National Theatre of Scotland and Manchester International Festival (MIF) in association with Claire Cunningham Projects today announced a return to international touring with pioneering artist Claire Cunningham’s award-winning contemporary dance performance Thank You Very Much, inspired by the glittering world of the tribute artist.

This ambitious and powerful meditation on identity and acceptance and the challenges of being yourself will open later this month at the Dampfzentrale, Bern as part of the Tanz in Bern festival (21 - 22 October 2021); before touring to Mousonturm, Frankfurt for the Tanzfestival Rhein-Main (3 - 5 November 2021); DansFunk Festival 3.0 at Skänes Dansteater, Malmö (11 - 12 November 2021) ; Sophiensäle, Berlin (3 - 5 December 2021) and NORDWIND Festival 2021 at Kampnagel Hamburg (10 – 12 December 2021) .

Thank You Very Much sees Claire Cunningham and her ensemble of leading disabled performers invite audiences to join them as they pull back the curtain on the glittering and mysterious world of the tribute artist, taking to the floor with wit, glitz and a pulsating soundtrack. A performance that navigates up, down and all around society's ideas of normality, and shakes up the myth of how bodies should be. The dancers pull on their sparkling costumes and ask: Who have we been trying to be all our lives? Has it ever been our choice? And what really is "the wonder of you"?

Glasgow-based choreographer and performer Claire Cunningham is one of Europe’s most acclaimed disabled artists. In 2021 Claire was honoured for her Outstanding Artistic Development in dance at the German Dance Awards. Thank You Very Much won a Critics Award for Theatre in Scotland 2020 for Best Ensemble (Claire Cunningham, Tanja Erhart, Vicky Malin and Dan Daw) and Best Music and Sound (Matthias Herrmann). The piece premiered at MIF in 2019 to critical acclaim followed by performances in Dusseldorf, Glasgow and London.

Thank You Very Much was commissioned by National Theatre of Scotland, Manchester International Festival, and Perth Festival in association with tanzhaus nrw and Dance Umbrella and produced by National Theatre of Scotland and Manchester International Festival in association with Claire Cunningham Projects. The project has been supported by the National Lottery through Creative Scotland.

Full tour details here.