Media release: ELMHURST BALLET COMPANY TO PERFORM 'MODE' IN BIRMINGHAM AND LONDON

[Jan McNulty]

Media release: 15 April 2024

 

 

ELMHURST BALLET COMPANY TO PERFORM ‘MODE’

 

• A mixed bill of dance in London and Birmingham as Elmhurst celebrates 20 years in Birmingham in 2024.
• New and established dance repertory showcases graduate students of Elmhurst Ballet Company.
• Mode includes Wayne McGregor’s FAR: the sixth project as part of an ongoing relationship with Studio Wayne McGregor.

 

Elmhurst Ballet Company, the graduate year performance strand of Elmhurst Ballet School presents Mode at the Shaw Theatre, London on Saturday 11 May and Elmhurst Studio Theatre, Birmingham on Friday 17 and Saturday 18 May 2024.

 

The Elmhurst Ballet School initiative, now in its sixth iteration, prepares students for life after school. Like professional dance companies, members take daily ballet class, work with established artists, and deliver outreach sessions in schools in their final year.

 

To bring Mode to the stage, a range of eminent individuals and organisations have passed their dance experience and knowledge on to the 19-strong company.

 

The students have worked collaboratively with Neil Fleming Brown, a Company Wayne McGregor artist to learn FAR. Since its premiere in 2010, FAR has toured the world, picking up accolades for McGregor's ever-insightful vision. Conceived and choreographed by Wayne McGregor, this piece draws inspiration from the Age of Enlightenment and the 18^th Century French philosopher Diderot’s seminal encyclopaedia. The work marks the sixth project between Elmhurst Ballet School and Studio Wayne McGregor in a relationship that enables students to explore multi award-winning Wayne McGregor’s cutting-edge choreography and creative process.

 

In the year that Elmhurst Ballet School celebrates 20 years in its current home in Birmingham, the school has collaborated with Birmingham City University’s School of Fashion and Textiles, whose Fashion Design students have meticulously designed and crafted the costumes for new piece À la Mode. Showcasing the fantastic designs of the BCU students, À la Mode takes audiences on a journey across three dance genres- jazz, ballet, and contemporary – all infused with a runway-inspired ambiance.

 

The Company will also dance one of the most celebrated pieces in all of classical ballet when they take on The Kingdom of the Shades from Marius Petipa's La Bayadère. From the first performance in St Petersburg in 1877, the ballet was hailed by contemporary critics and audiences alike as one of Petipa's masterpieces.

 

Members of the graduate company will also be showcased in Fête Galante by Michael Corder- a demanding original work for the company involving a divertissement of varied, classically structured dances in six short movements that reference the styles of 18th century court dances. Another new piece, The Invitation by Sandrine Monin, explores the feelings of a collective pulse of anticipation and the pursuit to grasp a moment in time.

 

An excerpt from Spartacus by Yuri Grigorovich; Keeping the Faith, a new jazz piece by Elmhurst teacher Cris Penfold; and Geōmantía by Scarlett Brass, an Elmhurst Ballet Company artist, complete the programme.

 

Elmhurst Ballet Company members in 2024 are: Lucie Apicella-Howard, Scarlett Brass, Ellis Gilbert, Imogen Hart, Nicholas Hepher, Amy Hickey, Marlo Kempsey-Fagg, Mandy Kwan, Monica Langlois, Victoria Lavalle Mendoza, Yuna Nomura, Gabriele Pitzanti, Nicole Rutter, Hana Sato, Zara Scott, Ida Sorensen, Isabella Streckfuss, Pietro Vittoria, and Kiera Wilkinson.

 

ENDS

 

Elmhurst Ballet Company in Mode in May 2024:

Saturday 11 May at 2.30pm & 7.30pm

The Shaw Theatre, LONDON

Tickets: www.shaw-theatre.com // 020 7666 9037

 

Friday 17 May at 7pm & Saturday 18 May at 7pm

Elmhurst Studio Theatre, Elmhurst Ballet School, BIRMINGHAM

Tickets: www.elmhurstballetschool.org/en/whats-on/events/

 

 

 

Notes to Editors

 

About Elmhurst Ballet School 

Elmhurst Ballet School is a world-renowned centre of dance excellence in association with Birmingham Royal Ballet, which trains young dancers aged 11-19. Celebrating its 100th birthday in 2023, the school was founded in Camberley, Surrey in 1923 and relocated to Edgbaston in Birmingham in 2004.

 

The school aims to nurture individuality through dance training, academics and health & wellbeing and guide students to become independent, collaborative, and versatile artists. Elmhurst's dance training is delivered by current and former dance professionals. The training is enhanced by the association with Birmingham Royal Ballet, an ongoing relationship with Studio Wayne McGregor, and many visiting choreographers and dance artists work collaboratively with the students during the school year.

 

Elmhurst’s exceptional training opportunities is available to young dancers regardless of their financial, social, or cultural backgrounds. Although Elmhurst is an independent school, 89% of students benefit from UK Government support or in-house bursaries to train at the school. Recent graduates are working with companies across the UK and internationally including Birmingham Royal Ballet, New Adventures, Northern Ballet, Scottish Ballet, and the Royal Ballet.

 

Wayne McGregor CBE is President of the school, and Carlos Acosta CBE and Dame Merle Park are listed amongst the school’s Vice Presidents. Elmhurst Young Dancers’ Programme provides weekend pre-vocational training in Birmingham, Manchester, Plymouth, and Sunderland. A new Research and Performance Department is the first in the world to support evidence-based practice in a vocational dance school setting.

www.elmhurstballetschool.org

 

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