Chicos Mambo’s award-winning show TUTU comes to the Peacock Theatre, Sadler’s Wells Home of Entertainment in the West End, from Tuesday 1 – Saturday 5 October, after nearly a decade on tour and close to 700 performances. Created by Artistic Director of the company, Philippe Lafeuille, this family-friendly show features an all-male cast of six dancers adorned in ever-changing, flamboyant costumes.
TUTU lovingly mocks the most classical outfit while the performers skilfully parody more than 40 characters, covering everything from classical ballet to contemporary dance. Audiences are treated to a hip-hop version of Swan Lake and a clumsy take on Dirty Dancing as the cast twists expectations, while maintaining the highest level of performance.
Philippe Lafeuille the artistic director of Chicos Mambos and creator of TUTU. After discovering dance through a Maurice Béjart show, he decided to enrol in a programme at the Académie Solange Golovine, and was soon dancing for a variety of choreographers such as Joseph RUSSILLO and later Peter GOSS, for whom he would perform the main plays. During his career, Philippe Lafeuille also danced with Madonna and even Rudolf NUREYEV. A multifaceted artist, each of his creations is a playing field where all genres are mixed: dance, theatre, humour, visual arts,
Ahead of TUTU coming to the Peacock Theatre, Philippe Lafeuille said: “I’m very happy and proud to be presenting my show TUTU in London. London for me represents one of the world’s great epicentres of performing arts and entertainment. It’s a city that has given me great theatrical thrills and I’m all the more delighted that our visit to London coincides with the celebration of TUTU’s 10th anniversary. Where better to celebrate this anniversary than at Sadler’s Wells, a theatre that offers dance in all its diversity and richness just as TUTU offers dance in all its glory. It seems that there are no coincidences, only encounters. So get ready to be ‘TUTUfied’ London… let’s dance!”
David Fry, Peacock Programmer, said: “We are thrilled to welcome Chicos Mambo’s TUTU to the Peacock Theatre this October. With their blend of technical prowess and comedic flair, Chicos Mambo inject a fun and fresh energy to their shows. I know that our audiences and West End friends will love TUTU’s playful choreography and flamboyant costumes that cleverly subvert gender norms in dance”
The show won the audience choice award in the “Dance” category at the 50th Avignon’s Festival OFF, and the audience award at the 2017 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Chicos Mambo was founded in Barcelona in 1994 by Philippe Lafeuille. The company has gained recognition for its unique blend of humour, technical skill, and theatrical flair.
TUTU comes to the Peacock Theatre after nearly a decade on tour and close to 700 performances, including successful runs at the Edinburgh Fringe. How do you feel about coming to London and to Peacock Theatre?
I’m very happy and proud to be presenting my show TUTU in London…London, which for me represents one of the world’s great epicentres of show business and entertainment …. a city that has given me great theatrical thrills…all the more so as our visit to London coincides with the celebration of TUTU’s 10th anniversary…and where better to celebrate this anniversary than at Sadler’s Well… a theatre that offers Dance in all its diversity and richness… just as TUTU offers Dance in all its forms… it seems that there is no such thing as chance, only encounters… so ready to ‘TUTUfy’ London… Let’s dance!
The show won the audience choice award in the “Dance” category at the 50th Avignon’s Festival OFF, and the audience award at the 2017 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. How do you feel with the fact that it has been such a successful production?
I’m very proud of my TUTU, which for the last 10 years has been making people laugh and, above all, introducing dance to a very wide audience… I often wonder what I could have put into this show to make it last so long and survive the years… I’m the first to be surprised by this success… and especially that TUTU also crosses borders… Dance is a universal language, but humour isn’t always… I’m very happy that my humour, linked to my dance, is so international…
What shall we expect to see?
TUTU is a colourful show that takes you on a journey through the world of dance…both visually and musically…all the costumes are made of tulle and all the music has something to do with dance…TUTU is a delightful show that makes you laugh at dance…and above all, TUTU is a show for everyone, not just those who know dance…
How would you describe the show?
The show lasts 75 minutes with twenty scenes…it covers all the great pages of choreographic art: classical dance, contemporary dance, tango and even rhythmic gymnastics, a tribute to Pina Bausch, dancing babies and lots more…all performed by seven polymorphous artists who are magnificent dancers but also actors or clowns…some scenes are funny, others are poetic…there’s something for all tastes and all ages…
How does TUTU manage to mock the most classical outfits used while the performers skilfully parody more than 40 characters?
TUTU is not an attempt to make fun of anything or anyone…TUTU is a declaration of love for dance in its broadest sense…I’d say it’s more about second degree than mockery…the reason I called this show TUTU is to use the tutu as an icon and from there to create different dances… I’m not making fun of the tutu…I’m using it in a different way, like the tutu trousers we discover at the start of the show…in TUTU I make dance laugh…and that’s healthy because sometimes it takes itself too seriously….
Your show is fun, energetic and comedic at the same time. What makes TUTU so unique?
TUTU is perhaps unique for its humorous approach to dance… TUTU makes Dance laugh… which is quite rare… because Dance is very sacred and is sometimes taken very seriously… thanks to humour, which is a massive seduction weapon, TUTU allows a more playful and therefore easier approach to Dance… which also makes it possible to reach an audience who perhaps thought they didn’t have the codes to be able to see a dance show… At the creation of TUTU I had really decided to make a show for the general public…easy to access with very few references…given the response from the public who have always been there for 10 years…mission accomplished…
Chicos Mambo was founded in Barcelona in 1994 by you and since then, the company has gained recognition for its unique blend of humour, technical skill, and theatrical flair. How does your company differ from other ones?
Yes, we’re celebrating 10 years of TUTU, but also 30 years of the company… what makes the difference is perhaps a more generous and joyful approach to Dance… and a great deal of freedom… the company’s trademark is that it’s men who dance and who are sometimes female characters… So even 30 years ago, long before today’s questions of gender and identity, the company has always proposed this freedom around the masculine/feminine… you could say that chicos mambo are the onnagatas of dance…
What are the future plans of Chicos Mambo?
With my TUTU, I hope to be able to TUTUfy the planet… after London, TUTU will fly to Taiwan and China… I also have three other shows on tour in France and abroad… my artistic project is to bring dance to a wide audience because I defend dance at all costs… I’m a utopian who thinks that if the whole world danced everything would be a lot better… I’ve got lots of ideas for shows yet to be created… so I hope to continue creating shows to make people dream and laugh for a long time to come…
Listings Information Chicos Mambo TUTU Peacock Theatre
Tuesday 1 – Saturday 5 October
About Chicos Mambo Chicos Mambo was founded in Barcelona in 1994 by Philippe Lafeuille. The company has gained recognition for its unique blend of humour, technical skill, and theatrical flair. Chicos Mambo has toured internationally, bringing their distinctive style to audiences around the world.
Their first show in 1994 won the price of “Company revelation” in many competitions (Terradicim, Butaca, Sebastia Gasch) and brought them to the Spanish TV channel TV3, for which they created more than 200 original sketches. Their show Méli-Mélo created in 1998 toured internationally and Méli-Mélo II premiered at Avignon’s Festival OFF in France in 2006. This sequel won the “Best International show” at Edinburgh Fringe Festival and toured regularly in Europe and North America until 2013.
The Chicos Mambo are well-known in the world: from Paris to Japan, through Canada, Luxembourg, Scotland, Netherland and Italy. In 2014, Philippe Lafeuille, artistic director and choreographer of the
company, embarked on a new adventure for the 20th anniversary of the company and created TUTU. Presented in the mythical Théâtre Bobino in Paris, the show has gone on to international success, entertaining more than 400,000 spectators and close to 600 performances. It won the audience choice award in the “Dance” category at the 50th Avignon’s Festival OFF, and the audience award at the 2017 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The company continues to push boundaries, exploring new themes and ideas while maintaining their signature comedic touch.
YASS Magazine 