Ballet National De Marseille Will Perform UK Premiere of (LA)HORDE's ROOMMATES

This Friday, 1 March 2024, sees the UK premiere of Roommates: a work by hyper-realist dance collective (LA)HORDE, in collaboration with Ballet national de Marseille at London's Southbank Centre. Dancers from the acclaimed contemporary ballet company will perform six pieces - from minimalist to hyper-realist - to celebrate the breadth of (LA)HORDE's influences (1 March - 3 March 2024).

By bringing such diverse works together for this three-day run, (LA)HORDE, who have directed Ballet national de Marseille since 2019, also aims to challenge the notion of archives and heritage, considering the way in which pieces are appropriated or re-appropriated.

Grime Ballet - Dance Because You Can't Talk to Animals by Cecilia Bengolea and François Chaignaud draws on previous collaborations which used elements of ballet, Jamaican dancehall, krump, house and split and jump. Here their work is combined with the intensity of grime, the electronic music genre that emerged in east London in the early 2000s.

Weather is Sweet by (LA)HORDE is a new work in which the dancers embody self-love. They play with amorous narcissism, deconstruct amorous forms and celebrate the freedom of loving, of existing, of being deprived, of wearing yourself out looking, consuming, struggling to exist.

Oiwa by Peeping Tom is inspired by the Japanese legend of the same name. It's a tale of desire, the forces at work in a couple's relationship, and a ghost.

Concerto by Lucinda Childs features black-clad dancers moving against a grey background. It's paired with Henryk Górecki's music, whose nonlinear structures disrupt the minimalist lines of Childs' choreography.

Les Indomptés by Claude Brumachon and Benjamin Lamarche has been performed hundreds of times all over the world. The pair stage this two-hander again for this programme, offering a blend of volcanic activity and sensuality, softness and brutality.

The 15-minute excerpt from Room With A View by (LA)HORDE is set to music by RONE. The piece expresses the legitimate anger felt by today's generations as they seek to rally communities of celebration, and battle to make sense of it all.

Production by Ballet national de Marseille; direction by (LA)HORDE. Co-produced by Théâtre de la Ville, Paris. With the support of Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels.

Roommates runs at the Southbank Centre's Queen Elizabeth Hall from Friday 1 March to Sunday 3 March 2024. Tickets are available online now at www.southbankcentre.co.uk.

Photo credit: Aude Arago