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Tamara Rojo has danced with leading ballet companies all over the world. This programme follows her first few months in her new role as Artistic Director of English National Ballet, and gains intimate insight into her working practices in rehearsals and on tour.
Tamara talks to BBC John Wilson about my favourite work of art, a ballet by the pioneering choreographer Mats Ek, based on Federico García Lorca’s play “The House of Bernarda Alba” and created for the Swedish Cullberg Ballet company in 1978.
The series profiles Tamara Rojo, arguably one of the world’s most celebrated and popular dancers, as she takes up her biggest challenge to date – Artistic Director of English National Ballet.
Tamara Rojo will be profiled on 9th May on Sky Arts nd the programme is produced by Suzannah Wander. It has been a lynchpin of arts and culture broadcasting for over thirty-three years, exploring the works of some of the finest living artists, musicians, performers and writers.
“We’re delighted that The South Bank Show returns to Sky Arts with such an extraordinary line-up,” comments Melvyn Bragg. “From David Hare to Alfie Boe, Tamara Rojo to Paula Rego, these remarkable people are among the finest contemporary artists at work today and it has been a huge privilege to secure exclusive interviews and access for the series.”
English National Ballet will be the first UK ballet company to produce and perform in October 2013; Le Corsaire (The Pirate) one of the great 19th Century classics. The production will tour Southampton, Oxford, Bristol, London and Manchester.
May 17, 2012. K.Juan Carlos I delivers the Gold Medal for Fine Arts (awarded by the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts) to Placido Domingo, Pedro Almodovar, Tamara Rojo, Paco Pena, Sara Baras at the Palace of la Zarzuela in Madrid, Spain.
Tamara Rojo, one of the world’s most highly regarded ballerinas, is to become artistic director of English National Ballet, it was announced last night.
The 37-year-old dancer will take over in September from Wayne Eagling, whose unexpected departure after seven years was announced in February.
Rojo, a principal dancer at the Royal Ballet where she was in rehearsals on Thursday, said she was honoured to be taking over at a company she spent three years with in the late 1990s.
“I applied for the job, I wanted it and I’m really excited,” she told the Guardian. “Of course I’m a little scared but I would be crazy if I was not. It is going to be hard work.”
Some ballet fans might be disappointed if they do not see so much of a prima ballerina very much at her peak but Rojo said she intended to continue dancing. “I’m not sure I will be doing less, I will be doing different probably,” she said. “I will be dancing and directing.”
Rojo takes over in difficult economic times. The ENB, which tours extensively nationally and internationally, was hit with a 15% cut in Arts Council funding last year and will receive £6.1m in 2012-13.
“We have to be imaginative,” said Rojo. “We have to try to attract audiences in different ways and at the same time try to make politicians realise that the arts are worth it – that we are not animals, we are human beings and we need art to survive.
“We need to feed the soul as well as the body and that’s what the whole arts world needs to get across.”
Rojo said she would remain true to ENB’s core purpose – classical ballet for all – and would also seek out collaborations with other art forms – with theatre, music and fashion.
Rojo spent three years with the company after she left Spain in 1996, making a significant splash for performances including Clara in Derek Deane’s The Nutcracker, which prompted the Times to call her “dance revelation of the year”. After that she joined the Royal Ballet where her reputation has gone from strength to strength.
John Talbot, the ENB’s chairman, released a statement in which he also had kind words for Eagling. “We look forward to the continuing success of the company which has thrived under Wayne Eagling’s artistic direction over the last seven years,” he said.
“Tamara will use her worldwide reputation and creative vision to form inspiring collaborations throughout the UK and the world. She is looking forward to developing, mentoring and showcasing young talent within the company, and building the profiles of those who are already performing at the highest level.”
Source: The Guardian
This revival by The Royal Ballet brings all the lyrical beauty and touching fluidity of its intimate moments for the two lovers along with the grandeur of the ball scene and the action-packed encounters of the opposing Montagues and Capulets.
Beautifully staged with rich period costumes and designs, Romeo and Juliet will draw you into its intense drama with some of the finest of today’s dancers matched to the powerful sounds of Prokofiev’s famous music. This is a wonderful chance for you to experience one of the enduring tragic tales of all time, a classic of the international ballet repertory and a favourite of Royal Ballet audiences.
The story of Cinderella is one of the best-known fairytales, and Frederick Ashton’s full-length version for The Royal Ballet has all its familiar ingredients.
One world premiere, two revivals: three cutting-edge works from The Royal Ballet. Rising talent Jonathan Watkins makes his first work for the main stage. Continue Reading…