Ballet

ENB — Lest We Forget – Sep 2018 at Sadler’s Wells

ENB Lest We Forget program

To commemorate 100 years since the end of the First World War, English National Ballet revive their “moving and ambitious” (The Independent) triptych reflecting the experiences of those who fought, and those who stayed behind.

The programme features works by two Sadler’s Wells Associate Artists: Russell Maliphant’s Second Breath, in which 20 dancers rise and fall, and Akram Khan’s award-winning Dust which is “full of pain and power” (The Independent), as well as Liam Scarlett’s No Man’s Land – evoking the entwined destinies of the soldiers and munition workers.

DUST

Thursday 20 September

Tamara Rojo, James Streeter, Fabian Reimair

Friday 21 September

Tamara Rojo, James Streeter, Fabian Reimair

Saturday 22 September

Tamara Rojo, James Streeter, Fabian Reimair

Monday 24 September (The Royal British Legion Thank You performance)

Tamara Rojo, James Streeter, Fabian Reimair

Tuesday 25 September

Tamara Rojo, James Streeter, Fabian Reimair

Thursday 27 September

Tamara Rojo, James Streeter, Fabian Reimair

Saturday 29 September (mat)

Tamara Rojo, James Streeter, Fabian Reimair

SONG OF THE EARTH / LA SYLPHIDE

MacMillan’s masterpiece and a beloved classic, performed for the first time.

English National Ballet presents a double bill featuring Kenneth MacMillan’s masterpiece Song of the Earth and Frank Andersen’s recreation of La Sylphide.

Song of the Earth

Tamara Rojo

Inspired by Mahler’s haunting song cycle Das Lied von der Erde, MacMillan brings music, poetry and choreography together to capture the fragility of life, and its constant renewal. Three central figures portray the bittersweet reality of love, loss, and mortality: a Woman, a Man and an enigmatic Messenger.

First performed in 1965, Song of the Earth was a point of departure for MacMillan’s choreography, surprising and captivating audiences and critics. English National Ballet is honoured to add this revered MacMillan work to its repertoire.

A piercing work of art

Financial Times on Song of the Earth

Tamara Rojo talks to Total MK

Akram Khan’s Giselle

La Sylphide

On the morning of his wedding to his sweet fiancée Effy, James awakens from a dream to see a mysterious and tantalising Sylphide before him. His obsession with her sets off a fateful sequence of events where joy turns to sorrow, love to betrayal and infatuation to tragedy.

August Bournonville’s classic Romantic ballet is devotedly recreated by Eva Kloborg and Frank Andersen in this captivating production, and is accompanied by an enchanting score, played live by English National Ballet Philharmonic.

La Sylphide is a beautiful jewel in the history of ballet and I can’t wait for the Company and our audiences to rediscover it.

Tamara Rojo, Artistic Director English National Ballet

Get a unique insight into Song of the Earth – hear Tamara Rojo and Deborah MacMillan discuss this masterwork in the video below.

A NEW ENB VERSION OF GISELLE

GISELLE

A NEW VERSION OF GISELLE FOR THE ENB BY AKRAM KHAN

Read English National Ballet Giselle Reviews

The creative process behind Akram Khan’s Giselle

4 October 2016

Looking back at reimagining Giselle with Tamara Rojo, Akram Khan, Ruth Little, Vincenzo Lamagna, Gavin Sutherland, Tim Yip and ENB dancers.

She-Said-ENB-Sadlers-Wells-536-507x357

She Said

English National Ballet, Sadler’s Wells – Reviews

“Dancer Tamara Rojo presents three powerful and engrossing ballets rolled into one stunning performance” by Melissa York – CITYA.M

“TAKE two of the world’s greatest dancers simmering in a heartbreaking tale of love and loss, then stir in a passionate female artist and her unfaithful and irresistible lover and what you’ve got is hot.” by Jeffery Taylor – The Express

” If She Said means anything, it is to prove that creating quality choreography does not require a penis” by Graham Watts – London Dance

“A marvellous image of creativity and power” by Zoë Anderson – Independent

“Tamara Rojo explores her inner Diaghilev in a fascinating bill of new work” by Jenny Gilbert – The Arts Desk

“When Tamara Rojo delivers, she delivers” by Vera Liber – British Theatre Guide

“She Said at Sadler’s Wells” by Debra Craine -The Times

“Three steps forward for women” by Luke Jennings – The Observer

AKGiselleNew score, adapted from Adolphe Adam original by composer Vincenzo Lamagna.

Set and costumes by Tim Yip.

Performed by English National Ballet Philharmonic. Music director; Gavin Sutherland.

Dramaturgy; Ruth Little. Lighting design; Mark Henderson.

“When I decided I wanted to bring Giselle, one of the most traditional pieces of the classical repertoire, into the 21st Century there was only one choreographer I believe had both the knowledge of tradition and creativity necessary for this task. I am incredibly excited that Akram accepted this challenge. I believe this will be a very important step for the whole art form and I hope it will make this beautiful classic relevant to new audiences.”
Tamara Rojo, Artistic Director, English National Ballet.

English National Ballet Giselle Reviews

The creative process behind Akram Khan’s Giselle

4 October 2016

Looking back at reimagining Giselle with Tamara Rojo, Akram Khan, Ruth Little, Vincenzo Lamagna, Gavin Sutherland, Tim Yip and ENB dancers.

Tamara Rojo on staging two versions of Giselle

Lest We Forget at the Sadler’s Wells 20 – 29 Sep 2018

ENB Lest We Forget program

DUST

Thursday 20 September

Tamara Rojo, James Streeter, Fabian Reimair

Friday 21 September

Tamara Rojo, James Streeter, Fabian Reimair

Saturday 22 September

Tamara Rojo, James Streeter, Fabian Reimair

Monday 24 September (The Royal British Legion Thank You performance)

Tamara Rojo, James Streeter, Fabian Reimair

Tuesday 25 September

Tamara Rojo, James Streeter, Fabian Reimair

Thursday 27 September

Tamara Rojo, James Streeter, Fabian Reimair

Saturday 29 September (mat)

Tamara Rojo, James Streeter, Fabian Reimair

Lest We Forget

English National Ballet wins dance South Bank Sky Arts Awards 2015 for Lest We Forget program.

winners

Southbank Sky Arts Awards 2015 – Tamara Rojo winning speech

“This is a great honour and I’m deeply humbled by it. It is important to say that it is not an award for one individual, or even one team. It has been won by the whole company and I would like to pay tribute to and thank :~

CHOREOGRAPHERS: Akram Khan, Russell Maliphant, Liam Scarlett, George Williamson.

All our COLLABORATORS: Designers, particularly Bob Ringwood, Lighting designers, Composers and Costume makers.

The ORCHESTRA and MUSIC DIRECTOR, GAVIN SUTHERLAND, who is always up for everything and loves dance even more than me.

Our TECHNICAL TEAM, David Baxter, David Richardson and specially our technical director Al Riches, who always tells me all is ok even when I am seeing with my own eyes that it is falling apart, but somehow it is always alright in the end!

My DANCERS AND ARTISTIC TEAM, who embrace every challenge and deliver above all expectations.

TO ALL THE UNSUNG HEROES BEHIND THE SCENES, my Executive Director Caroline Thomson, producers, accountants, HR, development, marketing, costumes, hair and make-up outreach and education … You keep things going so we can all dream.

JUSTIN BICKLE, our Chairman, you are the embodiment of the definition of a philanthropist; A person that seeks the welfare of human kind. He who loves the arts. We could not be here without you and your amazing board.

And to the audience who follow us. We will be performing Lest We Forget from September, in London and around the country, so don’t miss it!

Thank you”.

Modern Masters

Sadler’s Wells, London

10 Mar 2015 – 15 Mar 2015

Ksenia Ovsyanick and James Forbat in Petite Mort. Photo: © David Jenson
Ksenia Ovsyanick and James Forbat in Petite Mort. Photo: © David Jenson
Modern Masters honours the work of three of the most influential and creative choreographers of the 20th Century, and brings two new works to English National Ballet’s repertoire.
PETITE MORT
Created in 1991, Ji?í Kylián’s poetic piece, features six men, six women, and six fencing foils, symbolising energy, silence and sexuality. Performed to the slow movements of two Mozart Piano Concerti, the foils slowly become dancing partners, as the brutality of everyday life is revealed. Petite Mort is a quintessential Kylián masterwork, loved by our audience and our dancers when we performed it last year.
SPRING AND FALL
In the same year that Petite Mort was premiered, Hamburg Ballet’s John Neumeier, a new master of narrative and dramatic ballet, created Spring and Fall. Set to the Dvo?ák’s Serenade for Strings in E Major, it is a work for two couples and corps de ballet and takes its narrative from the tension in the music. Spring and Fall is not in the repertoire of any other UK company.
IN THE MIDDLE, SOMEWHAT ELEVATED
With In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated, William Forsythe started a completely new school of choreography, deconstructing classical ballet and liberating a new generation of classical dancers to show off their abilities. Set against a bare stage it is danced by nine individuals culminating in a fierce display of technical and physical wizardry.

Good Swan, Bad Swan: Dancing Swan Lake

Good Swan, Bad Swan: Dancing Swan Lake
Photographer: Arnaud Stephenson

“Good Swan, Bad Swan: Dancing Swan Lake”

Filmed by BBC


Artistic Director and Lead Principal dancer of English National Ballet, in character as the White Swan, Odette, in Swan Lake. Tamara Rojo.