Details

A new dance theatre event exploring the phenomenon of dance marathons in 1930s America. In 1923 a 32-year old woman named Alma Cummings danced for 27 hours straight setting a new dance endurance record. The craze for dance marathons soon developed and became extremely popular during the American depression of the 1930s. This brutal fascination attracted desperate couples to dance until they dropped, in a bid to win a life-transforming cash prize. Participants remained on the dance floor, almost non-stop, for hundreds of hours, in fact most dance marathons lasted for 6 to 12 weeks. The longest recorded marathon clocked up 3780 hours; which stretched to almost 5 months. Contestants had to be in continual motion for 45 minutes out of every hour, day and night, and were disqualified if both knees touched the floor. This cruel and exploitative form of ?entertainment', that drove some to their death, was eventually outlawed in 1937. The World's Greatest Show is the new official title for the production. It replaces the working title Nobody's Baby. Running time: 2hrs inclu. a 20min interval.

Cast/Performers

Ewan Wardrop (Emcee), Alexander Varona (Floor Judge), Valentina Golfieri (Nurse), Helen Aschauer, Bettina Carpi, Amir Giles, Benny Maslov, Sonoya Mizuno, Emma Kate Nelson, Nuno Queimado, Jordi Serrats

Creatives/Company

Director: Arthur Pita
Choreographer: Arthur Pita
Music: Frank Moon
Design: Yann Seabra
Costume(s): Giulia Scrimieri, Yann Seabra
Lighting: Ed Yetton