Arthur Pita's STEPMOTHER/STEPFATHER London Premiere at The Place

Award-winning Director and Choreographer, Arthur Pita in collaboration with HeadSpaceDance returns to London to present his latest production STEPMOTHER/STEPFATHER - a wickedly gruesome double bill of dark dance. STEPMOTHER/STEPFATHER will tour to Birmingham and Bournemouth before its London premiere at The Place from 2nd to 11th March, followed by visits to Canterbury, Salford Quays and Newcastle. Tickets are on sale at all venues.

STEPMOTHER leads us into a menacing world where macabre folklore meets the terrifying grotesque. Fairy tales distort into nightmares as familiar characters from Snow White to Hansel and Gretel are pursued by a force of monstrous and abusive stepmothers.

Pita's 2007 work 'The Stepfather', originally commissioned by CandoCo, is re-imagined for the second piece. STEPFATHER tells the grisly tale of a twisted family situation inspired by the folk punk 'Country Death Song' from cult American band Violent Femmes. Spiralling into a hellish world of incest and murder, the search for redemption is played out beyond the grave.

Director and Choreographer, Arthur Pita says: "When I was approached by HeadSpaceDance to collaborate with my company to create a full evening's work, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to revisit a piece I created for CandoCo Dance Company entitled The Stepfather. I also wanted to create a sister piece to form a double bill, so Stepmother was born to form the full evening. I am thrilled to be working with such a fantastic and eclectic cast of such high quality."

Arthur Pita's Openheart Productions presents a cast of seven: HeadSpaceDance performers Christopher Akril and Clemmie Sveaas, are joined by Corey Annand (title role in The Little Match Girl, Grete in The Metamorphosis), Karl Fagerlund Brekke* (The Little Match Girl), Valentina Golfieri (The Little Match Girl), Nathan Goodman (Richard Alston Company) and Nadia Adame (CandoCo's The Stepfather).

Directed and choreographed by Arthur Pita, with STEPMOTHER costumes and props designed by Yann Seabra, STEPFATHER designed by Simon Daw, lighting designed by Mark Doubleday, sound designed by Frank Moon.

STEPMOTHER/STEPFATHER premiered at DanceEast, Ipswich in October 2016 with 2 performances for Halloween.

Pita's celebrated works include: The Metamorphosis (South Bank Award for Dance, National Dance Award for Best Modern Choreography and Olivier Award nomination) for The Linbury, Royal Opera House and The Joyce Theater, New York; A Dream Within A Midsummer Night's Dream (Olivier Award nomination) for Ballet Black; The Ballad Of Mack And Ginny, a duet for Edward Watson and Wendy Whelan for the Royal Opera House and City Center New York; Facada for Russian ballet stars Natalia Osipova and Ivan Vasiliev, London Coliseum and City Center New York; and a new commission, Run Mary Run, by Natalia Osipova, performed with Sergei Polunin. His family Christmas show, The Little Match Girl, has enjoyed three consecutive seasons at Sadler's Wells.
STEPMOTHER/STEPFATHER is commissioned by DanceEast and presented by Arthur Pita's Openheart Productions in collaboration with HeadSpaceDance. Supported by Arts Council England.

For further information, visit www.stepmotherstepfather.com

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