Details

English Youth Ballet unites six of its professional dancers to perform an evening of modern and classical ballet. In Virtuoso, each dance will be created by the international cast of six dancers who have performed with the Royal Ballet, English National Ballet, Ballet -du-Capitole Toulouse, Vienna Festival Ballet and who currently dance the principal roles in English Youth Ballet's productions. The evening features a varied programme which begins with Les Sylphides variations in which sylphs are seen dancing in the moonlight. Their long white tutus epitomise the dance which represents the Romantic ballet period. It is followed by four popular pas de deux performances. These range from the scene in Coppelia where Swanilda and Franz celebrate their wedding to the spectacular duo from Le Corsaire which was made famous by Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev. There is also the opportunity to see both the White Swan pas de deux from Swan Lake which romantically portrays the first meeting between the Swan Queen Odette and her prince as well as the dramatic Black Swan pas de deux depicting the schemes of Princess Odile who is determined to seduce the prince into marriage. The more modern part of the evening features a symbolic version of Stravinsky's Firebird, which has been choreographed by English Youth Ballet's art director Dominic Marshall and is performed on pointe. The evening draws to a lively close with a Gershwin ballet choreographed by Ian Mackenzie Stewart. The dance is based on the Hollywood musical era and each performer portrays one of the silver screen legends, bringing together the styles of Judy Garland, Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Gene Kelly, Rita Hayworth and Cyd Charisse in a complete company finale.

Creatives/Company

Company: English Youth Ballet