Marc Brew and Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui Bring London Premiere of AN ACCIDENT / A LIFE to Sadler's Wells East
Performances run Thursday 25 – Saturday 27 September.
Internationally renowned Disabled artist Marc Brew and Sadler's Wells Associate Artist Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui present the London premiere of their collaboration an Accident / a Life - a Sadler's Wells co-commission at Sadler's Wells East from Thursday 25 – Saturday 27 September.
Bringing together two leaders within the dance world, this stunning visual theatre piece unravels moments in our lives, exploring difficult things using humour, storytelling, film, music, dance and a car.
For the artists, the starting point was sharing life stories and key moments of change. For Marc, this was his car accident, where he went from ballet dancer to paraplegic in a split second. This moment transformed Brew's relationship to movement, cultivating a fresh approach to dance.
The work, that saw two National Dance Award nominations in 2024 for Best Modern Choreography and Outstanding Male Modern Performance, takes the audience on a candid, generous and ultimately life-affirming journey.
This run marks the show's London premiere, following its international premiere at Holland Dance Festival in 2024 before taking in England, Scotland and Switzerland.
an Accident / a Life follows on from Brew's notable solos For Now I am… and Remember When, and his return to Sadler's Wells. To coincide with an Accident / a Life, Cherkaoui also presents the UK premiere of Vlaemsch (chez moi) at Sadler's Wells Theatre on Thursday 18-Saturday 20 September.
Talking about an Accident / a Life, Marc Brew said, “It has been an amazing journey collaborating with Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui who believed in me and the importance of this story being told and presented on stage.
It's a roller coaster ride of moving moments from my life that reflect the power of the human spirit, resilience in the face of adversity and how humour can help during difficult or challenging times.
I am very excited to return to Sadler's Wells and bring an Accident / a Life to London, performing and sharing the work at Sadler's Wells East.”
Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui said, "Returning to Sadler's Wells, with two dance theatre works I recently created feels like a gentle homecoming. Both the collaboration with Marc Brew an Accident / a Life and Vlaemsch (chez moi), which I made as an ode to my Flemish mother, delve into the complexities of identity and the meaning of feeling ‘safe', searching for a ‘home' away from home.
Both theatrical pieces address as well the layered feelings we can harbour for the mothers in our lives. Vlaemsch (chez moi) seeks to reflect the complex and rich cultural tapestry of Flanders. Whilst an Accident / a Life, bridges Marc Brew's intense journey from South Africa all the way back to his motherland Australia.
I believe both these works, these gatherings of different cultural stories, identities and geographies, can resonate positively in cosmopolitan London. They tackle the highs and lows of life, and inspire resilience and patience in the face of adversity. I hope the audience might find something of themselves in these two works, or feel transported somewhere new to discover, to calmly share space and time… to laugh also at ourselves."
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