Sarah Lamb and Artists of The Royal Ballet in Song of The Earth – photo ROH, Johan Persson
The new ballet by Hofesh Shechter for The Royal Ballet, which can be seen from 27 March until 14 April with Balanchine's The Four Temperaments and MacMillan's Song of the Earth, still has no title, but it will feature the entire company. Shechter, who is renowned for his unique style of contemporary dance, is creating his first ever work on a classical company.
The Royal Ballet's director Kevin O'Hare, said,
Having closely followed Hofesh's career and enjoyed his electrifying work for his own company for over a decade it is now very exciting to be able to welcome him to The Royal Ballet. I look forward to seeing how his unique choreography will combine with the talents of our dancers in this new work.
Shechter, an Associate Artist of Sadler's Wells with past works for his own company which include the Critics' Circle Award winning In Your Rooms, realises that O'Hare has made a brave choice:
I'm grateful for Kevin O'Hare's leap of faith. When he said “Let's just do it”, we dived into unknown territory and that's often the most exciting place to create new work. The idea of making a new work on new territory however doesn't mean that I leave my own politics (with a small p!) behind – it may be lurking in the shadows but it's always there.
Shechter's celebrated style of ensemble group performance is seen here as an ‘exploration of tribal energy through an ocean of dancers' and is set to an original composition created by Shechter with his long-term collaborator Nell Catchpole, together with designs by Holly Waddington and lighting by Lee Curran.
27, 30 March, 8, 10, 14 April at 7:30pm
CASTING
THE FOUR TEMPERAMENTS
Choreography George Balanchine
Music Paul Hindemith
Lighting design John B Read
27 March Steven McRae*, Natalia Osipova*, Federico Bonelli, Edward Watson, Zenaida Yanowsky
30 March Vadim Muntagirov*, Natalia Osipova Federico Bonelli, Eric Underwood*, Tierney Heap*
8 / 10 April Steven McRae, Sarah Lamb*, Matthew Golding*, Edward Watson, Zenaida Yanowsky
14 April Vadim Muntagirov, Sarah Lamb, Matthew Golding, Eric Underwood, Tierney Heap
NEW HOFESH SHECHTER
Choreography Hofesh Shechter
Music Hofesh Shechter and Nell Catchpole
Designs Holly Waddington
Lighting design Lee Curran
27 / 30 March / 8 / 10 April The Company
SONG OF THE EARTH
Choreography Kenneth MacMillan
Music Gustav Mahler
Designs Nicholas Georgiadis
Lighting design John B Read
Orchestra of the Royal Opera House
27 March / 8 / 10 April Marianela Nuñez, Thiago Soares*, Carlos Acosta
30 March / 14 April Laura Morera, Nehemiah Kish, Steven McRae*
*Role Debut
LA FILLE MAL GARDÉE
Frederick Ashton
Conductor: Barry Wordsworth
16, 21, 22, 23, 24, 28, 29 April; 5†May at 7.30pm; 26 April at 3pm; 2 May at 2pm and 7pm
†Live cinema broadcast
Ashton's production of La Fille mal gardée returns to the Royal Opera house from Thursday 16 April 2015. Natalia Osipova makes her début as Lise and debuting as Colas are Vadim Muntagirov, Valentino Zucchetti and Alexander Campbell. La Fille mal gardée is part of the ROH Live Cinema Season and will be screened on Tuesday 5 May.
Choreography Frederick Ashton
Music Ferdinand Hérold, arranged and orchestrated by John Lanchbery
Conductor Barry Wordsworth
Scenario Jean Dauberval
Design Osbert Lancaster
Lighting design John B Read
CASTING
16, 24 April Lise: Laura Morera, Colas: Vadim Muntagirov
21 April / 2 (mat) May Lise: Roberta Marquez, Colas: Valentino Zucchetti*
22 / 28 April Lise: Marianela Nunez, Colas: Carlos Acosta
23 / 29 April / 5† May Lise: Natalia Osipova*, Colas: Steven McRae
26 (mat) April / 2 May Lise: Yuhui Choe, Colas: Alexander Campbell*
Graham Spicer is a writer, director and photographer in Milan, blogging (under the name ‘Gramilano') about dance, opera, music and photography for people “who are a bit like me and like some of the things I like”. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy.
His scribblings have appeared in various publications from Woman's Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the ‘Danza in Italia' column for Dancing Times magazine.
Can’t wait!!!