Pre Show Talk | 21 October | 6pm | Free but ticketed
An insight into Stravinsky ballet music (30 minutes)
Birmingham Royal Ballet is one of Britain’s most renowned ballet companies and it returns to Wales Millennium Centre with a compelling season of performances.
The Firebird
The most famous of all Stravinsky’s ballet scores, The Firebird is an enthralling story based on Russian legend that will delight all the family. In the eerie garden of the menacing ogre Kastchei, a high tree bears an imprisoned princess and a golden apple. When, in a blaze of dazzling light, the stunning Firebird tries to steal the golden fruit, she is cruelly captured by Prince Ivan, who demands a feather from her glorious tail as protection against Kastchei’s evil. Armed with just a magical feather, the prince journeys forth to save the captured princess and win her heart.
Petrushka
Since the Ballets Russes’ 1911 première, Petrushka has remained an anarchic force on stages around the world. In Fokine’s ballet all the wild fun of the Butter Week Fair in St Petersburg floods the stage, and unruly Petrushka is soon creating havoc. Then, one wooden step too far, this harlequin meets a very mortal end - but there’s spirit in the old doll yet.
Le Baiser de la fée
BRB’s homage to composer Igor Stravinsky boasts another coup for 2008, with a new version of Le Baiser de la fée by choreographer Michael Corder. This beautiful ballet breathes life into Hans Christian Andersen’s chilling fairy tale The Ice Maiden. Enthralled by a child lost in the mountains, the Ice Maiden gives him a kiss - one that he will never escape.
“Here was a commandingly good restoration of a masterpiece - Birmingham should be proud of its Ballet” Clement Crisp, Financial Times on The Firebird
An insight into Stravinsky ballet music (30 minutes)
Birmingham Royal Ballet is one of Britain’s most renowned ballet companies and it returns to Wales Millennium Centre with a compelling season of performances.
The Firebird
The most famous of all Stravinsky’s ballet scores, The Firebird is an enthralling story based on Russian legend that will delight all the family. In the eerie garden of the menacing ogre Kastchei, a high tree bears an imprisoned princess and a golden apple. When, in a blaze of dazzling light, the stunning Firebird tries to steal the golden fruit, she is cruelly captured by Prince Ivan, who demands a feather from her glorious tail as protection against Kastchei’s evil. Armed with just a magical feather, the prince journeys forth to save the captured princess and win her heart.
Petrushka
Since the Ballets Russes’ 1911 première, Petrushka has remained an anarchic force on stages around the world. In Fokine’s ballet all the wild fun of the Butter Week Fair in St Petersburg floods the stage, and unruly Petrushka is soon creating havoc. Then, one wooden step too far, this harlequin meets a very mortal end - but there’s spirit in the old doll yet.
Le Baiser de la fée
BRB’s homage to composer Igor Stravinsky boasts another coup for 2008, with a new version of Le Baiser de la fée by choreographer Michael Corder. This beautiful ballet breathes life into Hans Christian Andersen’s chilling fairy tale The Ice Maiden. Enthralled by a child lost in the mountains, the Ice Maiden gives him a kiss - one that he will never escape.
“Here was a commandingly good restoration of a masterpiece - Birmingham should be proud of its Ballet” Clement Crisp, Financial Times on The Firebird