Mariposa, a Queer Tragedy inspired by Puccini’s Madame Butterfly
Under the  flickering  neon lights  of a  distant Caribbean  port,
a local rent boy and a foreign sailor fall ominously in love
and a young man is asked to sacrifice his gender
in exchange for love and a better life…

Mariposa (‘butterfly’ in Spanish) is choreographer Carlos Pons Guerra’s queer reimagining of Puccini’s seminal opera, Madame Butterfly. An operatic dance drama, it transports Puccini’s Orientalist libretto to post-revolution Cuba, to a dockland world of faded showgirls, hopeful rent boys, troubled sailors and divine queer spirits. Engulfed in a tropical storm of repressed desires, the production is a passionate and deeply moving exploration of what we are ready to sacrifice in order to be loved and accepted.

Created in 2021, Mariposa revisits the problematic gender and colonialist aspects of Madame Butterfly and asks how iconic operas and narratives like this can remain relevant today. An exceptional cast includes Dan Baines (BalletBoyz) as Preston, the sailor, Holly Saw (Mathew Bourne’s Edward Scissorhands) as Kate, while Elle Taylor-Francis (Northern Ballet and Leipzig Ballet) and Jaivant Patel (Jaivant Patel Dance) will share the role of Madame Gertrudis, the brothel owner.

Mariposa is set to an original score by three-time winner of the Spanish MAX Awards for the Performing Arts, Luis Miguel Cobo, which takes its inspiration from Caribbean sounds as well as Puccini. The libretto is by French-Indian writer Karthika Nair (whose feminist, award-winning poetic retelling of the Mahabharata, Until the Lions, was adapted for dance by Akram Khan). Costume and set designs are by 2023 Olivier Award Nominee Ryan Dawson Laight and lighting is by Guerra’s long-time collaborator Barnaby Booth.

Nicknamed ‘the Pedro Almodovar of dance’ by the BBC, Carlos Pons Guerra is one of the UK’s leading voices in contemporary queer dance. With a truly distinctive style, theatricality and aesthetic, his work explores gender, cultural and sexual identity. Carlos’ work often stems from his personal experience and his desire to put LGBTQ+ narratives on the dance stage, stylishly staged in ways that evoke his Hispanic/Latinx cultural heritage.

The UK tour of Mariposa is funded by Arts Council England and Mariposa was a Birmingham Producing Hub commission, produced by Spin Arts, with further support from the British Council, Fabric and Barnsley Civic, it begins on Tuesday 8th October at The Dukes, Lancaster For further information about the tour, please go to https://www.denada-dance.com/whats-on-1 . Our review of the production can be found at https://spotlightonkulture.uk/a-review-of-mariposa-carlos-pons-guerra-denada-dance-theatre/