Soweto Gospel Choir Joins INALA At The Peacock Theatre
By: Stephi Wild Feb. 21, 2019
Full casting is announced for the West End Premiere of INALA - A Zulu Ballet - at the Peacock Theatre in London, from 30 April to 18 May 2019.
Featuring the spectacular three-time Grammy Award-winning Soweto Gospel Choir, the international cast will also feature BBC Young Dancer 2017 winner Nafisah Baba, Joshua Harriette (Richard Alston Dance), Nahum McLean (the Ailey School), Hicaro Nicolai (Voices of the Amazon), Nicholas Shikkis (Richard Alston Dance), English National Ballet's Lowri Shone and Jason Tucker (Richard Alston Dance) together with former INALA cast members Camille Bracher (Company Wayne McGregor), Sharia Johnson (Michael Clark Company, Rambert), Jacob O'Connell (Rambert/Company Wayne McGregor) Adelene Stanley (Frontier Danceland) and Ashleigh Wilson (Peter Schaufuss Ballet/International Arts Collective) who will reprise their roles.
Following a sell-out run at London's Sadler's Wells, a Royal Variety Performance appearance and a phenomenal 2015 tour, INALA will return to the UK in 2019, bringing together the South African choral legends, Soweto Gospel Choir with multi-award-winning choreographer Mark Baldwin OBE in this unique artistic collaboration. INALA will receive its West End premiere at The Peacock in London playing from 30 April to 18 May, with a press night on Wednesday 1 May.
It's four years since the ground-breaking phenomenon that is INALA - A Zulu Ballet - was first performed at the Edinburgh International Festival, selling out the largest theatre in Europe. INALA, meaning 'abundance of goodwill' in Zulu, delivered all it promised - an uplifting live experience, powered by a cultural explosion of music, song and dance. Featuring world-class dancers from The Royal Ballet and Rambert, the critically acclaimed production embraced an exhilarating fusion of South African and Western cultures live on stage, to create a unique, immersive experience.
INALA's original score was composed in a glorious collaboration by four-time Grammy Award-winning South African choral legends Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Joseph Shabalala and the British composer Ella Spira, who created the concept of INALA with former First Artist of the Royal Ballet Pietra Mello-Pittman. Blending the intricate rhythms and infectious harmonies of their native musical roots with live percussion, piano and strings, Mark Baldwin's choreography united Zulu traditions with classical ballet and contemporary dance, performed by an exceptional company of 20 dancers and singers.
The music for INALA was recorded at Abbey Road Studios and was Grammy Award nominated in 2016 for Best World Music Album. Baldwin, who headed Ballet Rambert for 15 years winning a host of awards, was subsequently awarded an OBE for Services to Dance.
INALA's producers are ex-Royal Ballet ballerina Pietra Mello-Pittman and composer Ella Spira. In 2009 they had a vision to create a theatre company that broke all the rules and Sisters Grimm was born. Pietra and Ella nurtured INALA from an original concept to celebrate 20 years of democracy in South Africa through to its premiere in Edinburgh, bringing together an extraordinary creative team. INALA subsequently received its international premiere at the prestigious Chekhov festival in Moscow. Sisters Grimm went on to present 'Voices of the Amazon' and currently have three further productions in development. Sisters Grimm remain true to their ethos on future projects; namely to create authentic, culturally themed work that develops and increases the audience for arts by bringing together different disciplines and cultures, in a way that is inclusive, vibrant and entertaining.
Ticket Office: 020 7863 8222 or peacocktheatre.com
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