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Richard Alston Dance Company

Two key anniversaries in the career of one of Britain’s most respected choreographers are set to be celebrated with a tour coming to Norwich Theatre Royal.

Richard Alston has been creating dance for 50 years and launched his dance company 25 years ago, and is set to celebrate both milestones with a 2019 touring programme which features lyrical choreography, lively new dances and revivals of some successful works.

Following the announcement of the company’s closure in 2020, it will also be one of the final opportunities to see one of the world’s finest dance ensembles in action.

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The programme, which comes to Norwich Theatre Royal on February 22 and 23, will feature the premiere of associate choreographer Martin Lawrance’s new work Detour. Pace is at the core of this piece which features some frenzied duets and trios set to Michael Gordon’s resonant piece Timber, which has been remixed by the Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson.

Also in the programme is Proverb, one of Alston’s best-known pieces which showcases some intricately complex dancing set to the serene and cool vocal work of Steve Reich. First created to mark Reich’s 70th birthday celebrations, Richard said it mixes the harmony and style of medieval singing with an underlying pace. “Proverb made me think of the anonymous but extraordinarily skilled artisans of the Middle Ages who worked, often at real risk to their lives, on the adventurous experiments which produced the great European cathedrals,” he said.

Completing the programme will be his latest work Brahms Hungarian. Full of passionate drive and joyful gusto, fast steps and a strong fervour are demonstrated in this piece set to the music of the music of the composer himself. It also features costumes by the award-winning designer Fotini Dimou and lighting by Zeynep Kepekli who are both regular Alston collaborators.

Richard himself is also determined that his penultimate programme as well as his 2020 farewell will be something special. He said: “I will put all my energy into making sure that the last two seasons of this company are the best they have ever been.”

Richard Alston Dance Company will be at Norwich Theatre Royal from Friday 22-Saturday 23 February at 7.30pm.

Tickets £10-£23.50, Discounts for Under-25s and Groups. Pre-performance talk on Saturday 23 Feb at 6.30pm. Talk tickets are free when booking seats from the Box Office.

To book, log onto www.theatreroyalnorwich.co.uk or call the box office on 01603 630000.

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