Press Release: THE ROYAL BALLET PRESENTS A SHOWCASE OF CONTEMPORARY BALLET BY McGREGOR, WHEELDON AND SCARLETT

[Jan McNulty]

THE ROYAL BALLET PRESENTS A SHOWCASE OF CONTEMPORARY BALLET BY McGREGOR, WHEELDON AND SCARLETT

TOP PRICE TICKETS £37.50

3 – 14 November 2012

Contemporary choreography is at the heart of The Royal Ballet and this November Wayne McGregor (Royal Ballet Resident Choreographer), Christopher Wheeldon (Royal Ballet Artistic Associate) and emerging talent Liam Scarlett (First Artist) present an evening of three one act ballets. Each piece is unique and demonstrates the beauty and scale of contemporary ballet.

26 year old Royal Ballet dancer and choreographer Liam Scarlett presents Viscera, a new piece created for Miami City Ballet earlier this year. Viscera is a sensual, athletic ballet, the dance is raw and minimal, exploring the personal and internal drive and pulse of the body.

Infra meaning ‘below’, premiered in 2008 and was McGregor’s first large scale work for The Royal Ballet. Film projections by artist Julian Opie create a backdrop of walking digital pedestrian like figures, below which McGregor’s choreography is fast and exaggerated. This emotional dance features episodic solos, pas de deux and group ensembles as dancers meet, pass and move on. The haunting electronica score by Max Richter sets the tone of an impersonal cityscape. The ballet is a fragmented narrative exploring partial views of humanity and emotionality.

Wheeldon’s Fools Paradise receives its Royal Ballet premiere and is an ethereal, enchanting ballet. This abstract work references Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Nights Dream and combines classical ballet technique with modern sensibility. Set to a dramatic piano score by Joby Talbot the dancers are bathed in warm light as they move through the piece which contains a moving pas de deux and builds to a spectacular arrangement for the whole ensemble, as gold petals shower down on the stage.

 

 

Viscera, Infra, Fools Paradise 3 / 5 / 7 / 8* / 12 / 14 November 2012

3 November performance starts 7pm

5 – 14 performances start at 7.30pm

Tickets £37.50, £25, £22, £18, £11. £6, £5

*for the performance on 8 November the Ampitheatre is available only to members of the student standby scheme.

Student Standby Tickets £10, register www.roh.org.uk/studentstandby

Box Office 020 7304 4000

www.roh.org.uk