Birthday Rites

A celebration of the centenary of the 'Rite of Spring', with three edgy new works inspired by Stravinsky and Nijinsky's groundbreaking piece. Joseph Mercier and PanicLab offer up a live mixed martial arts match (that's cage fighting by another name), pitting two dancers recently trained in cambat techniques against each other. 'The Birthday Party' by Jamila Johnson-Small is a short duet investigating the idea of the sacrifice of a young girl. And Jamie Lewis Hadley's 'Last Rites' takes the audience's riotous response at the 'Rite of Spring's premiere as a starting point, and looks at the aesthetics and movement vocabulary of contemporary riots and protests. As events marking the Rite's centenary go, this one looks like it's most likely to capture some of the shocking spirit of the original.