PRESS RELEASE: Northern Ballet return to West Yorkshire Playhouse with Ondine

[Jan McNulty]

Northern Ballet return to West Yorkshire Playhouse with Ondine

 

Northern Ballet starts its new season in its home city of Leeds with the UK première of David Nixon’s Ondine which will be performed at West Yorkshire Playhouse from 8 to 15 September. This is a rare treat for classical ballet fans as the heartbreaking story is seldom performed outside of London.

 

Artistic Director, David Nixon OBE, originally adapted this traditional production for Ballet du Rhin in 2005. It tells the story of a doomed romance between a beautiful water nymph and a handsome nobleman. Despite being raised by humans, Ondine retains the mysticism of her kind but when she falls deeply in love with a mortal, Brand, she is transformed from a sprite to a woman, opening her heart to the joy and pain of human emotion.

 

David Nixon says: ‘Ondine is one of my favourite ballets from the traditional repertoire and I’m extremely excited to be bringing this to our Leeds’ audiences. Our recent performances of Giselle and Swan Lake were so well received here that we thought Ondine would be a great title for our classical fans. Ondine has all the romance, passion and magic of many of the great classics but it differs in that it is a truly grown up fairytale.’

 

The production features the original music of Hans Werner Henze. The stunning sets and costumes are created by Jérôme Kaplan.

 

-ENDS-

[Jan McNulty]

There's a nice piece about the Ondine "Try Before You Buy" sessions, including a video clip of Hannah Bateman talking about the work, in the Yorkshire Times:

 

http://yorkshiretimes.co.uk/article/Invitation-To-A-Dance

 

I've also included the link in Todays Links

[Beryl H]

I'd like to see a completely different version of Ondine to the same music, hope they will bring it to Sadler's Wells next year.