Carlos Pons Guerra and DeNada Dance Theatre Present MARIPOSA, A QUEER TRAGEDY

Carlos Pons Guerra and DeNada Dance Theatre will present MARIPOSA, A QUEER TRAGEDY on tour, launching at The Dukes, Lancaster on Tuesday 8 October. The show will have its London premiere at The Place, Tuesday 25 and Wednesday 26 February.

Under the flickering neon lights of a distant Caribbean port, a local rent boy and a foreign sailor fall ominously in love - and a young man is asked to sacrifice his gender in exchange for love and a better life…

Mariposa (‘butterfly' in Spanish) is choreographer Carlos Pons Guerra's queer reimagining of Puccini's seminal opera, Madame Butterfly. An operatic dance drama, it transports Puccini's Orientalist libretto to post-revolution Cuba, to a dockland world of faded showgirls, hopeful rent boys, troubled sailors and divine queer spirits. Engulfed in a tropical storm of repressed desires, the production is a passionate and deeply moving exploration of what we are ready to sacrifice in order to be loved and accepted.

Nicknamed ‘the Pedro Almodovar of dance' by the BBC, Carlos Pons Guerra is one of the UK's leading voices in contemporary queer dance. With a truly distinctive style, theatricality and aesthetic, his work explores gender, cultural and sexual identity. Carlos' work often stems from his personal experience and his desire to put LGBTQ+ narratives on the dance stage, stylishly staged in ways that evoke his Hispanic/Latinx cultural heritage.

Created in 2021, Mariposa revisits the problematic gender and colonialist aspects of Madame Butterfly and asks how iconic operas and narratives like this can remain relevant today.  

Mariposa is set to an original score by three-time winner of the Spanish MAX Awards for the Performing Arts, Luis Miguel Cobo, which takes its inspiration from Caribbean sounds as well as Puccini. The libretto is by French-Indian writer Karthika Nair (whose feminist, award-winning poetic retelling of the Mahabharata, Until the Lions, was adapted for dance by Akram Khan).  Costume and set designs are by 2023 Olivier Award Nominee Ryan Dawson Laight and lighting is by Guerra's long-time collaborator Barnaby Booth.

An exceptional cast includes Dan Baines (BalletBoyz) as Preston, the sailor, Holly Saw (Mathew Bourne's Edward Scissorhands) as Kate, while Elle Taylor-Francis (Northern Ballet and Leipzig Ballet) and Jaivant Patel (Jaivant Patel Dance) will share the role of Madame Gertrudis, the brothel owner.  Casting for the lead role, Mariposa, to be announced.

Tuesday 8 October
The Dukes, Lancaster
Moor Lane, Lancaster LA1 1QE
Box office: 01524 598500 / https://dukeslancaster.org/

Tuesday 15 October
The Lighthouse, Poole
21 Kingland Rd, Poole BH15 1UG
Box office: 01202 280000 / https://www.lighthousepoole.co.uk/

Friday 22 & Saturday 23 November
MAST, Southampton
142, 144 Above Bar St, Southampton SO14 7DU
Box office: 023 8071 1811 / https://www.mayflower.org.uk/

Tuesday 26 November
Lakeside Arts, Nottingham
University Park, Lakeside Arts, Nottingham NG7 2RD
Box office: 0115 846 7777 / https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/externalrelations/lakeside-arts.aspx

Friday 14 February
Harrogate Theatre
6 Oxford St, Harrogate HG1 1QF
Box office: 01423 502116 / https://www.harrogatetheatre.co.uk/

Tuesday 25 & Wednesday 26 February
The Place, London
17 Duke's Rd, London WC1H 9PY
Box office: 020 7121 1100 / https://theplace.org.uk/whats-on

Friday 14 & Saturday 15 March
Stanley & Audrey Burton Theatre, Leeds
2 St Cecilia St, Leeds LS2 7PA
Box office: 0113 220 8008 / https://northernballet.com/venue/leeds-stanley-audrey-burton-theatre

Friday 21 March
Arena Theatre, Wolverhampton
Wulfruna St, Wolverhampton WV1 1SE
Box office: 01902 321321 / https://www.wlv.ac.uk/arena-theatre/