Britney Spears' life to be portrayed in dance

Britney Spears' life is the plot of a 14-minute contemporary dance performance in London Friday that ends with her carried off on a stretcher.

Britney Spears' life is the plot of a 14-minute contemporary dance performance in London Friday that ends with her carried off on a stretcher.

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The performance, called "Meltdown," follows Spears as she deals with the paparazzi and shaves her head. "It will be performed ... for one night only with four other short pieces of work," said Craig Titley, director of marketing at the Rambert Dance Company. Choreographer Hubert Essakow told the British Broadcasting Corp. that Spears' story is "a modern day tragedy." "You can't open a newspaper without her being in it," Essakow said.

"I became obsessed by every detail of her life." Gemma Nixon, the dancer who portrays Spears, watched music videos and paparazzi coverage of the pop star to get ready for the role. Nixon had to practice pelvic thrusts and writhing to incorporate Spears' style of dancing. "I was a bit embarrassed," Nixon told the BBC.

"It is sort of grotesque, this persona." The show, at London's Queen Elizabeth Hall, is part of the dance company's "Season of New Choreography."