Théâtre national de la Danse Rachid Ouramdane Presents Corps extrêmes at Sadler's Wells Theatre in May

Choreographer and Director of Chaillot - Théâtre national de la Danse Rachid Ouramdane presents Corps extrêmes at Sadler's Wells Theatre on Tuesday 23 & Wednesday 24 May.

The show is an exploration of flight and freedom on a set where the mountains meet the stage. Documentary footage of extraordinary feats of daring in natural landscapes is projected onto a large on-stage climbing wall, which athletes and acrobats progress across while also testing their nerves on a tightrope suspended high above.

Two trailblazing figures in extreme sports - French highliner Nathan Paulin and Swiss rock-climber Nina Caprez - leave their natural playgrounds to share the stage with eight acrobats, including flyer Airelle Caen.

Paulin is the World Record holder for the longest highline: a 2,200-meter-long (nearly 1.4-mile) walk at Mont-Saint-Michel, a UNESCO world heritage site in France. Paulin has also notably walked mid-air between the Eiffel Tower and Chaillot - Théâtre national de la Danse for Les Traceurs, another project spearheaded by Ouramdane.

In Corps extrêmes, the ensemble comes together in an aerial dance to test the boundaries of trust within the group while pushing their own physical and emotional strengths. The production, which alludes to the myth of Icarus and Daedalus and the insatiable quest to escape gravity, is a reflection on freedom, frailty, risk and fear.

Jean-Baptiste Julien's score merges with voice-overs from the athletes and provides a soundtrack to the performers as they push themselves to the limits.

Choreographer Rachid Ouramdane continues his work with Compagnie XY following Mobius in 2019, this time to expand on his desire to be "really focused on the fascination of the wish to take-off, to drift, a state of weightlessness, a suspension..."

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