Internationally renowned choreographer Mamela Nyamza makes her Barbican debut, assembling 10 dancers, an opera singer and an African traditional multi-instrumentalist to perform the UK premiere of HATCHED ENSEMBLE, her urgent and subtly spectacular work. 

Clad in costumes covered in clothes pegs and balanced timidly en pointe while Camille Saint-Saëns’ The Swan plays, the dancers challenge gender norms while juxtaposing references to Western classical dance and music, and South African vocals. 

Mamela Nyamza has won many accolades for her activism-focused creations. HATCHED ENSEMBLE continues her work which unapologetically demystifies and deconstructs the history of dance, interrogating the accepted norms of the classics. 

Presented by Dance Umbrella and Barbican. Supported by British Council, Cockayne Foundation and the Edwin Fox Foundation. 

Photo: Mark Wessels