Second Season of XX at Alexander Bar's Upstairs Theatre Sealed with a Kiss

By: Feb. 11, 2016
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The company of XX
Photo credit: Bradley Urion

Sassy dance show XX is back for its second season at the Alexander Bar's Upstairs Theatre. This naughty little rendezvous about the most intimate of acts, the kiss, played its first season at the popular Capetonian venue last year. Sister team Tara and Cleo Notcutt invite audiences to pour themselves a drink, and join them in the dark for a little glitz, a lot of dance, and... well, it's not polite to kiss and tell...

XX delivers one hot hour of non-stop dancing, from hip hop to contemporary and Michael Jackson to Prince. A full-on dance show proving that dynamite truly does come in small - and intimate - packages, XX was conceptualised by the Notcutt sisters, the result of a longtime desire to do a full show together after collaborating in small ways on LAST ROUNDS, WHATWHAT, and THE INCREDIBLE JOURNEY.

Capetonian theatre-maker Tara is one of South Africa's top young independent director-producers and is dedicated to making brave, original, and sexy South African theatre. The artistic director of The Pink Couch, some of her recent work includes ...MISKIEN, THE THREE LITTLE PIGS, MAFEKING ROAD, LAST ROUNDS, Stuart Lightbody's DEVILISH and SLEEPLESS DREAMS and THREE BLIND MICE. The winner of the Rosalie van Der Gucht Prize for New Directors at the Fleur du Cap Theatre Awards as well as eight Standard Bank Ovation Awards, Tara was was named one of the Mail and Guardian's Top 200 Young South Africans in 2012.

While theatre is her first love, dance runs in Tara's blood. Her mom, Trish, is a dance teacher and throughout her life many-a-long-night has been spent both on and backstage at dance shows, eisteddfods and competitions. Her sister, Cleo, is one of the young, motivated and versatile dancers who started to dance in Trish's dance studio, The Dance Project.

Cleo's training covered many dance styles, including hip hop, jazz, contemporary, tap, musical theatre and South African styles like pantsula, kwaito and gumboot dancing. She started teaching dance to others from a very young age and this desire to improve herself and others has led her to studying the styles of the great performers, attending workshops of recognised visiting experts and working for many choreographers, dance teachers, local and international artists and dance companies. She believes that one can and should always learn something new from each different experience. A "Top 16" finalist in the SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE, Cleo has represented South Africa twice at the Las Vegas World Hip Hop Championships.

Cleo choreography for XX is augmented by solo choreography by Marcus Mabie. Both also appear in the show, alongside Kelly Atkins and Rori Bingham.

XX runs from 29 February - 9 March at the Alexander Bar's Upstairs Theatre at 7pm nightly. Tickets cost R90-R110 and can be booked online at the Alexander Bar website or purchased at the bar. For telephone bookings and enquiries, call 021 300 1652. Alexander Bar & Café is situated at 76 Strand Street in the Cape Town city centre and can be followed on Facebook and Twitter.



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