Autumn Season
This autumn, we will be performing a dynamic mixed programme, Baroque & Roll, at The Alban Arena in St Albans, before travelling to Belfast, following an invitation to take part in Melissa Hamilton’s Grand Ballet Gala.
Performance Schedule
Baroque & Roll
Tue 1st October, 7.30pm
The Alban Arena, Civic Centre
St Albans, Hertfordshire AL1 3LD
>>> BOOK TICKETS
Melissa Hamilton’s Grand Ballet Gala
Sat 26th Oct, 2.30pm & 7.30pm
Sun 27th Oct, 3pm
Grand Opera House Belfast
>>> BOOK TICKETS
Baroque & Roll
Tue 1st October, 7.30pm
The Alban Arena, Civic Centre St Albans, Hertfordshire AL1 3LD
Choreography by Daniela Cardim and Kristen McNally
This dynamic mixed bill by world-class choreographers combines everything ballet is today in a single evening with music from Bach to Genesis: grace, poise and beauty mixed with humour, wit, and satirical social commentary.
It will take you from the Baroque courts of Europe to the Wild West, with some hippie flair and Stepford Wives thrown in for good measure.
The evening begins with Baroque Encounters by Daniela Cardim. To the sound of two beautiful harpsichord pieces by Baroque master Johann Sebastian Bach, seven dancers playfully explore the patterns and moods of the music.
The second half of the evening is a firework of short ballets by Royal Ballet Principal Character Artist, Kristen McNally. Known for her witty and quirky choreographic style, McNally has been working with New English Ballet Theatre since 2012.
Her Lonesome Gun is an expression for her love of all things Wild West, while in Mad Women a group of flesh-and-blood Stepford wives take power for themselves to get what they want.
With Invisible Touch and I Can’t Dance McNally has created unforgettable dance versions of two masterpieces of pop music history by megaband Genesis.
Melissa Hamilton’s Grand Ballet Gala
Grand Opera House Belfast
Sat 26th Oct, 2.30pm & 7.30pm
Sun 27th Oct, 3pm
Tickets: £55 – £36.50
We are thrilled that we have been invited by our Patron Melissa Hamilton, First Soloist of the Royal Ballet, to perform at her Grand Ballet Gala at the Grand Opera House in Belfast alongside Melissa and established and rising stars of the international ballet and dance world.
The programme will be showcasing excerpts from much-loved ballet classics combined with innovative modern contemporary works.
Summer Season
Our 2024 summer season featured seven ballets choreographed by Matthew Ball, Daniela Cardim, Wayne Eagling, Kristen McNally and Valentino Zucchetti to music by Claudio Monteverdi, Johann Sebastian Bach, Frédéric Chopin and Genesis.
Next Generation Festival
Linbury Theatre at the Royal Opera House, London
Sat 15th & Sun 16th June
Choreography by Matthew Ball and Daniela Cardim
We were delighted to be returning to the Linbury Theatre at the Royal Opera House in June after successfully premiering our programme of female choreographers, Into the Spotlight, at the Next Generation Festival 2022.
This year, performed two contemporary ballets in a mixed programme with Norwegian National Ballet 2.
Royal Ballet Principal Matthew Ball premiered his first ensemble piece, Acts of Exaltation for seven dancers, set to several sacral and secular works by Baroque master, Claudio Monteverdi.
The second piece of the evening was Daniela Cardim’s playful group work Baroque Encounters, set to two pieces for harpsichord by Johann Sebastian Bach.
Acts of Exaltation by Matthew Ball
“Acts of Exaltation, on a theme of broadly defined ‘religiosity’, is set to music by Claudio Monteverdi … It devises complex patterns of bodies, arms and hands. … Elsewhere it opens out into sections that give the dancers light and freedom, allowing them to express a collective sense of joy in movement.”
– Seen and Heard International
Acts of Exaltation was generously supported by Bonnie Robinson and an anonymous donor.
Baroque Encounters by Daniela Cardim
“It is wonderful, as are the seven dancers, dressed in April Dalton’s Renaissance plum-coloured costumes, long dervish skirts for all in the first, short Roman military style tunic skirts for the second, under Andrew Ellis’s chiaroscuro lighting. Expressive hands seem to be fingering the music, whilst bodies become a baroque chamber orchestra: Emily Pohl and José Alves (formerly with Ballet Black) excel in the pas de deux.”
Vera Liber – British Theatre Guide
Genesis Rock Ballet
Aud Jebsen Studio Theatre, Royal Academy of Dance
Wed 12th June | Private event
Choreography by Matthew Ball, Wayne Eagling, Kristen McNally and Valentino Zucchetti
We returned to the Royal Academy of Dance’s beautiful Aud Jebsen Studio Theatre with two different programmes.
The first programme comprised a preview of Matthew Ball’s new group work Acts of Exaltation, complemented by four songs from our Genesis Dance Project.
Triple Bill: Acts of Exaltation | Baroque Encounters | Nocturne
Aud Jebsen Studio Theatre, Royal Academy of Dance
Thu 13th June
Choreography by Matthew Ball and Daniela Cardim
Our second programme at the Royal Academy of Dance featured Daniela Cardim’s Baroque Encounters, a premiere preview performance of Matthew Ball’s Acts of Exaltation, and Daniela Cardim’s dramatic pas-de-deux Nocturne.
“Baroque Encounters by Daniela Cardim remains a joy. The work has a warm elegance.”
David Mead – Seeing Dance
2024 Season – All Works
Acts of Exaltation
Choreography: Matthew Ball
Music: Claudio Monteverdi
Costume Design: Elin Steele
Lighting Design: Andrew Ellis
Baroque Encounters
Choreography: Daniela Cardim
Music: Johann Sebastian Bach
Costume Design: April Dalton
Lighting Design: Andrew Ellis
Watcher of the Skies
Choreography: Wayne Eagling
Music: Genesis
Costume Design: Nina Kobiashvili
Lighting Design: Andrew Ellis
I Can’t Dance
Choreography: Kristen McNally
Music: Genesis
Costume Design: Nina Kobiashvili
Lighting Design: Andrew Ellis
Invisible Touch
Choreography: Kristen McNally
Music: Genesis
Costume Design: Nina Kobiashvili
Lighting Design: Andrew Ellis
Firth of Fifth
Choreography: Valentino Zucchetti
Music: Genesis
Costume Design: Nina Kobiashvili
Lighting Design: Andrew Ellis