Shaun Parker & Company’s KING to show at Belgrade Dance Festival 2025
Shaun Parker & Company has announced that their acclaimed production KING has been selected for Belgrade Dance Festival 2025, to be presented at Terazije Theatre, Belgrade, March 25 & 26, 2025.
First performed in Sydney in 2019 (and re-launched post-COVID as part of Sydney World Pride 2023), this globally acclaimed 73-minute production, has been a sell-out hit at major festivals and venues in Austria, Germany, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, Luxembourg and Palestine and Australia; with additional high-profile international tour contracts in negotiation for 2026.
Hailed by critics from Sydney to Linz, Ramallah, Beirut, Cologne and Bolzano, as a “tour de force of creation and performance” (Artshub), KING brings one of Australia’s most highly acclaimed contemporary dance companies, led by director/choreographer Shaun Parker, together with the unique “musical genius” (Queer Guru, USA) of Bulgarian composer, singer and songwriter, Ivo Dimchev – currently Artist in Residence at New York La Mama Theatre, in “a rare form of inspired collaboration.” (Writing About Dance, UK).
A “first-rate lyricist” (The New Yorker) with a wildly eclectic repertoire, a six-figure social media following extending across Europe and the US, and a growing body of YouTube videos that have garnered views in the millions, Dimchev was originally commissioned to compose the seductive original score that drives the narrative for Parker’s richly layered choreography; later agreeing to fly to Sydney to perform live in the production’s 2019 premiere.
Six years later, Dimchev has toured with Shaun Parker & Company for every presentation of the production, performing his “melodic, piercing, and deeply powerful original compositions” (Luxembourg Times) live in the role of soulful cabaret crooner, alongside Parker’s “extraordinary, flawless, integrated ensemble” (Artshub) of nine of Australia’s most exhilarating dancers, and captivating audiences with his “seductive musicianship and mesmerising voice” (Sydney Arts Guide).
Set in a fantastical realm, part cocktail-bar, part jungle – a setting conceived by Parker in collaboration with longstanding friend and supporter Australian philanthropist and horticulturalist Penny Hunstead, in her first foray into stage-design – KING builds on Parker’s reputation for combining hard-hitting, cutting-edge choreography with theatrical invention and striking musical soundscapes, in a bitingly provocative interrogation of male power, control, and group dynamics, that “keeps you on the edge of your seat to the very end.” (Dance Australia)
In Parker’s own words, "KING is a tribute to a society that is rebelling against a dysfunctional patriarchal tradition.” International dance magazine Fjord Review goes one step further, commenting that “in the current environment of changing patriarchal structures, KING is a must see.”
For their upcoming performances at one of Europe’s most prestigious contemporary dance festivals, in Belgrade, Shaun Parker & Company is excited to share that celebrated Australian actor, dancer, and singer-songwriter Keiynan Lonsdale will join the KING cast.
Known to many for his high-profile acting roles – beginning with his screen debut as ‘Ollie’ in the acclaimed ABC series Dance Academy, followed by roles in a series of Hollywood hits, including ‘Uriah’ in The Divergent Series, the iconic ‘Wally West/Kid Flash’ in CW's The Flash, and ‘Bram/Blue’ in the culture shifting phenomenon, Love, Simon, and his recent success as a music artist, Lonsdale began his professional career as a dancer, and has maintained a strong dance practice for more than two decades.
KING represents his first dancing role with a major dance company, one that the 33-year-old welcomes, as an opportunity to re-build on his roots, and connect with his first love - dance.
As a special treat for Australian audiences, prior to departing for Belgrade, Shaun Parker & Company will present an exclusive in-studio preview of exerts from KING, providing a rare opportunity to experience the production in an intimate setting. Details here.