Spring 2011 Newsletter
Joby Talbot's ballets in San Francisco and Toronto Two ballets with scores by Joby Talbot are featured in performances this season in North America.
Chroma, choreographer Wayne McGregor's critical sensation, is set to original compositions by Joby Talbot as well as Talbot's arrangements of songs by Jack White of The White Stripes. It will be performed at the San Francisco Ballet April 7-20, 2011.
Chroma comprises seven pieces of music by Talbot. Four of the works are Talbot's original music, including the high octane Hovercraft. The remaining three pieces are Talbot's own orchestral arrangements of three tracks originally by The White Stripes. The work was requested by Wayne McGregor, resident choreographer for the Royal Ballet in London, whose energy driven choreography alongside designs by architect John Pawson make for a thrilling piece of music and dance.
Visit the San Francisco Ballet's website for tickets and further information.
The National Ballet of Canada will present Talbot's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. © Manuel de los GalanesFollowing the recent world premiere production at The Royal Ballet, Covent Garden, London in February, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland receives its North American premiere in Toronto June 4-25. The work is a co-production between The National Ballet of Canada and The Royal Ballet and is based on the famous Lewis Carroll book of the same name. Talbot's music is choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon, with a scenario by Nicholas Wright, and designs by the internationally acclaimed Bob Crowley. Talbot says, "I've been writing the music for Alice for nearly two years now, and have completely loved immersing myself in Lewis Carroll's strange and beautiful world. The book is such an extraordinary source of inspiration and collaborating with The Royal Ballet and Christopher Wheeldon on turning it into a full-length ballet has been one of the most exciting challenges of my compositional life."The Alice stories have long fascinated and attracted other artists, including choreographers, both for their fantastic effects and the rich psychological and emotional terrain they present. Its familiar story – about young Alice and her fall into a bizarre nether world (down the famous rabbit hole) – has spawned many stage and screen adaptations, but ballet seems uniquely suited to conjure the frabjous physicality of Wonderland. Wheeldon's ballet seeks to restore the book's fundamental appeal: its brilliantly anarchic and unfettered evocation of the imaginative world of childhood, a world that, having lived it once, we all carry within us. Wheeldon's unique synthesis of neo-classical and modern dance vocabularies has established him as one of the most important – and sought-after – choreographic artists at work today. He says, "I am really excited about Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and thrilled to be working with Joby Talbot again. He is the perfect composer to conjure up the magical world of Wonderland." National Ballet of Canada audiences who have seen performances of Wheeldon's breathtaking Polyphonia will have some sense of the range, subtlety and instinctive authority he brings to his ballets.
Visit the National Ballet of Canada's website for tickets and further information.
