Press Release: English National Ballet presents Dance Journeys Matinee Takeover at Sadler's Wells

[Jan McNulty]

English National Ballet 

Dance Journeys Matinee Takeover

Sadler’s Wells 

Wednesday 18 April 2018 

Performance at 2.30pm

www.ballet.org.uk  

 

English National Ballet presents Dance Journeys Matinee Takeover, showcasing the choreographic voice of young people on the main stage at Sadler’s Wells during the Company’s Voices of America season. 

 

Dance Journeys, supported by John Lyon’s Charity, gives young people the opportunity to work as a professional company, gain an in-depth experience of the production process leading to a performance and igniting a passion for dance. 
 

Our special Matinee Takeover programme also features inspiring performances from ENBYouthCo, English National Ballet School, and English National Ballet performing an extract from William Forsythe’s Approximate Sonata 2016.

 

100 young dancers from west London schools: Copthall School, Friern Barnet School, Hammersmith Academy, Hampstead School join English National Ballet’s ENBYouthCo to work together as one Dance Journeys Company to perform Chrysalis at Sadler’s Wells. 

 

Chrysalis takes its inspiration from Aszure Barton’s Fantastic Beings, is artistically directed by Jo Meredith, and choreographed by Morgann Runacre-Temple and Luke Brown, Katie Cambridge, Lucy Evans, Georgia Heighway and Danielle Teale. The work is set to an original score by composer Thomas Hewitt Jones, recorded by young musicians from the Royal College of Music Junior Department Contemporary Ensemble and conducted by Jacques Cohen. 

 

Tamara Rojo CBE, Artistic Director, English National Ballet said: “By nurturing and encouraging new talent through projects such as English National Ballet’s Dance Journeys, we can further develop our art forms, attracting new audiences and offering the chance to create art and artists of the future.”

 

Fleur Derbyshire-Fox, Engagement Director, English National Ballet said: “Dance Journeys positively impacts on young people far beyond the project, it raises aspirations, increases confidence and develops greater resilience and life skills.”

 

Dance Journeys Matinee Takeover also sees ENBYouthCo perform Life of the Party, choreographed by New Adventures company member Tom Jackson-Greves. A playful reaction to Kenneth MacMillan’s Song of the Earth, this piece looks at the ideas of loneliness and memory from the perspective of a group of young people.

 

English National Ballet School students Vania De Rosas, Victor González Pérez, Lauren Mitchell, Kirica Takahashi, and Valerio Zaffalon, perform their choreography Volts, inspired by the work of William Forsythe.  

 

Completing the programme is English National Ballet, performing an extract from William Forsythe’s Approximate Sonata 2016 from the Company’s Voices of America programme. Originally created in 1996, and recently reworked by Forsythe for Paris Opera Ballet. Approximate Sonata 2016 is a series of pas de deux that deconstruct the classical ballet vocabulary and is accompanied by a new version of the original score by Thom Willems.

 

Dance Journeys is a free ticketed performance. For ticket enquires please contact dancejourneys@ballet.org.uk 

 

Notes to Editors

 

English National Ballet 

English National Ballet has a long and distinguished history. Founded in 1950 as London Festival Ballet by the great English Dancers Alicia Markova and Anton Dolin, it has played a major role in the growth and history of ballet in the UK. Today, English National Ballet is renowned for taking world-class ballet to the widest possible audience through its national and international tour programme, offsite performances at festivals including Glastonbury and Latitude, its distinguished orchestra English National Ballet Philharmonic, and being a UK leader in creative learning and engagement practice and delivery, building innovative partnerships to deliver flagship programmes such as English National Ballet’s Dance for Parkinson’s. Under the artistic directorship of Tamara Rojo, English National Ballet has gained new acclaim as it introduces innovative new works to the Company’s repertoire while continuing to honour and reinvigorate traditional ballet.

 

English National Ballet School 

English National Ballet School is a world-renowned specialist training centre for aspiring and highly talented young ballet dancers aged 16 to 19. Founded in 1988 by English National Ballet, today the school exists as a separate entity but maintains strong links with its parent company, sharing its commitment to excellence and access. Its mission is to nurture and develop the next generation of world-class dance artists; artists who are confident and versatile, able to push boundaries and bring their creativity to the fore. Students participate in a three-year programme, validated by Trinity College London, with graduates joining prestigious dance companies worldwide. Currently a third of the dancers at English National Ballet are graduates of the School. The School also offer weekly children’s ballet classes, ENBS Juniors, for 3 – 10-year olds.