Babel (Words)

Presented by Sydney Festival in association with Sydney Theatre

Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Damien Jalet and Antony Gormley (Belgium)

Australian Premiere

‘The most fiercely resonant dance theatre of the decade.' The Guardian

‘An avalanche of surprising images, full of humour, imagination and poetry... a remarkable show.' Le Soir, Brussels

Two of Europe's hottest dancer-choreographers Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Damien Jalet bring a company of 18 dancers and musicians to Sydney with this swirling maelstrom of identity, ethnicity and culture.

Language (both spoken and physical) and space emerge as the driving forces behind all human interaction, as Cherkaoui and Jalet combine western contemporary dance with different movement styles from around the world against a thrilling soundscape of voice and rhythms.

Through an intense vocal fusion of East and West, live Hindi beats, taiko drumming and medieval music, the dancers rush, herd or isolate themselves amongst a towering set of cubes created by British sculptor Antony Gormley.

Sydney has already experienced the collaborative power of Cherkaoui and Gormley, with Zero Degrees, which opened Sydney Festival 2007, and the transcendental Sutra (2010).

A work of both heavenly beauty and despair, Babel is the climax of Cherkaoui's uncompromising exploration of the links between ethnicity and identity and the myths that shape our beliefs.

Produced by Eastman and Théâtre Royal de la Monnaire.

Latecomers will not be admitted during the first 10 minutes of this performance.