DANCE CONSORTIUM Presents COMPAGNIE KAFIG in UK Tour, March 25

Paris-based Compagnie Käfig will visit the UK in 2014, with a nationwide tour from 25 March to 18 April and two national press nights in Milton Keynes on Tuesday 25 and Wednesday 26 March. In the past 17 years, Compagnie Käfig has given over 2200 performances in 61 countries in front of more than 1 million people. However, they rarely perform in the UK, and this is rare and special visit is by the kind invitation of Dance Consortium.

In 2014, Compagnie Käfig will be presenting Boxe Boxe, a breath-taking show which fuses the noble art of boxing with dance. With choreography by Artistic Director Mourad Merzouki, the brutality and elegance of both these contrasting worlds collide in a spine-tingling show which packs a knock-out punch. As Merzouki explains: "...each aspect of boxing has an equivalent in choreography: the ring and the stage, the gong and the curtain going up, the referee and the eagle-eyed critics - for me there are all kinds of similarities. So there's a mix - the excitement of combat and fear of the spectators: the gut fear of getting badly knocked about, of taking a licking, together with that great feeling of abandoning yourself, of achieving absolute fulfilment in that magic moment on stage or in the ring."

Eight exceptional dancers blend martial arts, street and contemporary dance to create a spirited and stunning fusion of hip-hop and fisticuffs. Boxe Boxe draws on the rich pageantry and theatricality of boxing where bright red gloves effortlessly morph into puppets and punch balls explode like featherweight balloons. The dancers move in perfect unison to live music from the Debussy String Quartet, with beautifully rendered classical music including Schubert, Ravel, Philip Glass and Glenn Miller. The choice and meticulous timing of the music injects a further dash of romanticism and melancholy into scenes.

Mourad Merzouki, who founded Compagnie Käfig in 1996, began practicing martial arts and circus arts when only seven years old. At the age of fifteen, he encountered hip-hop culture for the first time and through it, he discovered dance. He quickly decided to develop this form of street art while also experimenting with other choreographic styles. Käfig means 'cage' in Arabic and German.

In June 2009, Mourad Merzouki was appointed director of the Centre chorégraphique National de Créteil et du Val-de-Marne. He continues to develop his projects there.

Compagnie Käfig's UK tour is organised by Dance Consortium. For further information please visit www.danceconsortium.com.

2014 UK TOUR SCHEDULE

25-26 March 8.00pm Milton Keynes Theatre 0844 871 7652

29 March 7.30pm Newcastle Theatre Royal 0844 811 2121

1-2 April 7.30pm Edinburgh Festival Theatre 0131 529 6000

4-5 April 7.30pm Plymouth Theatre Royal 01752 267222

8 April 7.30pm Salford Lowry 0843 208 6000

10 April 7.30pm Leicester Curve 0116 242 3595

14-15 April 8pm Southampton Mayflower Theatre 02380 711811

17-18 April 7.30pm Brighton Dome 01273 709709

Duration - 65 minutes with no interval

NOTES TO EDITOR

Dance Consortium is a group of 17 large theatres located across the UK. With a shared passion for engaging people with contemporary dance from different parts of the world the theatres work together to find dance companies and productions that will excite, challenge, entertain and inspire their audiences.

Since its formation in 2000, Dance Consortium has presented 33 tours by 21 different companies from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Cuba, France, The Netherlands, Taiwan, Israel and the USA. Their performances and education activities have been experienced by hundreds of thousands of people across all parts of the UK.

Members

Grand Opera House Belfast

Birmingham Hippodrome

Alhambra Theatre Bradford

Brighton Dome

Marlowe Theatre Canterbury

Wales Millennium Centre Cardiff

Festival Theatre Edinburgh

Curve Theatre Leicester

Sadler's Wells London

Milton Keynes Theatre

Theatre Royal Newcastle

Theatre Royal and Royal Concert Hall Nottingham

Theatre Royal Plymouth

The Lowry Salford

The Mayflower, Southampton

Hall for Cornwall Truro

New Victoria Theatre Woking

To post a comment, you must register and login.