Life is a Dream

In a run-down rehearsal room, a director drifts off to sleep with images of the day’s rehearsals running through his mind. In his dreams the play is revisited, recast and replayed, and fantastic images of worlds far beyond his room appear.

Life is a Dream is a spectacular new dance show from the Olivier Award-winning choreographer Kim Brandstrup. Alongside dramatic, lyrical dancing from Rambert’s brilliant ensemble, imagery from legendary filmmakers the Quay Brothers creates a dream-like experience, and a live orchestra playing the rich music of Witold Lutosławski adds to the otherworldly atmosphere.

They combine in a contemporary re-imagining of a classic play by Calderón — a study of desires as recognisable in today’s world as at any time in the past 400 years: the longing for authentic experience, and the need to dream.

Kim Brandstrup’s previous work for Rambert, Transfigured Night, won the 2016 National Dance Award for best modern choreography.

Commissioned by Bergen International Festival. Supported by Adam Mickiewicz Institute / Polska Music, Arts Council England, Rambert’s New Work Commissioning Fund and Cockayne Grants for the Arts – a donor-advised fund of The London Community Foundation.