Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Damien Jalet and Antony Gormley — Babel (words)
Sadler’s Wells Associate Artist Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui presents the UK premiere of Babel (words), the long-awaited final instalment of a triptych of works he started with FOI and Myth.
Once again working with Damien Jalet, co-choreographer in the three-part project, Cherkaoui will also collaborate with renowned visual artist Antony Gormley, who has created five giant boxes for Babel’s 17 dancers and musicians to work in and around.
- "An avalanche of surprising images, full of humour, imagination and poetry… a remarkable show"
- LE SOIR, BRUSSELS (29 April 2010)
Continuing his exploration of the links between ethnicity and identity, and the myths that shape our belief systems, in this new work Cherkaoui traces a path between the heavily thematic worlds of FOI and Myth, and the stark, modular aesthetics of zero degrees and Sutra.
- "Babel is not only the most innovative dance piece of the year; its language of movement is as new as Pina Bausch’s was in the seventies. It is also one of the strongest works of the year"
- TANZNETZ.DE (April 2010)
- "If there is a God, he’s definitely created Cherkaoui and Jalet to be his messengers. The trilogy Foi – Myth – Babel is of heavenly beauty"
- CJP (April 2010)
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 soundscape of voice and rhythms.
Live music includes hindu rhythms by brothers Mahabub and Sattar Khan, Kodo drumming by Shogo Yoshii and medieval music by Gabriele Miracle and long-time collaborator Patrizia Bovi (who performed in Cherkaoui and Jalet’s Myth and the recent work-in-progress Play).




