A solo dance performance by Jo Bannon that blends the tricks of the magic trade with choreography to explore the invisible labour of navigating the world as a disabled woman with albinism.
Jo Bannon brings The Dirty Work to the Patrick Studio at the Birmingham Hippodrome on Saturday 7 November, part of the THIS IS DANCE season. It's a solo performance that sits somewhere between dance and stage magic, and Bannon is the only person on stage.
She works across performance, choreography and film, and The Dirty Work draws on her lived experience of visual impairment and her identity as a disabled woman with albinism. She brings in the classic props of the magic trade — a white rabbit, a magic wand, a puff of smoke — and mixes them with choreography and a magician's patter. The whole thing is built around the invisible labour that shapes how we move through the world, and it's designed to be a place where truth and illusion, performance and reality, end up in the same room.
It's a new piece, originally produced by MAYK and commissioned by a long list of venues: Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts, Cambridge Junction, The Place, Tramway, Fabric, Theaterformen and NEXT Festival, with funding from Arts Council England and Unlimited. Bannon has shown work at Tate Modern, Sydney Opera House, Wellcome Collection, Sadler's Wells and HAU Berlin, and her recent pieces include Sleight of Hand (2024), Passing (2024), Feeling Thing (2021) and Absent Tense (2020).
Every week we pick 🏆 the 5 best 🏆 things to do in Birmingham and send them to your inbox. Just one weekly email, no spam.
By submitting your email, you accept our Privacy Policy
It starts at 7:00pm, and tickets are £12, with under-25s at £5 and general concessions at £10.
Date
Saturday, 7 November 2026
19:00
Price
Paid
Recommended Age
+14 years
