Watch the rehearsal video below

Declarations will feature four works including a piece originally created for Ballet Met by former Phoenix dancer Warren Adams, The Audacious One, which is based on Barack Obama’s landmark speech ‘The Audacity of Hope’. A taut and passionate look into a world of political intrigue and power for seven dancers, The Audacious One is performed to selected movements from Mozart’s unforgettable Requiem.

The repertoire also includes two premières from Aletta Collins and Isira Makuloluwe, alongside a company première from South Africa’s Warren Adams and a rare revival of Philip Taylor’s powerful Haunted Passages, first performed by Phoenix in 1989.

Having choreographed Gang of Five, one of the flagship pieces that helped establish Phoenix on the national dance map 20 years ago, Aletta now brings the witty Maybe Yes Maybe, Maybe No Maybe. Created for five dancers around a live, hanging microphone, MYMMNM integrates the dancer’s movement and voices with a score by composers Street Furniture, transforming the dancers’ voices into the beats and accents of a pulsing soundtrack.

Phoenix presents Isira Makuloluwe’s Locked In Vertical, the Sri Lankan-born choreographer’s first work to debut in the UK. Famed for his inventive, stylish choreography, Locked In Vertical sees four fluid dancers perform to an abstract score by composer François Caffenne.

Set to Benjamin Britten’s atmospheric Lachrymae and originally created for Nederlands Dans Theatre 2, Phillip Taylor’s restless trio Haunted Passages is a classic from Phoenix’s repertoire and draws its inspiration from the obsessive, random thoughts which haunt us all at times when seeking sleep.

The six company members of Phoenix Dance Theatre are Azzurra Ardovini, Chihiro Kawasaki, Amanda Lewis, Phil Sanger, Ryu Suzuki and Josh Wille. The Phoenixdancers will be accompanied on stage in Warren Adams’ The Audacious One by guest artist Paul Liburd. Paul was a recent recipient of a Critics Circle National Dance Award, winning the prestigious Dancing Times Award for Best Male Dancer.

Dates:  Wednesday 15 – Thursday 16 September 2010

Venue: Liverpool Playhouse, Williamson Square, L1 1 EL                            

Times:  Evenings at 7.30pm

Afterwords: Thursday 16 Sep

Ticket prices:  £10 – £15

Box Office:   0151 709 4776

Online Booking (24-hour): www.everymanplayhouse.com