In a quiet studio at Sadler’s Wells theatre, three dancers in black leggings are making purposeful angles with their bodies in some pretty leftfield contemporary dance moves. One looks familiar: lean and muscular, a tattoo of a flaming phoenix between her shoulder blades, a Celtic band around her arm. She bends forward and one leg sweeps high into the air behind her. It’s Melanie Chisholm, AKA Mel C, AKA Sporty Spice, rehearsing with the choreographer Jules Cunningham.
Chisholm is known for conquering the world with girl power and karate kicks in the late 1990s. She has ridden the giddy highs of global superstardom (as part of the bestselling girl group of all time) and the lows (media pillorying, band breakup, anorexia, depression). Meanwhile, Cunningham is known for unshowy, uncommercial choreography that draws keen but modest audiences. Yet here they are together, with dancer Harry Alexander, rehearsing for a new show called How Did We Get Here?
