Requiem: Journeys of the Soul - For LEEDS 2023, Opera North, Phoenix Dance Theatre & Jazzart Dance Theatre in a staged Mozart Requiem

Phoenix Dance Theatre dancers in rehearsal for Requiem (Photo: Point of View Photography)

As part of LEEDS 2023 Year of Culture, two Leeds-based companies Opera North and Phoenix Dance Theatre are joining forces with South African partners Jazzart Dance Theatre and Cape Town Opera to present a staged re-imagining of Mozart’s Requiem at the Grand Theatre, Leeds from 26 May to 4 June 2023. The collaboration follows on from Opera North and Phoenix Dance Theatre's collaborations on The Rite of Spring (2019) and West Side Story Symphonic Dances (2021).  

The performance will combine Mozart's music with that of South African composer Neo Muyanga. Muyuanga's new work for choir and orchestra, After Tears: After a Requiem was conceived as a response to Mozart’s Requiem. Both will be choreographed by Dane Hurst, guest choreographer and former artistic director of Phoenix Dance Theatre, for dancers from Phoenix and from Jazzart Dance Theatre. Garry Walker will conduct the chorus and orchestra of Opera North, with four guest soloists.

The production, conceived during the COVID-19 pandemic, takes Mozart’s music as an act of remembrance, honouring those we have lost – and examining what life means for those left behind in a reflective and hopeful expression of the beauty, brutality and brevity of life.

Full details from the Opera North website.