbican in 2016, the Olivier Award-nominated work comprises a triple bill of arresting choreography, with music by Erik Satie, Patti Smith and David Bowie. The work, entitled ‘to a simple, rock ‘n’ roll . . . song’ will run from 18 – 28 October. It will be an extended version of the show, showcasing performances by the company of fearless dancers, complemented by Charles Atlas’s lighting design, and a stage adaptation of his multi-channel video installation Painting by Numbers.
As part of Dance Umbrella, London’s international dance festival, Spanish dancer Rocío Molina will perform ‘Fallen from Heaven’ (Caída del Cielo), selecting movement from feminine, masculine and animalistic codes to devise a personal performance about womanhood from 12 – 14 October. Here flamenco is stripped down to its purest form: a passionate expression of freedom. Fallen from Heaven is Molina’s newest piece, seeing her adopt different guises and inventive costumes, and employ playful images. At times alone, at times collaborating with four onstage musicians, Fallen from Heaven is a physically demanding progression from shadow to light, silence to sound, order to chaos.
In relation to this, Barbican Cinema will join forces with the festival and present three feature-length dance documentaries as part of Dance Umbrella. Screenings include the Paris Opera Ballet documentary ‘In the Steps of Trisha Brown’, the touching ‘Before We Go’ and, in honour of festival artist Rocio Molina, ‘Flamenco, Flamenco’, from 14 – 25 October. Audiences will have chance to engage with varied dance performances this Autumn, covering a range of subjects and through a variety of mediums.