A circle of five black people in black clothing stand dancing around another black person, who is leaning backwards with closed eyes and raised arms. They are illuminated from above.
© Belinda Lawley
A circle of five black people in black clothing stand dancing around another black person, who is leaning backwards with closed eyes and raised arms. They are illuminated from above.
© Belinda Lawley
International Summer Festival 2024
Dance / Theatre / Music

Ivan Michael Blackstock

Traplord

Olivier Award-winning trap opera that explores Black masculinity and the path to self-love.

Tickets:

28 / 18 / 9 Euro (conc. from 9 Euro, 50 % conc. with Festivalkarte)

Info

Possible triggers: Strobe light, intense light

Past dates

Archive

Thursday

8/15/24

9:30 PM

Archive

Friday

8/16/24

9:30 PM

Archive

Saturday

8/17/24

6:00 PM

Archive

Saturday

8/17/24

9:30 PM

»It feels incredibly honest; it’s also extraordinarily powerful«

» «
The Guardian

London-based choreographer, dancer, and interdisciplinary artist Ivan Michael Blackstock’s career mirrors the impact of TRAPLORD, a visually powerful and atmospheric dance piece, combining urban dance, theater, spoken word, opera, and film elements. With credits including works with Kylie Minogue, Pet Shop Boys, and choreographing Beyoncé’s Grammy winning music video »Brown Skin Girl«, big names line up in his biography. TRAPLORD, inspired by personal experiences while growing up in South London as well as by collective narratives, meditates on projections of Black masculinity, and earned the artist an Olivier Award in 2023, UK’s most prestigious award for theater and musicals. Blending video game and music video aesthetics, and drawing from genres like drill and grime, powerful creative forms that emerged out of Black pain and anger, the performance blurs the lines between projection and reality. Together with seven performers, Blackstock stages the journey of an outsider to self-actualisation, and creates an imposing ode to community, self-love, and the transformative power of creative expression.

A circle of five black people in black clothing stand dancing around another black person, who is leaning backwards with closed eyes and raised arms. They are illuminated from above.
© Belinda Lawley
A black person stands with half-raised hands in a red fog and looks upwards. The outlines of two other people can be recognised in the background.
© Camilla Greenwell
A person dressed in black, illuminated in white from above, dances and leans to the right. Two roses can be seen on the floor and hanging in the right-hand corner.
© Belinda Lawley
Two black people dressed in black dance on a stage. The person on the left leans to the left in a lunge, while the person on the right raises an arm and leans back. Another person can be seen in the background.
© Belinda Lawley
A person illuminated in blue through fog from behind sings into a microphone with closed eyes and a raised hand. The hand of another person can be recognised in the background.
© Camilla Greenwell
A masked row of five people dressed in black with flowers in their hands stand in front of a car decorated with flowers. The last person is wearing a pig mask. In front of them lies a black person with a theatrically outstretched hand.
© Glodi Miessi
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Director & Choreographer Ivan Michael Blackstock Lighting Designer Simisola Majekodunmi Sound Designer Luke Swaffield for Autograph Original Costume Design Saskia Lenaerts Costume Supervisor Jess Richardson-Smith Associate Choreographer Chaldon Williams Associate Lighting Designer Tom Turner Associate Sound Designer Dylan Winn-Davies Music by Michael 'Mikey J' Asante, BRNSRGHT, CREATXR, DOMINANT, Mindaugas Juozapavicius, Torben Sylvest Spoken Word Magero, Rap Artist UNDERWATERKASH Cast Ivan Michael Blackstock, Kanah Flex, Wild G, Kyron Nykro Jake, Magero, UNDERWATERKASH, Chaldon Williams Production Manager Adam Carrée General Manager DEM Productions

Co-Production ALTRUVIOLET, Factory International, and Sadler’s Wells