The QDance Company Will Make UK Debut With Re:INCARNATION

This autumn, Nigeria’s ground-breaking The QDance Company led by choreographer Qudus Onikeku will make its UK debut with Re:INCARNATION, an explosive mix of dance, colour, sound, visuals and energy. The show opens on 18 & 19 September at the Southbank Centre's Queen Elizabeth Hall before embarking on a nine-venue UK tour.

Onikeku created Re:INCARNATION in 2021 as an ode to the riches of Nigerian culture. His dance, music, fashion and visual art fusion mixes ancient Yoruba philosophy with the rhythm and spirit of the country’s hyper-vibrant youth culture – and puts Lagos on stage in a way that’s never done before.

Re:INCARNATION is the result of six years of continuous movement research around body memory with young dancers in Nigeria. Its ten young dancers are strikingly individual, each brings their own personal journey to the stage and together they embody Yoruba’s ever-turning cycle of birth, death and rebirth. Dressed in a kaleidoscopic array of colour and cloth, body paint, masks and props, they move with exuberant energy and uncompromising joy.

Two live musicians on drums and electric guitar, often joined by trance-like vocals from the dancers, bring some of the wealth and profusion of Nigerian music to the stage. The score is a vibrant blend of hip-hop, contemporary music and Afrobeats, itself an ecstatic fusion of genres including juju music, jazz, soul and highlife. 

Nigeria has the largest population of youth in the world - around 70% of the population is under 30 and 42% under the age of 15*. And by 2099 Lagos is set to be the biggest city in the world.

Qudus Onikeku says: “I am excited to introduce The QDance Company to audiences across the UK. The key thing for me is to show what dance can be in contemporary Africa, it feels like we are starting something. This is Afrodance, young Africans talking. Re:INCARNATION is about bringing Lagos on stage in a way that’s never been seen before – its groove, its history and what the city means to so many people.“

The Southbank Centre has become the latest member of Dance Consortium, a group of 19 large-scale venues with a shared mission to tour the best international contemporary dance across the UK and Ireland.

Performance Dates

Wednesday 18 September and Thursday 19 September at 7.30pm
Southbank Centre's Queen Elizabeth Hall LONDON
Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX
Tickets: 0203 879 9555 / www.southbankcentre.co.uk

Saturday 21 September at 7.30pm
MILTON KEYNES Theatre
500 Marlborough Gate, Milton Keynes MK9 3NZ
Tickets: 0333 009 6690 / www.atgtickets.com/miltonkeynes

Tuesday 24 and Wednesday 25 September at 7.30pm
The Marlowe Theatre, CANTERBURY
The Friars, Canterbury CT1 2AS
Tickets: 01227 787787 / https://marlowetheatre.com/

Tuesday 1 October and Wednesday 2 October at 7.30pm
Brighton Dome BRIGHTON
Church St, Brighton BN1 1UE
Tickets: 01273 709709 / https://brightondome.org/

Saturday 5 October at 7.30pm
Nottingham Playhouse
Wellington Circus, Nottingham NG1 5AF
Tickets: 0115 941 9419 / www.nottinghamplayhouse.co.uk

Tuesday 8 and Wednesday 9 October at 7.30pm
The Lowry, SALFORD
Pier 8, The Quays, Salford M50 3AZ
Tickets: 0161 876 2000 / https://thelowry.com/

Friday 11 and Saturday 12 October at 7.30pm
HULL New Theatre
Kingston Square, Hull HU1 3HF
Tickets:  01482 300306 / https://www.hulltheatres.co.uk/

Tuesday 15 and Wednesday 16 October at 7.30pm
Newcastle Theatre Royal
100 Grey St, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 6BR
Tickets: 0191 232 7010 / www.theatreroyal.co.uk

Friday 18 and Saturday 19 October at 7.30pm
EDINBURGH Festival Theatre
13-29 Nicolson St, Edinburgh EH8 9FT
Tickets: 0131 529 6000 / www.capitaltheatres.com