Julie Cunningham's TO BE ME Comes to Pyramid

An intimate and intriguing show from a 'one to watch' choreographer is to grace the Pyramid stage next week.

Set to the poetry of spoken word artist and rapper Kate Tempest, Julie Cunningham's To Be Me explores the themes of gender, identity and the changing body.

Based on the Greek myth of Tiresias - the blind prophet, born a man and transformed into a woman by the gods - Tempest's verse becomes the accompaniment to a striking and uncompromising choreographic work.

It will be complemented by m/e, a new solo made and danced by Cunningham, in a double bill which explores the themes of gender, identity and the body.

Julie said: "I'm excited to be coming to Warrington for a performance at Pyramid.

"Fresh from the success of our recent premiere at Sadler's Wells with new work m/y, I'm looking forward to presenting this new double bill with audiences in the UK and internationally."

Julie is also hosting a series of dance technique and creative workshops with students from Warrington schools and colleges as well as taking part in talks on pathways to progression within further education and potential careers in dance.

She added: "I look forward to working with young people in the area before the shows, sharing my experiences of being a professional dancer and now making my own work.

"I'm passionate about sharing my experiences of performing and themes about gender with young people and LGBTQ+ young people in order to explore and celebrate individuality and creativity."

The project came about thanks to a partnership between Culture Warrington, the charity which runs Pyramid & Parr Hall, and the Wolves Foundation.

Leah Biddle, arts and inclusion manager for the Wolves Foundation, added: "It's incredibly important for Culture Warrington and the Wolves Foundation to tackle the cultural education challenge schools are currently facing.

"We strive to create the dancers, choreographers and artists of the future and hope to inspire young people through working with a high calibre artist such as Julie."

To Be Me exemplifies the extraordinary technical ability of choreographer and dancers alike.

In m/e, Julie is in search of a new kind of desired and desiring female body.

The performances draw on The Lesbian Body, the radical 1973 novel by Monique Wittig, and work "to recite one's own body, to recite the body of the other" entirely outside of the masculine gaze.

Born in Liverpool and trained at the Rambert School, Julie Cunningham is an award-winning performer who spent many years working with Merce Cunningham in New York before returning to Britain to join the Michael Clark Company.

In September 2016, Cunningham established her own company with the aim of finding new movement vocabularies, addressing questions of gender identity and challenging gender roles.

Julie Cunningham is a New Wave Associate at Sadler's Wells and an Associate Artist at Dance East, and Julie Cunningham & Company is an Associate Company of Rambert.