A Sadler's Wells Production

Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui returns to Sadler's Wells with his second work of the season, the greatly-anticipated world premiere of Sutra, from Tuesday 27 May 2008. This Sadler's Wells Production sees one of Europe's most exciting dancer-choreographers reunite with Turner Prize winner Antony Gormley, alongside 17 Buddhist monks from the Shaolin Temple. Sutra marks the first true collaboration between Western artists and the Shaolin Temple.

Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui & Antony Gormley
Szymon Brzóska
with Monks from the Shaolin Temple
Sutra - World premiere
Sadler's Wells
Tuesday 27 - Saturday 31 May 2008
Performances at 7.30pm
Tickets: £10 - £35
Ticket office: 0844 412 4300
www.sadlerswells.com

"Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, a performer who flops all over the place with a kind of random intensity that vibrates with an interior logic that simply can't be conveyed in words. He's an alternative force of nature…" Evening Standard

Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui returns to Sadler's Wells with his second work of the season, the greatly-anticipated world premiere of Sutra, from Tuesday 27 May 2008. This Sadler's Wells Production sees one of Europe's most exciting dancer-choreographers reunite with Turner Prize winner Antony Gormley, alongside 17 Buddhist monks from the Shaolin Temple. Sutra marks the first true collaboration between Western artists and the Shaolin Temple.

Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui has been described as having "the suppleness of a contortionist and the fanaticism of a flagellant". His varied background includes revues and TV shows, theatre workshops, sociology, dance history, contemporary dance, hip-hop, modern jazz, and Broadway dance. This, and his boundless curiosity in all forms of performance, make his choreographic work highly personal, theatrical and ground-breaking. Inspired by the skill, strength and spirituality of Buddhist Shaolin monks, this fascinating new production takes Cherkaoui's work in a very different direction. He has collaborated closely with Antony Gormley who creates a constructed environment for the performers, employing light to dramatic effect. Polish composer Szymon Brzóska creates a brand new score for five musicians, including piano, percussion and strings.

Working and rehearsing with the monks over several months at the Shaolin Temple in China, with Sutra.

Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui follows a life-long interest by exploring the philosophy and faith behind the Shaolin tradition, its relationship with kung fu, and its position within a contemporary context. He says: "As a child, Bruce Lee was a role model; not just the characters he portrayed, but the man himself and the world-view he embodied. When he spoke about martial arts, about drawing from nature, from elemental forces, it rang true.

"Through him, I delved deeper into kung fu, to the Shaolin school of Chan Buddhism. Later in life, as a choreographer and a dancer, I was inspired by the Shaolin understanding of movement, their complete identification with the living beings around them, and that remarkable ability to become the essence of a tiger, crane or snake".

Collaborating with Cherkaoui for the second time since the acclaimed work zero degrees, Antony Gormley says, "I have a long-held fascination for the practices and beliefs of Buddhism and am hugely excited by the challenges and exchange of ideas that we will encounter with Sutra. We wanted to go back to the internal conceits of Chan Buddhism, looking at the philosophy of emptiness, and how energy goes through but is never contained by the body. Working with Larbi is enormously exciting and inspiring. He thinks with his knees and his body in a way that is quite remarkable: the most conscious body I have ever had the privilege to know."

Sadler's Wells Artistic Director Alistair Spalding says; "I'm delighted that Sadler's Wells is continuing its relationship with Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Antony Gormley after the wonderful experience of zero degrees, and that we can enable Sidi Larbi to realise his dream of working with monks from the Shaolin Temple. Sutra presents hugely exciting opportunities for the cross-fertilisation of cultural, philosophical and artistic ideas among the creative team and the aim of everyone involved is to reveal the depth of the monks' discipline and practice."

The Monks performing in Sutra are from the original Shaolin Temple, situated near Dengfeng City in the Henan Province of China and established in 495BC by monks originating from India. In 1983, the State Council defined the Shaolin Temple as the key national Buddhist Temple.

The monks follow a strict Buddhist doctrine, with kung fu and tai chi martial arts forming an integral part of their daily practice. There are many martial arts schools that have also been set up in the region under the name of Shaolin, from which performers for many of the more commercial Shaolin Monk shows are drawn, however the performers in Sutra are all Buddhist Monks from the original temple itself.

Born in Antwerp in 1976, critically acclaimed dancer and choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui is the son of a Flemish mother and a Moroccan father. Best known in the UK for his collaboration with Akram Khan, Antony Gormley and Nitin Sawhney for the renowned production zero degrees, Cherkaoui has been described as; "…as pure a dancing talent as we have in these times, with…a Nijinsky-like purity, as a choreographer he's…full of ideas and a seemingly limitless zeal to explore them."

The Dance Insider 2004. He has previously worked with Alain Platel and Les Ballets C. de le B., Les Ballets de Monte Carlo and the Royal Danish Ballet to name a few and trained at P.A.R.T.S, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker's dance school in Brussels. He became an artist in residence at Toneelhuis in Belgium in 2006.

Press performance: Wednesday 28 May 2008 at 7.30pm

Free post-performance talk for ticket holders on Wednesday 28 May 2008 with Antony Gormley, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Szymon Brzóska


Sutra is a Sadler's Wells Production

Sutra is coproduced with Athens Festival, Festival de Barcelona Grec, Grand Théâtre de Luxembourg, La Monnaie Brussels, Festival d'Avignon, Fondazione Musica per Roma and The Shaolin Temple

Sutra is part of CHINA NOW

The title Sutra is derived from the Pali word sutta, whose primary meaning is a collective term for the sermons of Buddha. It is also a generic term for rules and aphorisms, in Hinduism sutras laid down the guidelines for proper conduct in life. The word in Sanskrit also meant string, thread, measure of straightness.

Sutra is the second work presented by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui this season. It follows Myth performed on Friday 16 and Saturday 17 May 2008. Myth is an existing work for 21 performers and musicians which takes inspiration from Japanese manga and bunraku (puppet theatre) as well as medieval Italian music.

In Myth the characters play out a series of scenarios in an intricate set reminiscent of a heavenly waiting room. They emerge from nooks and crannies to battle with their inner psyche and conscience, exploring issues such as alienation, faith and the darker side of their alter egos. For further information on Myth, please contact: Erin Crivelli on 020 7863 8125 or erin.crivelli@sadlerswells.com

Biographies:

Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui was born in 1976 in Antwerp. After dancing in variety and television shows in Belgium, Larbi Cherkaoui studied at P.A.R.T.S., Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker's school. While undertaking his contemporary training, he also worked with hip-hop company, The Bang Gang Dance Company, and modern jazz company, Extravadance, in Belgium.

Today Cherkaoui combines a busy touring schedule of his repertoire pieces with creating new productions. His diverse works include; an award-winning contemporary musical based on a selection of music by Jacques Brel, Anonymous Society (1999), co-written by Andrew Wale and musical director, Perrin Manzer Allen, Rien de rien (2000), a collaboration with the Flemish cello player, Roel Dieltiens and the singer/dancer Damien Jalet, and his first work as a member of the artistic core of Les Ballets C. de la B. In September 2002 he co-choreographed d'avant with Damien Jalet, Luc Dunberry and Juan Kruz Diaz de Garaio Esnaola for the Schaubühne Am Lehniner Platz (Berlin). In March 2003, he created his next work for Les Ballets C. de la B., Foi, and in July 2004

Cherkaoui presented a new project, commissioned by the Festival d'Avignon, and created with Les Ballets C. de la B., Tempus Fugit. In December 2004, he premiered In Memoriam, a creation for the Ballets de Monte-Carlo at the Grimaldi Forum, followed by Loin in April 2005, a choreography for the Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève.

In 2005 Cherkaoui worked with Akram Khan for the first time. Together they created and danced the production zero degrees about the effect of their mixed cultural backgrounds, it was on this production that Cherkaoui collaborated with Antony Gormley for the first time. The spring of 2006 took Cherkaoui back to Monte Carlo, where he made a new creation for Les Ballets de Monte Carlo, Mea Culpa (premièred in April 2006). In August 2006 his new creation End had its premiere at the Gothenburg Dance and Theatre Festival, a work he made during the fighting between Israel and Hezbolah in Lebanon.

Recent works include; L'homme de bois, a new creation for 18 dancers from the Royal Danish Ballet to music by Stravinsky (May 2007) and Myth, a new production at Toneelhuis which premièred in June 2007. He has also made a new video installation in conjunction with photographer-filmmaker Gilles Delmas entitled Zon Mai, commissioned by the Musée de l'immigration in Paris, and created Apocryphe (September 2007), a trio for two dancers and himself commissioned by La Monnaie in Brussels. In January 2008 he created ORIGINE, a new Toneelhuis project for four dancers to music by (among others) Hildegard von Bingen.

Cherkaoui's numerous awards include; in 1995 the first prize for the Best Belgian Dance Solo in Ghent, in a competition launched by Alain Platel (Les Ballets C. de la B.), the 'Special Prize' in Belgrade at the 2001 BITEF Festival for Rien de rien. In December 2002 he received the prize of 'Emerging Choreographer' for Rien de rien from the Nijinsky Awards in Monte Carlo. In May 2004 Foi was awarded the prize of best choreography by 'Movimentos Awards' in Wolfsburg (Germany).

Antony Gormley was born in London in 1950. Upon completing a degree in archaeology, anthropology and the history of art at Trinity College, Cambridge, he travelled to India, returning to London three years later to study at the Central School of Art, Goldsmiths College and the Slade School of Art.

Over the last 25 years Antony Gormley has revitalised the human image in sculpture through a radical investigation of the body as a place of memory and transformation, using his own body as subject, tool and material. Since 1990 he has expanded his concern with the human condition to explore the collective body and the relationship between self and other in largescale installations like Allotment, Critical Mass, Another Place, Domain Field and Inside Australia.

Gormley's work has been exhibited extensively, with solo shows throughout the UK in venues such as the Whitechapel, Tate Gallery, the British Museum and White Cube, and internationally at museums including the Louisiana Museum in Humlebaek, the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington DC, the Irish Museum of Modern Art in Dublin, and the Kölnischer Kunstverein in Germany. He has participated in major group shows such as the Venice Biennale and the Kassel Documenta 8. His Field has toured America, Europe and Asia. Angel of the North and, most recently, Quantum Cloud on the Thames in Greenwich are amongst the most celebrated examples of contemporary British sculpture.

He was awarded the Turner Prize in 1994 and the South Bank Prize for Visual Art in 1999 and was made an Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1997. He is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects, Trinity College, Cambridge and Jesus College, Cambridge, and has been a Royal Academician since 2003. One of his key installations, Another Place, is to remain permanently on display at Crosby Beach, Merseyside. A major show of his work, Blind Light opened to critical success at the Hayward Gallery in Spring 2007.

Recently awarded a postgraduate diploma in composition from the Royal Flemish Conservatory in Antwerp, Szymon Brzóska trained under the baton of Luc Van Howe. This young Polish composer, who also holds a Master in Arts diploma from the Ignacy Jan Paderewski Music Academy in Poznan, has already attracted considerable attention among professionals of classical and contemporary music: in 2003, his Antiphona Beatae Mariae Virginis was chosen by the Polish chamber choir Schola Cantorum Gedanensis for their concert at the Festival of Sacred Music Maria Auxilium Christianorum in Rumia.

Last year he won the competition for composition at the music @venture 2007 festival in Antwerp, and was commissioned to create a piece for the prestigious Belgian ensemble Solisti del Vento, which will be premiered in October during the 2007 edition of the festival. Brzóska is particularly interested in the synergy between music and other arts, such as contemporary dance, theatre and cinema.

He has participated in soundtracks for several film and theatre projects in Poland, and his compositions Marche Funèbre and Sordes will soon be heard in cinema halls across Europe with the release of the French film Le bruit des gens autour, directed by Diastème and produced by Cipango Productions.