5 South African dancers on a blue stage performing Dada Masilo's The Sacrifice
Credit Tristram Kenton

Acclaimed Choreographer Dada Masilo returns to Brighton Dome with a UK premiere

Dance and Circus, News, Dance

‘I’m especially pleased to have the UK premiere of The Sacrifice in Brighton.’ 

We are hugely excited to welcome award-winning South African choreographer Dada Masilo back to Brighton Dome for the UK premiere of her latest contemporary dance piece, The Sacrifice, on 21 and 22 February.

Audiences will be familiar with Masilo’s “powerful retelling” (Financial Times) of Giselle from 2019, for which she won a Critics’ Circle National Dance Award for Outstanding Female Modern Performance.

Masilo is known for her retelling of classic stories that speak to Black identity and feminism. She fuses different dance forms to create her own inimitable choreographic style and her re-interpretations of Carmen, Romeo and Juliet and Swan Lake have been critically acclaimed both in South Africa and internationally.

7 South African dancers on an orange stage

The Sacrifice is inspired by two seminal artistic works – Igor Stravinsky’s monumental score and Pina Bausch’s dance work, The Rite of Spring. Performed by an all-South African cast of eleven spectacular dancers, The Sacrifice combines this European influence with the uniquely rhythmic and expressive movements of Tswana, the traditional dance of Botswana often used in storytelling and healing ceremonies. At its heart is Stravinsky’s epic tale of the struggle of the sacrificial victim, danced by Masilo herself.

“I’m forever grateful that we can take our work to different people in different countries. It’s also great to talk to different audiences and find out how they feel and what they think the work is about because a lot of the time they will feel something different. I’m especially pleased to have the UK premiere in Brighton. I love it there because I can go to the ocean, I’m an ocean baby.”
Dada Masilo Acclaimed Choreographer

Masilo has also worked with a stunning group of musicians who will perform a powerful original score live on stage, interacting with the dancers throughout the show - violinist Leroy Mapholo, pianist Nathi Shongwe, percussionist Mpho Mothiba and opera and gospel choir singer Ann Masina. Using the complex rhythms of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring as a starting point, the music is firmly rooted in South Africa.

Brighton Dome hosts the UK premiere of The Sacrifice in partnership with Dance Consortium - bringing the best contemporary dance from across the world to local audiences across the UK. It promises to be one of the highlights of the 2023 arts calendar.

Visit the event page to buy your tickets, and for information about concessions and discounts for school and student groups.

Please note: this performance contains partial nudity. Recommended for audiences aged 12+; under 14s must be accompanied by an adult.

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