Phoenix Dance Theatre, The Rite of Spring double bill, Peacock Theatre

The Leeds-based contemporary dance ensemble Phoenix Dance Theatre joins a deluge of The Rite of Spring shows this season with its own exciting interpretation of Stravinsky’s extraordinary score.

London dance audiences have had an embarrassment of riches with versions of The Rite of Spring lately. English National Ballet danced Pina Bausch’s epic staging. Yang Liping showcased her Tibetan inspired interpretation. Seeta Patel presented an adaptation in the classical Indian dance style, Bharatanatyam. And yet to come is Yuka Oishi’s reading for Sergei Polunin’s latest ‘me’ extravaganza...

The question: what makes Phoenix Dance Theatre’s reimagining different?

The answer: the innovation of the Haitian choreographer Jeanguy Saintus.

Saintus’ reworking of The Rite of Spring for Phoenix Dance Theatre subverts the original narrative, challenging the notion of a female sacrifice. Instead, characters from Haitian folklore recount a story of ritual, ceremony and celebration.


This Caribbean-influenced Rite marks Saintus’ UK choreographic debut. The jarring rhythms of Stravinsky’s perennially popular score have been recorded by the Orchestra of Opera North in the first ever collaboration between Opera North and Phoenix Dance Theatre.

Completing this double bill of reinventions is Left Unseen, an evocative new work by the seasoned French choreographer Amaury Lebrun, who has worked with luminaries of contemporary dance such as Jerome Robbins, Jiří Kylián and William Forsythe.

Left Unseen explores inclusion and isolation by examining our instinctive reliance on the five senses.

Using precise choreography featuring moments of unison, interaction, erratic bursts of movement and sudden stillness, Lebrun poses the question: how sensitive and aware can we become when we lose one of our senses?

London dance audiences have come to expect this vibrant ensemble of eight dancers, under the dynamic directorship of Sharon Watson, to bring captivating works to the capital; so this new double bill will be highly anticipated.