Press Release: English National Ballet - film project Cinderella Games - online premiere

[Jan McNulty]

 

Cinderella Games - online premiere
Tuesday 14 July, 7pm 
ballet.org.uk/cinderella-games  

 

Cinderella Games, a ground-breaking film project inspired by Christopher Wheeldon’s Cinderella, will receive its online premiere at 7pm on Tuesday 14 July on English National Ballet’s Facebook and YouTube channels.

Cinderella Games is the third dance film English National Ballet has produced that is directed and choreographed by Jessica Wright and Morgann Runacre-Temple – known collectively as Jess and Morgs.  

  

 

Immediately after the short film premieres, a special online Q&A will be shared in which Jess and Morgs discuss their creative process, the making of Cinderella Games, and sources of artistic inspiration.

This original dance film takes inspiration from Christopher Wheeldon’s production of Cinderella yet imagines the fairy-tale with an alternate ending: after the ball the real Cinderella was never found, and instead a sinister game show now exists in which contestants compete for its title. Shot in the spectacular locations of the Royal Albert Hall and Kempton Steam Museum, Cinderella Games is full of intricate choreography, quirky theatrical performances and dark humour.

 

To bring it to life, English National Ballet’s Engagement Department recruited 35 inter-generational participants from a range of dance backgrounds to work alongside professional performers Chihiro Kawasaki and Matthew Hawkins, giving them the opportunity to experience life on a professional film set, and to be involved in a ground-breaking dance for the camera project.

Cinderella Games was screened during English National Ballet’s Autumn/Winter 2019 tour as a curtain raiser for select performances of Cinderella. Throughout 2020, the film is being screened at film festivals worldwide.

-ENDS-

 

Link to watch when the film is released:  

 

 

English National Ballet is a National Portfolio Organisation supported by Arts Council England.

 

 

About 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 been at the forefront of ballet's growth and evolution ever since.

 

English National Ballet brings world class ballet to the widest possible audience through performances across the UK and on eminent international stages including The Bolshoi Theatre and Palais Garnier; its distinguished orchestra, English National Ballet Philharmonic; and being a UK leader in creative learning and engagement practice, building innovative partnerships to deliver flagship programmes such as English National Ballet's Dance for Parkinson's.

 

Under the artistic directorship of Tamara Rojo CBE, English National Ballet has introduced ground-breaking new works to the Company's repertoire whilst continuing to honour the tradition of great classical ballet, gaining acclaim for artistic excellence and creativity. 2019 saw English National Ballet enter a new chapter in its history with a move into a purpose-built state-of-the-art home in East London which brings a renewed commitment to, and freedom for, creativity, ambition, and connection to more people, near and far, than ever before. www.ballet.org.uk  

 

About Jess and Morgs
Jessica Wright and Morgann Runacre-Temple have been making work together since 2005. Their films have been shown on Channel 4, BBC iPlayer, Canal + and internationally at festivals including FIFA (Montreal) Cinedans (Amsterdam), Agite y Sirva (Mexico), Screendance (Stockholm) and San Francisco Dance Film Festival (USA). Their work has been screened at Sadler’s Wells, King’s Place, on large scale pop-up screens in Trafalgar Square and The London Southbank.  

 

Curing Albrecht (commissioned by English National Ballet in association with MIF) had over 150k views and 3k shares in its first weekend online and was subsequently hosted on BBC iPlayer and Canal+TV. To date, it has won 7 awards at International Film Festivals, including Best Dance Film 2017 at New Renaissance Film Festival (UK), Best Director at Portland Dance Film Festival (USA), and the Audience Award at Barcelona’s prestigious Choreoscope Festival.

 

Their most recent work An Evening with Taglioni was funded by Arts Council England and was made in partnership with English National Ballet. This is due to be released in 2020.

 

Jess and Morgs have a particular interest in the dancing camera, the malleability of time through post-production technology and the use of surrealist imagery and humour to provoke new ways of thinking about the traditional art forms, making work that is relevant to today and to new audiences.

 

Alongside their collaboration, Jess was a dancer for Company Wayne McGregor for 11 years and Morgs is a freelance choreographer for dance and theatre.www.jessandmorgs.com 

 

About Arts Council England 
Arts Council England is the national development body for arts and culture across England, working to enrich people's lives. We support a range of activities across the arts, museums and libraries - from theatre to visual art, reading to dance, music to literature, and crafts to collections. Great art and culture inspires us, brings us together and teaches us about ourselves and the world around us. In short, it makes life better. Between 2018 and 2022, we will invest £1.45 billion of public money from government and an estimated £860 million from the National Lottery to help create these experiences for as many people as possible across the country.www.artscouncil.org.uk