DeNada Dance Theatre returns to Leeds
with a transgender dance-drama
DeNada Dance Theatre
Mariposa
Friday 03 April
Stanley & Audrey Burton Theatre, Leeds
Following the success of their visit in 2018, DeNada Dance Theatre returns to Leeds on 03 April with their latest dance theatre work, Mariposa. A transgender tragedy inspired by Puccini’s Madame Butterfly, Mariposa is choreographed by Artistic Director Carlos Pons Guerra, alumnus of Leeds’ own Northern School of Contemporary Dance.
In Pons Guerra’s dance reimagining of Puccini’s seminal opera, action takes place in a Caribbean port as a local rent boy and a foreign sailor fall ominously in love. Mariposa transports Puccini’s libretto to the turbulent political repression of post-revolution Cuba, to a dockland world of faded showgirls, troubled sailors, and santeria (voodoo-like) spirits. Engulfed in a tropical storm of repressed desires, this new production is an exploration of what we are ready to sacrifice in order to be loved and accepted.
Set to an original score by award-winning Spanish composer Luis Miguel Cobo, Mariposa takes its inspiration from Caribbean sounds as well as Puccini, with libretto by French-Indian writer Karthika Nair. Designs are by Ryan Dawson Laight, and lighting is by Barnaby Booth.
Carlos Pons Guerra says: ‘Leeds is, for me, a city of opportunity and creativity. It is because of the support of its organisations – NSCD, Yorkshire Dance, Northern Ballet – that my career took flight, so I feel very humbled that I can share this new work with the city. Mariposa tells the narrative of the queer ‘other’, and Leeds’ diversity has always inspired me to tell the untold stories that add colour to our cultural tapestry. I hope that the audiences in Leeds, and anyone who has ever felt ‘other’, feels represented in this work. It is always an honour to perform in Yorkshire, who welcomed me so beautifully over fifteen years ago.’
Tickets for Mariposa by DeNada Dance Theatre at the Stanley & Audrey Burton Theatre, Leeds are on sale now and can be booked online at theatreleeds.com or by calling the Box Office on 0113 220 8008. Tickets are priced at £18.50, and there is an age guidance of 12+ due to content of a sexual nature.