Meg Stuart, UNTIL OUR HEARTS STOP, Sadler's Wells

Born in America, choreographer Meg Stuart is now based in Brussels, where she works with her company, Damaged Goods, to explore physical and emotional states – or the memories of them – through improvisation.

Fascinated by the notion of the body as uncertain, vulnerable and self-reflexive, Stuart’s approach to movement is always evolving. Her compositions question what 'dance' might really encompass, as she strives to redefine her choreography and embrace new ways of presenting it.

UNTIL OUR HEARTS STOP is performed by Damaged Goods to live music by the Münchner Kammerspiele, with whom Stuart has had a fruitful collaboration for the past few years.

It is inspired by people who retreat from the real world and construct their own rules. Throughout, six dancers and three jazz musicians negotiate the boundaries of intimacy.

Finding themselves in a place that is both a safe refuge and a hotbed of rivalry, they are liberated to connect with each other in uncomfortable yet playful ways. But is there really any escape from the social conventions limiting how we relate to each other?


Stuart explains: 'Based on my experiences with contact improvisation, I was eager to test some ideas about contact and touch. Where does one body end and another begin? Where lie our personal borders? (…) I was curious how to create a sense of intimacy in a theatrical setting. In a way, it is all a game of borders.'

The music reflects this soul-searching spontaneity as the choreography is set to a semi-improvised soundscape of throbbing basses, piano and drums.

UNTIL OUR HEARTS STOP will visit Sadler’s Wells for just one performance, so London the more adventurous dance audiences should get booking to seize this rare opportunity to experience Stuart’s approach.

Age guidance: 14+ (contains some nudity)

Pre-show talk: Wednesday 15th November at 6pm, £4