Claire Cunningham's THANK YOU VERY MUCH Will Embark on Tour

National Theatre of Scotland and Manchester International Festival (MIF) in association with Claire Cunningham Projects and Kunstenfestivaldesarts have announced the return of pioneering artist Claire Cunningham's award-winning contemporary dance performance Thank You Very Much, which pulls back the curtain on the glittering world of the tribute artist. This ambitious and powerful meditation on identity and acceptance and the challenges of being yourself will open at the KVS BOX, Brussels as part of the Kunstenfestivaldesarts, before touring to Hannover for the Theaterformen Festival; ZAMEK Culture Centre in Poznań, Poland, and finally to Oslo to the CODA Oslo International Dance Festival.

Thank You Very Much sees Claire Cunningham and her ensemble of leading disabled performers invite audiences to join them as they pull back the curtain on the glittering and mysterious world of the tribute artist, taking to the floor with wit, glitz, and a pulsating soundtrack. A performance that navigates up, down and all-around society's ideas of normality, and shakes up the myth of how bodies should be. The dancers pull on their sparkling costumes and ask: Who have we been trying to be all our lives? Has it ever been our choice? And what really is "the wonder of you"?

Glasgow-based choreographer and performer Claire Cunningham is one of Europe's most acclaimed disabled artists. In 2021 Claire was honoured for her Outstanding Artistic Development in dance at the German Dance Awards. Thank You Very Much won two Critics Awards for Theatre in Scotland 2020 for Best Ensemble (Claire Cunningham, Tanja Erhart, Vicky Malin, and Dan Daw) and Best Music and Sound (Matthias Herrmann). Thank You Very Much premiered at MIF in 2019 to critical acclaim followed by performances in Dusseldorf, Glasgow, and London. In 2021 the production successfully toured to a variety of festivals in Switzerland, Germany, and Sweden.

Thank You Very Much was commissioned by National Theatre of Scotland, Manchester International Festival, and Perth Festival in association with tanzhaus nrw and Dance Umbrella and produced by National Theatre of Scotland and Manchester International Festival in association with Claire Cunningham Projects. The project has been supported by the National Lottery through Creative Scotland.

The production's touring to Poland and Norway is part of the Obecność / Presence project of the Zamek Culture Centre in Poznań, and made possible by the Norwegian and EEA (European Economic Area) Funds.

Claire Cunningham is a performer and creator of multi-disciplinary performance based in Glasgow, Scotland. One of the UK's most acclaimed and internationally renowned disabled artists, Cunningham's work is often rooted in the study and use/misuse of her crutches and the exploration of the potential of her own specific physicality with a conscious rejection of traditional dance techniques (developed for non-disabled bodies). Thank You Very Much is her first work for MIF. The National Theatre of Scotland first collaborated with Claire Cunningham on Ménage à Trois (Paterson's Land at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and touring) in 2012.

Touring to KVS BOX, Brussels - Kunstenfestivaldesarts (25-28 May 2023); Hannover, Germany - Theaterformen festival (28 & 29 June 2023); ZAMEK Culture Centre, Poznan, Poland (12 & 13 October 2023); CODA Oslo International Dance Festival, Norway (20 & 21 October 2023).

Full tour dates, booking info: nationaltheatrescotland.com