The Autumn 2009 Season at Sadler’s Wells

picture credit - Johan Persson

The new Autumn Season has some exciting highlights for ballet, especially a new show by Carlos Acosta and also a return visit to the UK by the Nacional Ballet de Cuba, who will feature Acosta as guest artist as part of the Spring Dance at the Coliseum season - a first for Acosta and the Company, and Christopher Wheeldon's company bring Alexei Ratmansky’s Boléro, which was created for the Bolshoi and is set to the music of Maurice Ravel.

The Autumn 2009 season is on sale from Monday 18 May 2009
Sadler’s Wells Ticket Office: 0844 412 4300 (also click the title for link to website)

Carlos Acosta
Apollo and Other Works
Tuesday 1 - Saturday 5 December
Tickets: £10 - £50

Indisputably one of the greatest male dancers of his generation, Carlos Acosta follows in the footsteps of such giants as Nijinsky and Nureyev with a programme of classic and modern works exploring the nature of the male muse in classical ballet.

The evening includes George Balanchine’s Apollo set to Igor Stravinsky’s score, plus Jerome Robbins’ A Suite of Dances and Afternoon of a Faun. The programme also features a specially commissioned new work entitled Young Apollo by choreographer Adam Hougland, set to music by Benjamin Britten.

Scottish Ballet
40th Anniversary Tour
Thursday 1 - Saturday 3 October
Tickets: £10 - £38

Scottish Ballet marks its 40th anniversary with a triple bill that captures the style and versatility of a company that continues to attract acclaim worldwide.

Rubies is one of Balanchine’s most notorious pieces, with dancers adorned in bejewelled costumes set to jazz inspired music by Igor Stravinsky. Performed to the slow-building arch of Berio’s Duetti for two violins William Forsythe’s Workwithinwork is a new addition to Scottish Ballet’s repertoire.

Performed for the first time in London, Krzysztof Pastor’s celebrated In Light and Shadow begins with a duet to the Aria from Bach’s Goldberg Variations, the piece builds with solos, duets and ensemble work set to Bach’s Third Orchestral Suite.

In the Spirit of Diaghilev WORLD PREMIERE
Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui / Javier De Frutos / Russell Maliphant / Wayne McGregor
Tuesday 13 - Saturday 17 October
Tickets: £10 - £35

To mark the Centenary of the world famous Ballets Russes company, Sadler’s Wells evokes the essence of the ground-breaking troupe, commissioning brand new work by four of today’s most exciting contemporary choreographers. Each artist, working with all or part of his own company, gives their own original response to the famous challenge that Diaghilev once issued to Jean Cocteau: “Surprise me!”

Wayne McGregor: Dyad 1909
Inspired by Shackleton's Nimrod expedition to the North Pole in 1909, the year that Les Ballets Russes was founded, Wayne McGregor creates a brand new Ballet Blanc, Dyad 1909.
Wayne McGregor | Random Dance collaborates with acclaimed artists and filmmakers Jane and Louise Wilson, lighting designer Lucy Carter and costume designer Moritz Junge.

Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui: Faun
Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui examines the animalistic nature of human movement and the power of mythology in Faun. This new duet, created for two of his company dancers, takes an alternative look at the eponymous creature from Stéphane Mallermé’s poem, Claude Débussy’s music and Vaslav Nijinsky’s choreography. With additional music by Nitin Sawhney and costumes by leading fashion designer Hussein Chalayan.

Russell Maliphant: AfterLight
Using Vaslav Nijinksy’s geometric drawings and paintings as a starting point, Russell Maliphant creates a brand new work entitled AfterLight, with three dancers from the Russell Maliphant Company plus lighting and sound design from regular collaborators Michael Hulls and
Andy Cowton.

Javier De Frutos: Eternal Damnation to Sancho and Sanchez
Olivier Award-winner Javier De Frutos’ Eternal Damnation to Sancho and Sanchez is a cautionary fable inspired by Cocteau’s scenarios and designs for Les Ballets Russes and set to Maurice Ravel’s La Valse. De Frutos joins forces with theatre designer Katrina Lindsay and lighting designer Michael Hulls.

In the Spirit of Diaghilev is a Sadler’s Wells Production

Morphoses / The Wheeldon Company WORLD PREMIERE
Mixed Bill
Wednesday 21 - Saturday 24 October
Tickets: £10 - £38

Sadler's Wells Associate Artist Christopher Wheeldon returns to Sadler's Wells. His first programme is a centenary celebration of Les Ballets Russes, inspired by the legendary company’s commitment to creating innovative, collaborative productions with seminal artists of its time. It features Christopher Wheeldon’s Commedia, which premiered at Sadler’s Wells last year to wide acclaim, plus a brand new work by Tim Harbour, one of Australia's most exciting new young choreographers, and Alexei Ratmansky’s Boléro, which was created for the Bolshoi and is set to the music of Maurice Ravel.

For Programme Two, husband and wife choreographic team Paul Lightfoot and Sol León, resident choreographers of Nederlands Dans Theater, re-choreograph one of their existing works, Softly as I Leave You, for Morphoses dancers Drew Jacoby and Rubinald Pronk. Christopher Wheeldon presents two works set to piano scores; Continuum, performed to the music of Ligeti, plus a world premiere set to Suites for Two Pianos by Rachmaninoff.

Birmingham Royal Ballet
Quantum Leaps / Cyrano
Tuesday 10 - Saturday 14 November
Tickets: £10 - £40

Birmingham Royal Ballet returns with two contrasting programmes. Quantum Leaps features Stanton Welch’s Powder, danced to Mozart’s popular clarinet concerto. The Centre and its Opposite is a new work from contemporary choreographer Garry Stewart, Artistic Director of Australian Dance Theatre, set to a powerful electronic soundscape. Programme one is completed with Birmingham Royal Ballet Director David Bintley’s E=mc² which has a specially commissioned score by Matthew Hindson, and explores Einstein’s ‘Special Theory of Relativity’.

Programme two showcases more David Bintley choreography with the well known story Cyrano, with music by Carl Davis which tells the story of one man’s truly self-sacrificing devotion.

Ballet Nacional de Cuba
Swan Lake/ / Magia de la Danza SPRING DANCE AT THE LONDON COLISEUM
Tuesday 30 March - Sunday 11 April 2010
Tickets: £15 - £65

Making its long-awaited debut at the London Coliseum, Ballet Nacional de Cuba presents two programmes, which showcase the company’s unparalleled technique and extraordinary flair for invigorating Western ballets with vivid Cuban passion.

Swan Lake was the first ballet to be performed by Ballet Nacional de Cuba, when Alicia Alonso established the company in 1948. Performed with drama and style, this classic production features world-class performances from the full company of dancers. Magia de la Danza is a mixed bill which brings together extracts from seven of the company's most famous ballets including the Nutcracker, Coppélia and Swan Lake.

These performances feature a full live orchestra and four special guest appearances from international superstar Carlos Acosta, who performs with the company on 30 March and 1, 7 and 8 April. This will be the first time Acosta has ever danced with Ballet Nacional de Cuba in the UK.