The Kings of Dance have a Queen: Svetlana Lunkina

Kings of Dance will come to London with their newly crowned queen, Svetlana Lunkina.

Roberto Bolle and Ivan Vasiliev will perform Roland Petit‘s Le Jeune Homme et la Mort, with ex-Bolshoi star Svetlana Lunkina joining them as a ‘Special Guest Artist’.

The full programme for the four London dates is as follows:

ACT ONE

LE JEUNE HOMME ET LA MORT
Music: Johann Sebastian Bach (Passacaglia in C Minor, BWV 582)
Libretto: Jean Cocteau
Choreography: Roland Petit
Staging: Luigi Bonino
Lighting: Jean-Michel Desire
Set: Georges Wakhevitch
Costumes: Karinska
Set courtesy of English National Ballet
First performance: 1946, Les Ballets des Champs-Elysees, Paris

Performed by: Ivan Vasiliev (19^th & 21^st March), Roberto Bolle (20^th & 22^nd March) – Svetlana Lunkina (19^th – 22^nd March)

ACT TWO

REMANSO
Music: Enrique Granados
Choreography: Nacho Duato
Set and Costumes: Nacho Duato
Lighting Design: Brad Fields
Staging: Tony Fabre
Organization & Production: Carlos Iturrioz – Media Producciones SL (Spain)
First performance: 1997, American Ballet Theater, New York

Performed by: Leonid Sarafanov, Denis Matvienko, Marcelo Gomes

ACT THREE

PROTOTYPE
Music by: Piero Salvatori produced by Fausto Dase
Concept & Choreography: Massimiliano Volpini
Costumes by: Roberto Guidi di Bagno made by Sartoria Farani
Co-directed by: Avantgarde Numerique and XCHanges Vfx Design
Visual effects by: XCHanges VFx

Performed by: Roberto Bolle

MOREL ET SAINT-LOUP from ballet PROUST
Music: Gabriel Fauré
Choreography: Roland Petit
Staging: Luigi Bonino
First performance: 1974, National Ballet of Marseille

Performed by: Denis Matvienko & Marcelo Gomes

TUE
Music by: Barbara (Songs: Drout, Sid’ amour a mort)
Choreography: Marco Goecke
Assistant to Choreographer: Rolando D’Alesio

Performed by: Leonid Sarafanov

LABYRINTH OF SOLITUDE
Music by: Tomaso Antonio Vitali (Ciaconne in G Minor for Violin and Piano)
Choreography: Patrick De Bana

Performed by: Ivan Vasiliev

KO’d
Music by: Guillaume Côté (Piano Sonata no. 4 in F# minor)
Choreography: Marcelo Gomes

Performed by: Marcelo Gomes, Roberto Bolle, Denis Matvienko, Ivan Vasiliev, Leonid Sarafanov
The Kings of Dance will perform from Wednesday 19^th – Saturday 22^nd March, 7.30pm, at the  London Coliseum
Box Office: 020 7845 9300 /www.eno.org

Photos: from top, Roberto Bolle in Le Jeune Homme et la Mort; Denis Matvienko & Marcelo Gomes in Morel et Saint-Loup by Valentin Baranovsky; Leonid Sarafanov

Gramilano Editor

Graham Spicer, aka ‘Gramilano’, is a writer, director and photographer based in Milan. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy. His articles have appeared in various publications from Woman’s Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the Danza in Italia column for Dancing Times magazine. Graham was the historical advisor on Codice Carla, the 2023 documentary on Carla Fracci.

Graham also works as a dance photographer, and his photos have appeared in many books, theatre programmes, and magazines, including Dancing Times, Dance Spirit and Ballet2000, as well as all the major Italian newspapers.

He is a member of the Dance Section of The Critics’ Circle.