Shobana Jeyasingh Dance’s TooMortal

Posted on August 19, 2021

Shobana Jeyasingh Dance’s TooMortal, created for historic church settings, returns to London for four shows only on September 24 and 25. After premiering at the Venice Biennale in 2012, the work has been performed in churches throughout the world and in 2019 was chosen as one of the Guardian’s best dance works of the 21st century.

Created for an all-female cast, TooMortal places the audience at the altar and its six crimson-clad performers in the pews. Sound artist Cassiel remixes the haunting chorales and tolling bells of James MacMillan’s Tenebrae Responsories for the piece, with cinematic lighting by Yaron Abulafia.

Jeyasingh says: “It is wonderful to have the opportunity to look afresh at a dance work with a new cast. I very much hope that its themes and images will find an added resonance now.” For booking information, go to shobanajeyasingh.co.uk/works/TooMortal.

Pictured: Shobana Jeyasingh Dance in TooMortal. Photograph: Yaron Abulafia.

Nicola Rayner

Nicola Rayner was editor of Dance Today from 2010 to 2015. She has written for a number of publications including The Guardian, The Independent and Time Out Buenos Aires, where she cut her teeth as a dance journalist working on the tango section. Today she continues to dance everything from ballroom to breakdance, with varying degrees of success. Her debut novel, The Girl Before You, was published last year in paperback, ebook and audiobook.