Photo Album: first look at The Royal Ballet’s new triple bill
The Firebird / A Month in the Country / Symphony in C
The curtain has just gone up on The Royal Ballet‘s latest triple bill and here are the first photos.
The flash of a firebird, a family sent into a spin and a classical ballet explosion. Michel Fokine’s The Firebird with Igor Stravinsky’s music is a ground-breaking classic of the early 20th-century that draws on the story, sound and look of Russian folk art. Ivan Turgenev’s play A Month in the Country inspired Frederick Ashton’s study of the emotional chaos a young tutor brings to household routine. Ashton created dazzling and fast footwork alongside expressive character portraits to music by Fryderyk Chopin. Symphony in C is pure dance with Russian-born George Balanchine‘s brilliant edge. His choreography draws from the classical Imperial ballet of his youth and matches it to the music of Georges Bizet’s exuberant and inventive symphony.
The Firebird
Good confronts evil in Mikhail Fokine’s classic ballet about a magical Firebird, a powerful magician and a noble Prince.
Choreography: Mikhail Fokine
Music: Igor Stravinsky
Designer: Natalia Goncharova
Performers
Conductor: Emmanuel Plasson
The Firebird: Yasmine Naghdi
Ivan Tsarevich: Edward Watson
Tsarevna: Christina Arestis
Kostchei: Gary Avis
Concert Master: Vasko Vassilev
Orchestra of the Royal Opera House
A Month in the Country
Frederick Ashton’s poignant ballet captures the essence of Turgenev’s play about family and unrequited love.
Choreography: Frederick Ashton
Music: Fryderyk Chopin
Musical arrangement: John Lanchbery
Designer: Julia Trevelyan Oman
Original lighting designer: William Bundy
Performers
Conductor: Emmanuel Plasson
Natalia: Marianela Nuñez
Beliaev: Matthew Ball
Concert Master: Vasko Vassilev
Orchestra of the Royal Opera House
Symphony in C
Balanchine’s dazzling neoclassical ballet, set to Bizet’s Symphony no.1 is a joyful showcase for the whole Company.
Choreography: George Balanchine
Music: Georges Bizet
Designer: Anthony Dowell
Performers
Conductor: Emmanuel Plasson
Dancers:
Natalia Osipova
Sarah Lamb
Yuhui Choe
Francesca Hayward
Vadim Muntagirov
Nicol Edmonds
Alexander Campbell
James Hay
Orchestra of the Royal Opera House
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.
