Cowpuncher: Holly Blakey & Mica Levi, QEH

Put together the Vivienne Westwood couture house, the punk-inspired choreography of Holly Blakey and the genre-busting music of Mica Levi and what do you get? Why, Cowpuncher, of course!

A dance and music performance inspired by Western movies, Cowpuncher aims to create a new language of movement and at the same time challenge the tropes of the genre.

The set recreates the desert, and the desert becomes the dance floor. On it dancers kitted out by Andreas Kronthaler for Vivienne Westwood Spring-Summer 2018 collection, will strut their stuff in the process questioning contemporary sexual politics. Their clothes, naturally, are a key element of the performance, helping define their identities as characters in this iconoclastic take on the Western.

The award-winning choreographer Holly Blakey is perhaps best known for her work on music videos for the likes of Coldplay, Ellie Goulding and Florence + the Machine, to name but a few. Her aim is to break the mould of distinct dance genres, by bringing an anarchic, punk-based tone to her current work.

Musician Mica Levi’s film soundtracks have also won awards, including European Film Award for Best Composer for her score for Jonathan Glazer’s Under The Skin; and more recently she earned an Oscar nomination for her score for the film Jackie.

Put together all these talents, plus a newly refurbished QEH and you have the makings of an exciting, amusing and thought-provoking evening.