Published: 11 Oct 2021
Thank You Very Much - photo credit Hugo Glendinning
International tour of award-winning show to festivals and venues in Switzerland, Sweden and Germany from 21 October to 12 December 2021
National Theatre of Scotland and Manchester International Festival (MIF) in association with Claire Cunningham Projects are delighted to announce a return to international touring with pioneering artist Claire Cunningham’s award-winning contemporary dance performance Thank You Very Much, inspired by the glittering world of the tribute artist. This ambitious and powerful meditation on identity and acceptance and the challenges of being yourself will open at the Dampfzentrale, Bern as part of the Tanz in Bern festival, before touring to Mousonturm in Frankfurt for the Tanzfestival Rhein-Main; DansFunk Festival 3.0 at Skänes Dansteater in Malmö;Sophiensäle in Berlin, and Kampnagel Hamburg as part of NORDWIND Festival 2021.
Thank You Very Much sees Claire Cunningham and her ensemble of leading disabled performers invite audiences to join them as they pull back the curtain on the glittering and mysterious world of the tribute artist, taking to the floor with wit, glitz and a pulsating soundtrack. A performance that navigates up, down and all around society's ideas of normality, and shakes up the myth of how bodies should be. The dancers pull on their sparkling costumes and ask: Who have we been trying to be all our lives? Has it ever been our choice? And what really is "the wonder of you"?
Glasgow-based choreographer and performer Claire Cunningham is one of Europe’s most acclaimed disabled artists. In 2021 Claire was honoured for her Outstanding Artistic Development in dance at the German Dance Awards. Thank You Very Much won a Critics Award for Theatre in Scotland 2020 for Best Ensemble (Claire Cunningham, Tanja Erhart, Vicky Malin and Dan Daw) and Best Music and Sound (Matthias Herrmann). Thank You Very Much premiered at MIF in 2019 to critical acclaim followed by performances in Dusseldorf, Glasgow and London.
“a life-affirming display of community spirit that would make Elvis quiver with pride.”
★★★★★ The Herald
“compelling and illuminating.” ★★★★ Guardian
Thank You Very Much was commissioned by National Theatre of Scotland, Manchester International Festival, and Perth Festival in association with tanzhaus nrw and Dance Umbrella and produced by National Theatre of Scotland and Manchester International Festival in association with Claire Cunningham Projects. The project has been supported by the National Lottery through Creative Scotland.
Claire Cunningham is a performer and creator of multi-disciplinary performance based in Glasgow, Scotland. One of the UK’s most acclaimed and internationally renowned disabled artists, Cunningham's work is often rooted in the study and use/misuse of her crutches and the exploration of the potential of her own specific physicality with a conscious rejection of traditional dance techniques (developed for non-disabled bodies). Thank You Very Much is her first work for MIF. The National Theatre of Scotland first collaborated with Claire Cunningham on Ménage à Trois (Paterson's Land at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and touring) in 2012.
Join the conversation: #TYVM
Touring to Dampfzentrale, Bern, Switzerland - Tanz In Bern festival (21 - 22 October 2021); Mousonturm, Frankfurt, Germany - Tanzfestival Rhein-Main (3 - 5 November 2021); Skänes Dansteater, Malmö,Sweden - DansFunk Festival 3.0 (11 - 12 November 2021); Sophiensäle, Berlin, Germany (3 - 5 December 2021); Kampnagel Hamburg, Germany - NORDWIND Festival 2021 (10 – 12 December 2021)
Full tour dates, booking info: nationaltheatrescotland.com
