Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Antony Gormley, Shaolin Temple Monks

One of Sadler’s Wells’ most successful productions, Sutra returns to London as part of a Dance Consortium tour, on its fifth anniversary after touring around the globe to sell-out audiences.

Sutra, a ‘unique, profoundly imagined work’ (The Guardian), is a collaboration between one of Europe’s most exciting choreographers, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Turner Prize-winning sculptor Antony Gormley and 17 practicing Buddhist monks from the Shaolin Temple in China. Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui (who is a big Bruce Lee fan) spent several months at the Shaolin Temple before devising his awe- inspiring piece.

Gormley’s stage setting consists of 21 wooden boxes which are carried or pushed around the stage by the monks, becoming walls, boats, beds, skyscrapers, toys, temples – whatever is needed.

Shaolin monks see themselves as a conduit for universal energy and transformation. Coupled with the discipline of their ancient martial arts heritage, the monks turn Sutra’s spectacular movement quite literally into leaps of faith; this is dance at its most moving and eloquent.

“This unique, profoundly imagined show takes the concept of cultural exchange to a whole new level”
The Guardian