Details

As part of the international celebration of Kenneth MacMillan. Kenneth MacMillan's contribution to The Royal Ballet is immeasurable. This Triple Bill features three one act works that show the depth and wealth of his talent. Danses Concertantes was Kenneth MacMillan's first commissioned work and also marked the beginning of his lifelong collaboration with Nicholas Georgiadis. Set to Stravinsky's score, the ballet requires total precision that matches and complements the complexity of the music, with its sudden shifts in metre and tone. In 1991 MacMillan asked Ian Spurling to create new designs for the ballet. For this programme, the revival of Danses Concertantes will recreate the original Georgiadis designs. MacMillan's profoundly moving Gloria, set to Francis Poulenc's Gloria in D major used Vera Brittain's Testament of Youth as its inspiration. Created for The Royal Ballet and first performed on 13 March 1980 this powerful and elegiac work mourns the waste of young lives in the trenches during the First World War. Andy Klunder's designs are a distinctly abstract depiction of the period providing a stark and strangely ethereal view of the desolation of the First World War. The Laurence Olivier Award winning The Judas Tree, premiered on 19 March 1992, was MacMillan's last work for The Royal Ballet. Brian Elias' commissioned score was created independently of any scenario or characterisation from MacMillan, a process that was to drive the ballet rather than illustrate it. Using Jock McFadyn's designs The Judas Tree is set on a building site using Canary Wharf as its backdrop. It is a highly charged ballet of betrayal and sexual violence, a resounding condemnation of humanity's flaws. Approx. running time: 2 hours 30 minutes

Cast/Performers

Jock McFadyen (The Judas Tree), Miyako Yoshida, Nathan Coppen, Johan Kobborg, Tamara Rojo, Martin Harvey, Ricardo Cervera, Mara Galeazzi, Edward Watson, Jonathan Cope, Marianela Nunez, Carlos Acosta, Jaimie Tapper, Inaki Urlezaga, Yohei Sasaki

Creatives/Company

Conductor: Richard Bernas
Music(s): Igor Stravinsky (Danses Concertantes), Brian Elias (The Judas Tree), Francis Poulenc (Gloria)
Choreographer(s): Kenneth MacMillan (Dances Concertantes), Kenneth MacMillan (The Judas Tree), Kenneth MacMillan (Gloria)
Design(s): Nicholas Georgiadis (Danses Concertantes), Andy Klunder (Gloria)
Lighting(s): John B Read (The Judas Tree), Bill Besant (Gloria)