With Tango After Dark set to open at The Peacock this week, we celebrate the life of the great tango composer Astor Piazzola, whose music features in the show alongside sensational choreography performed by tango superstar German Cornejo and 10 world-class Argentinean dancers.

1921 Astor Pantaleón Piazzolla was born on 11 March in Mar del Plata, Argentina

1925 The Piazzolla family immigrate to Greenwich Village, New York City

1929 Astor’s father, Vicente, buys a bandoneon that he found in a pawn shop and gives it to young Astor

1930 The family move to Little Italy, New York City

1932 11 year old Astor composes his first tango: La Catinga

1933 Astor starts taking music lessons with the classical pianist, Bella Wilda, a student of Rachmaninov

1934 Astor is cast in a film by the French-Argentinean singer and songwriter, Carlos Gardel, playing the role of a newspaper boy in El día que me quiera

1936 The family return to Mar del Plata

1938 At only 17 years old, Astor moves to Buenos Aires, Argentina

1939 Astor joins the orchestra of tango composer and bandoneon player, Anibal Troilo

1941 Astor starts taking lessons with the classical music composer, Alberto Ginaste 1942 He marries his first wife, the artist Dedé Wolff

1943 Astor begins studying with Raúl Spivak, the classical pianist. He composes his first classical works: Preludio No. 1 for Violin and Piano and Suite for Strings and Harps. Astor and Dedé have a daughter: Diana Irene

1944 After a falling out, Astor leaves Troilo, moving over to Francisco Fiorentino’s orchestra. Astor’s second child with Dedé is born: Daniel Hugo

1946 Astor forms his own orchestra and composes his first formal tango: El Desbande

1949 Astor disbands the orchestra, moving his focus away from tango and popular music, and towards classical

1953 Astor wins a grant from the French government at the Fabian Sevitzky Award with his Buenos Aires Symphony, despite a near riot breaking out in the audience provoked by the inclusion of multiple bandoneons in the orchestra

1954 Astor moves to Paris with his wife to study with the composer Nadia Boulanger at the Les Ecoles d’Art Américaines de Fontainebleau

1955 Astor returns to Argentina and forms Octeto Buenos Aires, a tango octet containing two bandoneons and an electric guitar amongst the instruments. With this new ensemble he introduces the world to his nuevo tango, incorporating elements of jazz and classical music into traditional tango

1958 Octeto Buenos Aires disbands and Astor returns to New York

1959 Following the death of his father, Astor composes Adiós Nonino

1960 Astor forms a quintet with Kicho Díaz, Simón Bajour, Jaime Gosis and Horacio Malvicino

1963 Premiere of Tres Tangos Sinfónicos, which wins the Hirsch Prize

1965 The quintet releases the album El Tango, made in collaboration with the writer Jorge Luis Borges

1967 On what would have been their silver wedding anniversary, Astor and Dedé legally separate (the divorce law was not passed in Argentina until 1987)

1968 María de Buenos Aires, an operetta Astor composed in collaboration with the poet Horacio Gerrer, makes its world premiere, with Amelita Baltar in the title role. Astor begins a romantic relationship with the singer

1969 Horacio and Astor team up again, this time on Balada para un loco, which premieres at the First Iberoamerican Music Festival

1971 El pueblo joven, another work from Horacio and Astor, makes its world premieres. Astor forms a new ensemble, Conjunto 9

1973 Astor has a heart attack

1974 The album Summit (Reunión Cumbre), recorded with the jazz saxophonist Gerry Mulligan, is released

1975 Astor and Amelita separate

1978 Astor forms his second quintet. The Quinteto Tango Nuevo tours internationally and makes him famous all over the world

1982 Astor composes Le Grand Tango and dedicates it to the cellist Mstislav Rostropovich

1985 Astor premieres Concerto for Bandoneon and Guitar, and performs in London for the first time, at the Almeida Theatre in Islington

1986 Astor’s score for the film El exilio de Gardel wins the Cesar Award for best film music

1988 Astor composes a score for the film Sur. Astor and Dedé are finally able to divorce, and he marries the television presenter Laura Escalada. The album Carmorra is recorded with Quinteto Tango Nuevo and proves to be the last time he would record with them

1989 Astor forms his last ensemble: Sexteto Nuevo Tango. He records Five Tango Sensation with the world-renowed string quartet, the Kronos Quartet

1990 Astor suffers from a stroke which leaves him in a coma

1992 Astor passes away in Buenos Aires at the age of 71, without ever regaining consciousness Photo: Federico Paleo

Tango After Dark runs at The Peacock from 28 Feb – 17 Mar. Tickets are available now priced from just £15 by calling the Ticket Office on 020 7863 8222 or visit sadlerswells.com

Canada’s cutting-edge company Ballet British Columbia are heading to the UK on tour this March, premiering three new works by leading choreographers including their own artistic director, Emily Molnar. In this interview, she shares her vision for the company and what British audiences can expect from this exciting triple bill…

Tell us about Ballet British Columbia.
Ballet British Columbia is a company that cares about the art of dance, that cares about where its coming from, where it’s going. We’re daring, creative, collaborative – committed to the
possibility of the expression of the body and what dance at its fullest can be – working with choreographers from around the world. The company’s name Ballet British Columbia conjures up traditional or classical ballet; yet the repertoire is contemporary or modern-style dance.

Tell us more about this?
We are called Ballet British Columbia because one of our missions is that all of our dancers are classically trained. With that training they’re able to articulate their bodies in a very sophisticated way. The Ballet British Columbia dancers are versatile in a variety of dance forms but a training in classical ballet is vital. We’re a bit like jazz musicians, in that we have this incredible training, but then you can throw it up in the air and really deconstruct and reconstruct it. You can only do that when you have that technique and rigour of attention to a technique. For us that happens to be classical ballet. So, we don’t take ballet out of Ballet British Columbia – we keep it there in order to allow an audience to understand and to be part of a conversation about where ballet is going. The dancers contribute ideas and dance moves during the choreographic process.

Dancers Livona Ellis and Darren Devaney perform in 16 + a room choreographed by Emily Molnar

Can you explain the role the dancers play in the making of these dances?
We are a company which is about collaboration, about soloists within a group, about everybody leading, about everybody taking initiative and owning this artwork that we do. In order to make the art the most important thing in the room, everyone works towards that, it requires a group of artists who come together as a collective.

What are your views on female dancers wearing pointe shoes in more contemporary style dances?
I love the fact that we are a company that can wear the pointe shoe – it’s a vehicle which can create speed and virtuosity which is unlike anything else. So, when you have a dancer who is not imprisoned, but is freed by the idea of what can be done on pointe, it’s enormous what the choreographer has to play with.

What will British audiences make of this programme of dance?
Following highly acclaimed tours throughout North America, we are honoured to be bringing UK audiences this distinct programme of ideas and expression by three visionary female voices in dance today. We display diversity and virtuosity in this triple bill. It’s accessible to an enormous range of audiences.

Ballet British Columbia come to Sadler’s Wells on 6 and 7 March. Tickets are available now priced from £12 by calling the Ticket Office on 020 7863 8000 or book online.

Coming to Sadler’s Wells this March, Sasha Waltz & Guests present Körper – a unique study of the human body performed by an ensemble of 13 dancers. In this interview, Canadian-born ensemble member and co-creator of the piece, Luc Dunberry reveals how the functions the of the body became a starting point for its creation and how it has evolved during its 18 year life-span.

Tell us a bit about yourself.
I was born in Valleyfield, Canada, studying music at the Collège de Sherbrooke, drama at the UQAM (Université du Québec à Montréal) and dance at LADMMI (Les Ateliers de Danse Moderne de Montréal Inc.). As a member of the Groupe de la Place Royale I have worked with various choreographers, among them Sasha Waltz who introduced me to dance for her company in 1996. I have been a member of her dance ensemble at the Schaubühne am Lehniner Platz Berlin as both dancer and choreographer. Alongside my work with Sasha Waltz & Guests, I have always been developing my own choreographies and dance films.

You performed in Körper during its world premiere, and created the piece with Sasha Waltz. What is it like to work with Sasha?
We have a long-lasting relationship and we understand each other well in the work. We start often from improvisation so we are really involved in the creative process, we are searching for something together.

What was the starting point for the subject matter of this piece? Where did you draw your inspiration?
We started with a very broad spectrum on the idea of the body, but it became rapidly clear that the subject was too vast for a single piece. So we concentrated for this first part of the trilogy, on the very basic matter that composes the body, the biology and physics of it. A lot of the research has developed from fundamental systems of the body, like the bones, the skin, body fluids, nervous system etc.

How would you describe the style of this piece to audiences?
It’s a very graphic piece that functions like a collage of images. The sound design from Hans-Peter Kuhn sets a very strong tone and ties in with the visual identity of the piece. There is no narrative per se but I believe the abstraction of the piece is balanced by some glimpses of humanity under the flesh and bones.

What was the process involved in creating this piece?
There were two preparatory projects with public showings in 1999, prior to developing the piece itself. One was shown in Sophiensaele, a theatre that Sasha and her husband Jochen had inaugurated in 1996, and the second one in the yet to be opened Jewish Museum in Berlin. As for the dance material itself, we did a lot of improvisations on specific functions of the body, from which a selection of elements were then researched and deepened into the finished choreography. We dialogued with the architectural features of the Daniel Liebeskind building which had a strong influence on the set design for the stage. There were as well image-based ideas that were used as starting points, like the Vitrine at the beginning of the piece or the Body Mountains where the bodies are piled, arranged or aligned in different ways.

How has the experience of performing in Körper changed since you were involved in its creation and premiere over 18 years ago?
It is, at the same time, exactly the same as before and every time different. We have played the piece over a hundred times, it has accompanied us, we evolved with it. There is an aspect of it that is so well-known and second nature-like, but on the other hand, there’s always the unique present moment of doing it, every time its own, even if for the 115th time.

What do you want audiences to take away from watching this piece?
I think there is space for every spectator to witness, interpret and question the piece in their own personal way. I believe some images have a potential for strong physical impact and identification. If I would wish for something, it would be that the viewers get physical sensations from their own bodies from watching.

What one word would you use to describe Körper?
Raw

Körper runs on the main stage at Sadler’s Wells Theatre from Thurs 1 – Sat 3 March. Tickets are priced from £12 and are to book now via www.sadlerswells.com.

Header image: Sebastian Bolesch

On 1 February, Sadler’s Wells took part in Time to Talk Day, a national initiative encouraging everyone to have a conversation about mental health.

It’s easy to think there’s no right place to talk about mental health. But the more we talk about it openly, the more we can remove barriers, challenge stereotypes and have better lives.

Time to Talk Day aims to spread the word that anywhere can be the right place to talk about mental health – including at work.

To support the campaign and encourage our staff to discuss mental health, we ran a ‘Time for Tea’ break at Sadler’s Wells. Along with snacks and drinks, the event included a range of conversation starter materials to help get the flow of conversation going in a relaxed environment.

As in any busy organisation, it’s difficult to find a spare moment to prioritise yourself. Taking an hour out of your day to relieve yourself from daily stresses is helpful in the long run. Whether it is taking the time to talk about mental health or just catching up with a colleague you haven’t spoken to in a while, taking time out of the daily grind to clear the mind is important not just in terms of increasing our productivity, but also, and more importantly, for our general wellbeing.

Find out more about Time to Talk at https://www.time-to-change.org.uk/get-involved/time-talk-day-2018.