2 hrs 40 mins (Dances at a Gathering is 1 hour 5 minutes; Interval of 30 minutes; The Cellist is 1 hour 5 minutes) / choreography for Dances at a Gathering by Jerome Robbins / music for Dances at a Gathering by Fryderyk Chopin / music for The Cellist by Philip Feeney / choreography for The Cellist by Cathy Marston / company The Royal Opera / country: UK
Coming Soon
Wednesday, 4/15
“The choreographer Cathy Marston has a knack for storytelling – her ballets, many based on classic works of literature, share an involving narrative drive. ‘The Cellist’, her first main stage commission for the Royal Ballet, adapts the real-life story – a biodance, if you will – of Jacqueline du Pré, that charts her dizzy rise to classical music superstardom and her descent into multiple sclerosis, which forced her to give up playing at the age of 28… Jerome Robbins insisted his 1969 piece ‘Dances at a Gathering’ had no storyline at all. You can’t help imagining little scenarios, though, as the ten dancers come together in different combinations to perform short, sharp dances on a bare stage to Chopin (mainly waltzes and mazurkas) over 65 minutes. There’s melancholy, perky flirtiness, male braggadocio, sweeping classical movement and folk-dance playfulness, delivered with a strong sense of individual character. Laura Morera amusingly tries and fails to snag a partner; meanwhile, Alexander Campbell and Marianela Núñez find a sublime synthesis with the music in a stand-out duet. Delicious.”
Siobhan Murphy, Time Out
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