Requiem for Aleppo

“Aleppo is no longer – all that is left is its stories” (anonymous citizen of Aleppo)

Whatever one’s views on the wider conflict, surely there is no-one who can claim not to be shocked by the near total destruction of the Syrian city of Aleppo, and the humanitarian disaster that is taking place there.

For one evening in April, things will be brought to the fore at Sadler’s Wells with Requiem for Aleppo, a new work created and conceived by composer David Cazalet with choreography by Jason Mabana. The night will be introduced by BBC World Affairs editor John Simpson, and all money raised will go to support the work of charities Syria Relief, the largest Syria focused charity registered in the UK, and Techfugees, a social enterprise coordinating the international tech community’s response to the needs of refugees, who will live stream the show through social media channels.

Requiem for Aleppo will contain 12 dancers from across the world. Cazalet’s original music is a combination of Requiem Mass lyrics set to choral music, linked by Arabic poetry from the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries, also set to music, and interpolated throughout with the voices of people from Aleppo telling their real-life stories – stories gathered from recent interviews and which have fed into the development of the work.

David Cazalet says, “I want Requiem for Aleppo to be a reminder, now and ongoing, of the suffering of a people and what the world has lost. It is an appeal to our common humanity – an expression of grief articulated in movement, song and design. It is a refusal to pay silent witness to a humanitarian crisis. Requiem for Aleppo is written in memoriam for the lives that have been lost, destroyed, dislocated and displaced, it is a lament for the destruction of a city of great sophistication, history and tolerance whose loss is humanity’s loss.”

The dancers taking part are Arabella Scalisi (Italy), Beno Novac (Slovenia), Elisa Chou (Spain), Hae Haeyeon Lim (South Korea), Ines Pinheiro (Portugal), Jessica Eirado Enes (Italy), Naima Souhair (The Netherlands), Raoul Riva (France), Rob Bridger (UK), Sarina Sitinjak (Canada), Simone Zambelli (Italy) and Wennah Wilkers (The Netherlands)

Further info on creative team can be found at www.requiemforaleppo.com.

Requiem for Aleppo is at Sadler’s Wells on Sunday April 23, 2017.
For tickets (£100 VIP, £15 Standard), visit click here or call the box office on 020 7863 8000.