English National Ballet announces 2018 Spring/Summer Season including world premiere by William Forsythe

World premiere of new work by William Forsythe created especially for English National Ballet.

Voices of America: Jerome Robbins/William Forsythe/Aszure Barton, a new mixed bill dedicated to neoclassical ballet with an American accent.

Kenneth MacMillan's The Sleeping Beauty to be performed at the London Coliseum.

New version of My First Ballet: Swan Lake to tour the UK.

In April 2018, English National Ballet will present the world premiere of a new work by one of the most revered choreographers working today, William Forsythe. His first creation for a UK ballet company in over 20 years.

Forsythe's new work will be presented as part of Voices of America, a new mixed bill dedicated to neo-classical ballet with an American accent, featuring works with audacious attitude from three generations of choreographers.

Alongside his new work, English National Ballet will also perform Forsythe's Approximate Sonata 2016. Originally created in 1996, Forsythe recently reworked this piece for Paris Opera Ballet. A series of pas de deux that deconstruct the classical ballet vocabulary, Approximate Sonata 2016 is accompanied by a new version of the original score by Thom Willems.

Voices of America sees another work new to English National Ballet, Jerome Robbins' The Cage. One of Robbins' most shocking and intense ballets, The Cage looks at the rites and rituals of a species where the female considers the male to be prey, featuring 14 female and two male dancers. Originally created in 1951, The Cage is set to Stravinsky's Concerto in D for String Orchestra, performed live by English National Ballet Philharmonic.

Completing the mixed bill is a reworked version of Aszure Barton's Fantastic Beings. Originally created as part of English National Ballet's She Said programme in 2016, Fantastic Beings is a mysterious, magnetic work that sees 16 dancers take to the stage, accompanied by Mason Bates's dynamic score performed live by English National Ballet Philharmonic.

ENB's Artistic Director, Tamara Rojo, commented,

For a while now I have wanted to dedicate a programme to the abstract, neoclassical style of ballet that is born out of America. It gives me great pleasure to now be doing so with a new work created especially for us by the genius that is William Forsythe, alongside his Approximate Sonata 2016.

I am excited that these Forsythe works will be accompanied by Jerome Robbins' brilliantly shocking ballet The Cage, and a revival of Aszure Barton's fabulous Fantastic Beings. I cannot wait for audiences to experience the power and emotion of these ballets next spring.

In June 2018, English National Ballet revives Kenneth MacMillan's The Sleeping Beauty at the London Coliseum. This classical dark fairy-tale ballet offers “some of the most ravishing steps in 19th century repertory,” said The Guardian. It features sets by Peter Farmer, elaborate costumes by Nicholas Georgiadas, and Tchaikovsky's score will be played live by English National Ballet Philharmonic. This revival coincides with the recent anniversary of MacMillan's death, and follows the Company's performances of MacMillan's masterpiece Song of the Earth in the autumn/winter.

Returning for its ninth consecutive year is English National Ballet's Emerging Dancer competition, which will be held at the London Coliseum for the first time on 11 June 2018. Recognising the excellence of the company's artists, this annual celebration remains vital to developing and nurturing young talent within the Company. Over the years Emerging Dancer has grown significantly in popularity, with last year's Facebook livestream receiving over 89,000 views worldwide.

Next spring, English National Ballet will present a brand-new version of the ever-popular My First Ballet: Swan Lake, which premieres at London's Peacock theatre before touring to seven venues across the country. Created in partnership with English National Ballet School, the My First Ballet series reworks popular ballet titles to make them accessible to children as young as three. Since inception in 2012 over a quarter of a million people have seen a ballet from the series.

English National Ballet continues to present the very best of British ballet to audiences across the world next season when it tours Akram Khan's Giselle internationally for the first time. In March 2018, the production will headline the Auckland Arts Festival in New Zealand before opening the Dublin Dance Festival in Ireland in May 2018. Last season English National Ballet toured Le Corsaire, Coppélia, and Ballet Bold, a mixed bill that included Adagio Hammerklavier, In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated, and the third act of The Sleeping Beauty, internationally to over 18,000 people in Japan and Poland respectively.

Listing information for English National Ballet 2018 Spring/Summer Season

Voices of America: Robbins/Forsythe/Barton
Sadler's Wells, London
Thursday 12 – Saturday 21 April 2018
Box office: 020 7863 8000 or www.ballet.org.uk
Tickets: from £12 (on sale Autumn 2017)

My First Ballet: Swan Lake
Peacock Theatre, London
Thursday 29 March – Saturday 7 April 2018
Box Office: 020 7863 8222 or www.ballet.org.uk
Tickets: from £10

My First Ballet: Swan Lake
Churchill Theatre, Bromley
Saturday 14 – Sunday 15 April 2018
Box Office: 020 3285 6000 or www.ballet.org.uk
Tickets: from £15.50

My First Ballet: Swan Lake
New Theatre, Oxford
Saturday 21 – Sunday 22 April 2018
Box Office: 0844 871 3020 or www.ballet.org.uk
Tickets: from £11.50

My First Ballet: Swan Lake
Opera House, Manchester
Saturday 28 – Sunday 29 April 2018
Box Office: 0844 871 3018 or www.ballet.org.uk
Tickets: from £11.50

My First Ballet: Swan Lake
The Grand Theatre, Blackpool
Saturday 5 – Sunday 6 May 2018
Box Office: 01253 290190 or www.ballet.org.uk
Tickets: from £10

My First Ballet: Swan Lake
New Victoria Theatre, Woking
Saturday 12 – Sunday 13 May 2018
Box Office: 0844 871 7645 or www.ballet.org.uk
Tickets: from £11.50

My First Ballet: Swan Lake
Princess Theatre, Torquay
Saturday 19 – Sunday 20 May 2018
Box Office: 0844 871 3023 or www.ballet.org.uk
Tickets: from £11.50

The Sleeping Beauty
London Coliseum
Wednesday 6 – Saturday 16 Jun 2018
Box Office: 020 7845 9300 or www.ballet.org.uk
Tickets: from £14

Emerging Dancer
London Coliseum
Monday 11 June 2018
Box Office: 020 7845 9300 or www.ballet.org.uk

Gramilano( Editor )

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.