Urban, street and classical in new take on Coppelia in Worthing

The final date on their tour brings them to Worthing’s Connaught Theatre on Sunday, June 30 (www.wtm.uk/events/coppelia).

Artistic director and choreographer Kevan has been delighted with the response they have enjoyed wherever they have played: “It has been fantastic and we have been to some amazing places. It has been full on. In London we did four nights but otherwise it has been one nighters and we've tried to reach parts of the UK that this kind of show doesn't usually reach. The audiences have really loved it and it has been standing ovations everywhere. It has been really inspiring and we've also had a lot of people coming to the show that would not usually come to a dance show. And I think that's because of the way that we have approached the show in terms of publicity and also just the mixing of the styles of dance. We have made it much more accessible so that is not alienating. You don't need to understand anything. I think like with opera, people if they love opera understand it but other people would find it daunting. But we really try to break down the barriers. There is urban and there is street and there is classical. We are a basically dance company that sets stories to movement. We are not tied to one particular style.

“We premiered the show in London two years ago and as a company we are totally self-funding. We have to raise the funding to go on the road so for us this is a very big thing. It's our third UK tour. It has been very stressful but our aim is just to get the word out there to different areas of the country.”

Coppelia looks to honour the classical ballet while expanding on the story to make it relevant to audiences today. This retelling explores the eccentric toy maker, Dr Coppelius’ intent behind creating a life-size clockwork doll, Coppelia, and the impact this has on his relationship with the community of villagers and on Swanhilda’s relationship with her fiancé, Franz. Fusing classical ballet with contemporary dance and hip-hop, Coppelia features a cast of 13 dancers who perform to the classical Delibes score imaginatively remixed by Rickard Berg and nominated for the Critics’ Circle National Dance Award for Outstanding Creative Contribution. Berg has previously collaborated with artists including Mick Jagger, Mica Paris and Gavin Rossdale.

The company was set up before the pandemic when they workshopped, but they didn't get to do their first public London performance until after the pandemic: “Before that we had been doing online and video work but when we were able to start performing properly after the pandemic, it was completely sold out. People were very hungry for the chance to come out and we had four- and five-star reviews across the board. People were absolutely gagging to come and see it and I think people were really affected by what they saw and they were in awe of what they saw. They found it very magical, a escape for a couple of hours and they were really keen to know when it was coming on tour so that they would get the chance to see it again or to see it for the first time.”