Spice Girl Mel C is swapping pop concerts for contemporary dance after taking a “once in a lifetime opportunity” to perform at Sadler’s Wells.
The star – real name Melanie Chisholm - signed up after being approached by dancer and choreographer – and self-confessed Spice Girls fan – Jules Cunningham.
The pair will perform with fellow dancer Harry Alexander in an hour-long work called how did we get here? which will feature all three dancing together as well as performing solo.
Chisholm, who studied at a performing arts college before joining the girl group, said dance had “always been a real passion”.
She said: “Obviously my life has taken slightly different directions but I’ve done lots of dancing on stage, different kinds of dance, but this feels like such an incredible opportunity and once I’d got over the shock I knew it was something I absolutely had to do.
“I feel like it is a once in a lifetime chance for me.”
The singer, who has reconstructive surgery on her knee 20 years ago after being injured in a judo match against Miss World during a reality TV show, said she was taking her preparations “very seriously”.
She said: “I’ve never danced at this level and I’ve never danced contemporary so I have had to commit to training, I have had to retrain my body and learn new techniques.
“I’m 48 years old. By the time we hit the stage at Sadler’s Wells I’ll be 49 and I never imagined in my wildest dreams I would dance on stage there and I think especially at this kind of age to still be learning and experiencing new things is wonderful.”
The show at the north London theatre is billed as “an intimate evening of dance” and will see the trio perform with some of the audience sitting on stage with them.
Cunningham, who like Chisholm grew up in Liverpool, said they had always known the pop star was “a really good dancer” but it was when they were introduced by Sadler’s Wells boss Sir Alistair Spalding the ideas for the performance first emerged,
They said: “We just sat together and talked. We didn’t really talk about, ‘Oh let’s make this work’, we just talked about our lives and dancing experiences and where we grew up and things around mental health.
“Also I knew performing with Mel would push me to do something different because she’s not a dancer like I’m a dancer so I can’t just say, ‘Do what I do’.”
Sir Alistair said: “Sadler’s Wells has a track record of bringing artists from different disciplines and backgrounds together to create fresh approaches to the making of dance. What comes out of this coming together of artists is a particularly exciting prospect, as Jules and Melanie come together at this point in both of their lives and careers.”
The show, which runs from Thursday January 19 to Sunday 29, will open the theatre’s spring 2023 season which also includes a new work Vortex, inspired by the work of American painter Jackson Pollock, and Northern Ballet’s version of The Great Gatsby.
