National Dance Company Wales to re-stage audience favourite

Nation.Cymru staff

The National Dance Company Wales is set to tour a powerful double bill performance across Wales, and make their debut at an iconic dance theatre in London, this September.

Blue | Glas opened at Malvern Theatre on Friday 11 September, and will now head to Cardiff, London, Hereford, Newtown, Mold, Tewkesbury, Bangor, Bournemouth and Aberystwyth.

The NDCWales tour restages Theo Clinkard’s much loved Ordinary Courage for a new generation, and Olivier Award-nominated choreographer and Sadler’s Wells Associate Artist, Alesandra Seutin, has created a new visceral high energy work that captures the human desire to run in Untamed.

NDCWales Artistic Director Bakani Pick Up said: “My first curated season for the company is a programme of two very different stories with shared themes we think will resonate with audiences.

“Ordinary Courage is a beautiful piece of dance. It was originally performed by Theo’s company in 2012 and we are bringing it back to stages in 2026 for new audiences to experience. Theo makes beautifully human performance and Ordinary Courage is a sincere, brave and emotional journey that I know will touch people.

“I’ve followed the work of Alesandra Seutin for a long time and knew I wanted to commission her for my first season with the company.

“In Untamed, Alesandra has an exceptional vision for bringing together people with their stories, which are told through spirited dance that keeps you on the edge of your seat.

“Both artists create work that speaks to people’s hearts, whether you’re an avid dance follower or experiencing contemporary dance for the first time.

“I’m excited to share this programme because both works present dance at its most powerful, when words are not enough.”

Grief and loss

Ordinary Courage shares a reflection on grief and loss, as well as the power of human connection. The work was originally made following the loss of the choreographer’s mother and is full of poignant moments.

The movement and mood is uplifting and cathartic, reminding us of the power of our own bodies and the people we love to carry us through difficult moments. The simple, block colour costumes are illuminated by natural lighting and the music is a hauntingly beautiful score by Alan Stones which incorporates the music of Scarlatti and Bach played by pianist Cliodna Shanahan.

Ordinary Courage was Theo Clinkard’s first work and remains his most personal, drawing on his own experience of loss, he said: “It’s a work that uses the body to talk about our attempts to navigate the uneven terrain of grief, the human need for connection and the potential for joy.

“Performance offers a beautiful space to reflect collectively with fellow audience members, as we watch we can feel the leaden weight, the shortness of breath or the healing capacity of touch.

“I feel very lucky to revisit this work with such exquisite dancers, it’s been both thrilling and moving in the studio and I really hope audiences feel it deep in their bones long after they leave the theatre.”

Who we are meant to be

Alesandra Seutin’s new piece has been commissioned by NDCWales and is rooted in the human urge to run. Running can become a metaphor for rebirth as we run away from things we want to escape and towards something new. Untamed celebrates the courage required to become who we are meant to be.

Untamed combines athletic, commanding dance with stunning costumes and lights inspired by stadium running. Accompanied by a driving soundtrack that includes traditional Welsh instruments and ancestral voices, the effect is a tour de force that will leave audiences breathless.

Composer Randolph Matthews has teamed up with Welsh harpist and vocalist Sam Frankie Fox – together they’ve worked with local singers and Welsh learners to incorporate emotive, ethereal vocals into the music.

Choreographer Alesandra Seutin said, “Untamed is Inspired by the athleticism of runners and the internal mind game of the race in relation to our own lives.

“The dancers as spirit children (inspired by Ben Okri’s “Famished Road”) return to the game of life and remain on earth to discover their own struggles and go into a confrontation with all that seeks to tame them. They stumble, they rise and remember, through fire. Through sweat.

“Through communion with one another and with forces older than memory, they will be broken apart only to discover what cannot be broken. They are brought to the edge only to find a new beginning.”

Different perspectives

National Dance Company Wales creates and presents ambitious, engaging dance work across the UK and internationally.

As a repertory company, it creates work by a range of choreographers to reflect different perspectives. Its artistic programme is driven by a commitment to create new work, discover and develop new artists and to inspire audiences and communities through high quality and enriching dance experiences.

Blue | Glas will open in Malvern on 11 September and will then tour to Sherman Theatre, Cardiff; Sadler’s Well East, London; The Courtyard, Hereford; Hafren, Newtown; Theatr Clwyd, Mold; The Roses Theatre, Tewkesbury; Pontio, Bangor; Pavilion Dance South West, Bournemouth with a final stop at Aberystwyth Arts Centre in November.

Full tour details can be found here. 

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