Newcastle’s Dance City is bringing some of the brightest and best talent to the North-East

PRESENTING the biggest and most ambitious programme of dance performances outside London is becoming the norm for Newcastle’s Dance City.

The line-up for spring and summer includes National Dance Company Wales, Arthur Pita Dance and National Youth Dance Company; family shows from award-winning Second Hand Dance and Padi Dapi Fish and North-East showcases for Lo-Giudice Dance and Eliot Smith Company, plus a number of community shows and the annual Northern Platforms event.

Political and social issues around gender, identity and sexuality are explored in works by 201 Dance Company and Paniclab. For those who like their work edgy enough to draw blood, there are plenty of options including the all-male 2Faced Dance, a double bill from Dance City Associate Artists Peter Groom and Ella Mesna, and a new work from multi-award-winning Rosie Kay Dance Company.

Kicking off the season is a romantic and wild new work by North-East choreographer Anthony Lo-Giudice. Savages (Saturday, March 11) conjures up folklore, history and the soil of the ancient landscape against a Nordic-noir soundtrack by Einar Selvik, founder of the band Wardruna.

Lo-Giudice says: “We’d love audiences to be taken to another world with this piece. For one hour, we want people to feel like they have stepped into a portal that has taken them back over 1,000 years and they have become spectators in a series of unfolding scenes, both dark and beautiful. The music in itself should take the audiences to another world. Wardruna fuse ancient Scandinavian runes with battle cries and hauntingly beautiful song, which in itself is something quite exciting to experience when the bass of the drum can be felt through the floor and the chants of ancient words lead the dancers through their stories. People who love watching the physicality of dance will find pleasure in this piece, whilst those who love history and storytelling will feel engaged with the themes of the work.”

National Dance Company Wales makes a welcome return on Saturday, March 18 and Sunday, March 19 with a must-see double bill. Playful, vibrant and provocative; Profundis dares us to ask questions about what things are, and what they are not. Choreographer Roy Assaf's thoughtful movement is accompanied by an exotic soundtrack featuring Egypt's Umm Kulthum. Then in The Green House, Caroline Finn takes us on a nostalgic journey through a twisted TV set, where characters discover the fine line between fantasy and reality.

The Green House is Finn’s second theatrical work as Artistic Director for NDCWales, following the overwhelming success of Folk last year. There is a free open rehearsal on Saturday, March 18, where onlookers can sketch, record and photograph the dancers just hours before they perform on stage. Pre- and post-show talks are also available.

In Run (Friday, March 31), the all-male 2Faced Dance Company performs three unique, explosive and beautiful works from three female choreographers, all of which explore the human response to fear.

The first family show is Getting Dressed by Second Hand Dance (Saturday, April 22). It’s for children aged four to seven years and is a colourful dive into the texture and movement of the clothes we wear and how we wear them. The performance is followed by a free "stay and play" session, and there is a Kid Compatibility Quiz on the Dance City website for parents to find out if their children might enjoy the show.

MK Ultra (Friday, April 28 and Saturday, April 29) is an explosive new work by award-winning choreographer Rosie Kay, inspired by the bizarre realm of pop culture mind control conspiracies.

There have been, for a number of years, rumours that Jay-Z and Beyonce, Rihanna, Kanye, Miley Cyrus, Britney Spears, Lady Gaga, and many more are members of this secret society. The internet has had a field day poking around the pop stars' videos and stage visuals looking for occult symbolism and the famous "eye-in-the-triangle". Illuminati will feature Lady Gaga designer Gary Card's first costumes for contemporary dance, which are currently still in the R&D phase and have yet to be revealed. Also listed as a Creative Collaborator on MK Ultra is Bafta Award-winning subversive documentarist Adam Curtis. There's a free pre-show discussion on Friday, April 28.

White Lullaby (Sun 7 May) is a delightful children’s show by Lithuanian company Padi Dapi Fish, allowing North-East children to immerse themselves in the journey of a little bunny who travels to a dream world and finds love and family isn’t always what we expect.

Award-winning director and choreographer, Arthur Pita, presents his wickedly gruesome, darkly surreal new double bill Stepmother/Stepfather on Saturday, May 13.

Arthur Pita’s recent international sell-out success includes: The Metamorphosis at the Royal Opera House, Linbury Theatre which won the South Bank Award, National Dance Award and an Olivier Award nomination; Facada for Russian ballet stars Natalia Osipova and Ivan Vasiliev (London, New York, Moscow) and The Little Match Girl, which returns to Sadler’s Wells for its third year running.

A free post-show discussion will take place immediately after the performance with the company which all ticket holders are welcome to stay for.

Up-and-coming young North-East Choreographer, Eliot Smith, presents his new work on Friday, May 19, with a double bill celebrating the famous Ashington group of art loving miners, made famous through The Pitman Painters play. We Got The Beat is the second piece and is an abstract work by Netherlands Dance Theatre ballet master Maurice Causey.

After a five-star sell-out run at Edinburgh Fringe, 201 Dance Company is heading to Newcastle with Smother on Friday, May 26. Award-winning choreographer Andrea Walker directs of cast of seven dancers in this raw contemporary hip-hop performance which explores the relationship between two young men.

The National Youth Dance Company returns on Saturday, July 1, to perform a new work created by NYDC guest artistic director Damien Jalet. Tarantiseismic is a new commission which sees the company of 40 young dancers working together. Since NYDC always sells out, Dance City has added a matinee.

Rounding off the season in anarchic style, Theseus Beefcake (Friday, July 7) journeys into the dark labyrinth of masculinity, colliding with mixed martial arts, death metal, American frat culture, rodeos, pornography and Greek mythology along the way. Presented by Pancilab as part of Curious? The LGBTQ Festival 2017.

There is a Theatre Season Launch Event on Wednesday, February 1, at 7pm, led by Dance City’s artistic director Anthony Baker. Attendees will get ten per cent off performance bookings on the night. Box Office: dancecity.co.uk/performances or 0191-261-0505. Book 2 shows for £22, three shows £33 or four shows £44.