Dancing Nation, Part Two (2021)

Birmingham Royal Ballet, Boy Blue and the swagger of Oona Doherty also feature. Dancing Nation continues its celebration of outstanding dance talent curated and hosted by Sadler’s Wells, London - bringing arts and performance to audiences at home and supporting the UK creative sector for BBC Art’s Culture in Quarantine virtual arts festival. In this second programme, Brenda Emmanus presents a further snapshot of the UK dance scene in all its forms including: Mud of Sorrow: Touch choreographed by Akram Khan. Two of the world’s most celebrated dancers, Akram Khan and Royal Ballet principal Natalia Osipova, perform together for the first time using two great classical dance forms - ballet and kathak. Touch is a re-imagining of a duet from Khan’s critically acclaimed collaboration with Sylvie Guillem, Sacred Monsters. Belfast-based choreographer Oona Doherty’s Hope Hunt and the Ascension Into Lazarus. This award-winning solo performance bursts with fury, swagger and humanity. Hope Hunt shatters facades, dismantles stereotypes and finds beauty on the periphery. HUMANHOOD’s Sphera. In this visually impactful contemporary dance duet, the dancers explore the relationship between the visible, bright side of the Moon and humankind Internationally acclaimed hip hop dance company Boy Blue bring one section of their Olivier Award-nominated work, Blak Whyte Gray. This fierce, bold and galvanising dance work, set to a multilayered electronic score, reflects themes of identity, oppression and transcendence. Far From The Norm’s Olivier Award-winning BLKDOG. A genre-defying blend of hip-hop dance, this work is a haunting commentary on surviving adulthood as a childlike artist. Birmingham Royal Ballet perform Lazuli Sky, a hopeful and regenerative ballet created in 2020 by Will Tuckett, who also explains what is behind the piece. And Carlos Acosta talks about the challenges of his first year as Artistic Director with BRB. Choreographer Kenneth Tindall and Northern Ballet bring us States of Mind. Inspired by a collection of thoughts, feelings and news headlines from lockdown, this poignant new work is an abstract response through movement to a selection of situations experienced during recent months.