New Works in the Linbury - 3-5 June 2010, Royal Opera House

I'd like to extend a very warm welcome to today's new readers.  It's lovely to see you here and I hope you enjoy reading BALLET NEWS.  In a couple of days I will be publishing a feature about English National Ballet and their Swan Lake tutus - as the wardrobe department prepares for the massed ranks of Swans about to glide into the Royal Albert Hall 'in-the-round'. It's a true spectacle.  I will also be unveiling a unique prize. I hope you'll be back !


New Works in the Linbury
3-5 June
Linbury Studio Theatre

Artists of The Royal Ballet in Liam Scarlett’s Asphodel Meadows

Photo by Johan Persson

The annual New Works performances are a chance to see new and innovative dance on the smaller Linbury stage.  You can see new choreographers from The Royal Ballet's dancers, and some who have been producing new works for a few years.  Last year the absolute highlight of a very good selection was Les Lutins, choreographed by Johan Kobborg for Alina Cojocaru, Steven McRae and Sergei Polunin, with the wonderful Charlie Siem on Violin. Literally, the stage was too hot for dance and they barely touched it. Steven and Sergei are back this year. 

I also want to highlight one dancer/choreographer who is not here this year, but was last and has recently had a massive hit on the main Covent Garden stage with Ashpodel Meadows.  Photographs from the performance can be seen throughout this feature. The dancer/choreographer is Liam Scarlett, and I mention him here because the New Works format has given him the confidence to mount a ballet for the main stage; proof if you needed it that in these performances you have the chance to see someone develop over time - and they need your support !  You also get the chance to see some of the corp dancers shine on stage in a way that they can't on the main stage - their role in the corp is to blend in.

Rupert Pennefather and Marianela Nuñez in Liam Scarlett’s Asphodel Meadows

Photo by Johan Persson

Here is what is in store this year.  There are some interesting collaborations with designers - for example Christian Dior - and some of the dancers I'd especially recommend are Bennet Gartside, Tristan Dyer, Melissa Hamilton, Leticia Stock, Leanne Cope, Yasmine Naghdi, Lara Turk and Helen Crawford.

TRIP TRAC
Choreography Slava Samodurov
Music Dmitri Shostakovich
Costume Designs Ellen Butler
Mara Galeazzi, Valeri Hristov, Melissa Hamilton, Thomas Whitehead, Olivia Cowley, David Trzensimiech, Sian Murphy, Tristan Dyer, Akane Takada, Kevin Emerton

DUPLICITY
Choreography Ludovic Ondiviela
Music Giulio Caccini (Ave Maria),
Dustin O’Halloran
Sergei Rachmaninov Rachmaninov
Claire Calvert, Yuhui Choe, Benjamin Ella, Ryoichi Hirano, Paul Kay, Leticia Stock

Tamara Rojo and Bennet Gartside in Liam Scarlett’s Asphodel Meadows

Photo by Johan Persson

ONE SHADE THE MORE
Choreography Vanessa Fenton
Music Max Bruch

Leanne Cope, Roberta Marquez, Steven McRae, Fernando Montaño, Yasmine Naghdi, Michael Stojko

LIEDER
Choreography Alastair Marriott
Music Johannes Brahms
Costume Designs Adam Wiltshire
Original Lighting Design Jurgen Volckaerts
Choreographer’s Assistant Jonathan Howells
Mara Galeazzi, Gary Avis

Tamara Rojo in Liam Scarlett’s Asphodel Meadows

Photo by Johan Persson

DON’T HATE THE PLAYER …
Choreography Kristen Mcnally
Music : Ennio Morricone, Thirty Seconds To Mars, Michael Bublé, , Jean Michel Jarre
Costumes Styled By Stephanie McNally
With Thanks To Christian Dior And Topshop Unique
Artistic Advisor John Birchell Hughes
Thomas Whitehead, Christina Arestis, Sian Murphy, Lara Turk

HALLELUJAH JUNCTION
Choreography Erico Montes
Music John Adams
Costume Designs Natalia Stewart
Helen Crawford, Bennet Gartside, Kenta Kura, Sergei Polunin, Jonathan Watkins

Marianela Nuñez in Liam Scarlett’s Asphodel Meadows

Photo by Johan Persson