It's a fairly quiet week for dance this week, which means that there's no excuse for not seeing the amazing Asphodel Meadows by Liam Scarlett in the Royal Ballet's latest triple bill. And also this week sees The Featherstonehaughs' last ever performances, so get your tickets while you can!
Highlights
Royal Ballet, Asphodel Meadows / Enigma Variations / Gloria: to 30 November
Tickets & details: www.roh.org.uk/whatson/production.aspx?pid=17621
A friend recently asked if this triple bill would be suitable for her nephew, who's never watched dance, and the unanimous response was "Yes, yes and yes".
Asphodel Meadows, the highlight of this triple bill, was choreographed by rising star Liam Scarlett, still only a First Artist within the company. 'Enigma Variations', choreographed by Frederick Ashton, is a celebration of Elgar's music, while Kenneth MacMillan's 'Gloria' is a response to the horrors and futility of war. While the first cast features Tamara Rojo, Marianela Nuñez, Rupert Pennefather, Carlos Acosta and Thiago Soares, the second cast is also unmissable - Leanne Cope in Asphodel Meadows and Edward Watson in Gloria are both definitely worth seeing. Enigma Variations is a more subtle work, but enjoy the diverse cameo roles.
Royal Ballet, Manon: 15, 17 & 26 November
Royal Opera House
Tickets & details: www.roh.org.uk/whatson/production.aspx?pid=16853
There are only two performances left of the current production of Manon, and you should definitely try to catch Roberta Marquez and Steven McRae in the matinée performance on Saturday 26 November: even regular ballet audiences have been completely blown away by their pairing in their previous performance.
There's lots to love in this ballet about an innocent girl diverted from a future in a convent to prostitution, true love and the swamps of Louisiana. Savour the minutiae of the additional characters thronging the stage, including the squabbling whores, Lescaut's Drunken Scene, the increasingly legless Madame, and of course the beautiful dancing and acting of the lead dancers. One to savour.
The Featherstonehaughs: 23 - 26 November
Riverside Studios
Tickets & details:
Egon Schiele - www.riversidestudios.co.uk/cgi-bin/page.pl?l=1312551697
Edits - www.riversidestudios.co.uk/cgi-bin/page.pl?l=1312552376
Don't miss this opportunity to see Lea Anderson’s all male contemporary dance company, The Featherstonehaughs, in their very last performances as they celebrate the end of 25 very successful years, with many of today's leading dance figures among their alumni.
'The Featherstonehaughs Draw on the Sketchbooks of Egon Schiele' is a reworking of their 1998 hit show, bringing to life the tormented artistic vision of Austrian expressionist visual artist Egon Schiele.
Edits draws on the peculiar elasticity of filmic time, the dramatic language of editing and the heightened effect of extreme close-up and makes them live, echoing the subliminal rhythm achieved in film with the use of zooms, pans and tilts but creating a totally new, hypnotic hybrid of dance movement and film effects.
Worth Seeing
bgroup: 25 & 26 November
The Place
Tickets & details: www.theplace.org.uk/10679/whats-on/bgroup.html
This is the latest work by the critically-acclaimed company led by award-winning choreographer Ben Wright. With dancers including Nuno Silva (recently appearing in Clod Ensemble and The Most Incredible Thing, among other works), this piece reflects on the concept of intimacy.