| A year in celebration |
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English National Ballet celebrates 60 Years English National Ballet is delighted to announce the celebration of its 60th Anniversary year. On 14 August 2010 the Company will throw a spectacular birthday party at the London Coliseum, following a performance of Cinderella, marking the exact date of the Company’s first performance in 1950. Founded by two of the greatest British dancers of all time, Alicia Markova and Anton Dolin, English National Ballet’s (Then Festival Ballet) first official performance was on 14 August 1950. The Company now boasts 67 dancers and a live orchestra. Building on its enviable history, English National Ballet acts as a cultural ambassador for the nation and performs full scale productions throughout the UK, Europe, and across the world, at a price everyone can afford. The 60th year is off to a flying start with record breaking ticket sales for the Christmas Season 2009/2010, making it the most successful ever for the Company. Audience figures reached almost 90,000 for the two month season between December and January and the most popular shows were family favourites The Nutcracker and Michael Corder’s The Snow Queen. The UK wide Spring Tour starts in March with Giselle, Men Y Men and Michael Corder’s multi-award wining Cinderella. In the summer Cinderella and Swan Lake in-the-round will take centre stage in London, followed by Nureyev’s Romeo & Juliet on tour in the Autumn. For the Christmas season this year, English National Ballet is thrilled to present a new production of The Nutcracker created by Artistic Director Wayne Eagling. It was English National Ballet who first set the trend for Christmas performances of The Nutcracker back in 1950 and the Company has performed the festive favourite every Christmas throughout the 60 year history.  60th Anniversary Repertoire Giselle Critically acclaimed, Giselle is the haunting tale of a peasant girl’s innocent love for the handsome Duke Albrecht and his subsequent betrayal of her devotion. First performed in 1841 in Paris, at the height of the Romantic Movement Giselle is often described as the ultimate Romantic ballet. "…a perfectly drilled corps de ballet…performed their driving arabesques, imperious gestures and threatening circles in ghostly and ghastly unison." The Daily Telegraph, 25 January 2010 Cinderella English National Ballet’s award-winning Cinderella tells everyone’s favourite rags to riches tale in a three act ballet created by Michael Corder. Created in 1996, English National Ballet’s production is a classic retelling of the famous fairy tale. With Provofiev’s uplifting score and David Walker’s magical costumes this is one of English National Ballet’s most spectacular productions. “...the ensemble in a modern ballet has rarely had it so good, with choreography that is shaped and layered to animate the full body of a company while framing its stars.” The Times, 15 January 2002 Swan Lake in-the-round Featuring more than 120 dancers, 80 musicians and seen by over half a million people since its premiere, Swan Lake in-the-round is the largest production of its kind in the world and London’s dance event of the summer. Set to Tchaikovsky’s classic score, the dramatic narrative of Prince Siegfried’s fight for the love of the Queen of the Swans, Odette, is told through sumptuous costumes and striking choreography. Guest starring in the production will be Russian Prima Ballerina Polina Semionova, partnered by English National Ballet’s rising star Vadim Muntagirov. “…a Big Bang of a ballet, a pageant and parade, with huge swathes of movement, jugglers, tumblers, and row upon row of swans…” The Evening Standard, 14 June 2007 Romeo & Juliet Created for English National Ballet in 1977 by the legendary Rudolph Nureyev, this production, set to Prokofiev’s famous score, has been noted for its inventive choreography and clever staging. A compelling and stimulating production, Nureyev’s concept for a bustling, dangerous Renaissance Verona provides a realistic backdrop to this most tragic of love stories. The production is famed for its meticulous attention to historical detail and features costumes and sets by Ezio Frigerio. The effect is completed by the atmospheric lighting design by Tharon Musser. The Nutcracker To commemorate the 60th year, in December 2010 English National Ballet will premiere a new version of The Nutcracker, created by Wayne Eagling. Eagling’s new ballet is a traditional retelling of the story set in atmospheric Edwardian London. This festive classic tells the story of Clara and her Nutcracker doll, and their journey to the Land of Snow and beyond under the spell of the magician Drosselmeyer. This spectacular new version is the pefect finale to the anniversary year. The Story - English National Ballet over 60 years English National Ballet’s first official performance was on 14 August 1950 at the King’s Theatre, Southsea. Originally called London Festival Ballet, the Company was founded in 1950 by Ballets Russes stars Alicia Markova and Anton Dolin, thereby giving English National Ballet a direct lineage to the world famous company. Throughout its 60 years English National Ballet has attracted a host of International stars for guest performances and as members of the Company; Rudolf Nureyev, Margot Fonteyn, Wayne Sleep, Carlos Acosta, Roberto Bolle, Tamara Rojo and Thomas Edur and Agnes Oaks. in June English National Ballet will welcome Russian prima ballerina Polina Semionova for the Royal Albert Hall Season of Swan Lake in-the-round. The Company was renamed English National Ballet in 1989 to highlight its role as Britain’s only classical ballet company dedicated to touring nationwide. Touring is still a prority, and in 2009 alone the Company visitied Barcelona, Bristol, Cardiff, Hong Kong, Houston, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Modena, Oxford, Parma, Salonika and Southampton. English National Ballet is committed to keeping the cornerstones of the classical repertoire alive, whilst also pushing the art form by commissioning new works from the best contemporary choreographers.  Did you know? English National Ballet reaches over 280,000 audience members each year. Each English National Ballet dancer dances for an average of 2032 hours a year. The Company’s masseur gives the dancers 1692 massages a year. Each female dancer uses up to 105 pairs of false eyelashes a year as part of her stage makeup. One dancer may take three or four roles in each ballet - that means changing costume, hair, make-up and shoes each time. That’s approximately 24 transformations per performance week. In 2009 English National Ballet performed a new piece of choreography created by Jenna Lee on the main stage at Bestival in the Isle of Wight. Since 1950 English National Ballet has... used 2,999,520 pairs of Pointe shoes and 350 miles of ribbon performed in 42 countries and 207 cities in the world performed 50 premieres at the London Coliseum created 1,000 tutus containing more than12,000 layers of netting  Full Performance listings 2010 Giselle with Men Y Men Glasgow Theatre Royal, 0870 060 6647 17 – 20 March 7.30pm, 18 March 2pm, 20 March 2.30pm Cinderella Bristol Hippodrome, 0844 847 1735 25 – 27 March 7.30pm, 25 March 2pm (sch), 27 March 2.30pm Seville Teatro de la Maestranza, 020 7581 1245 7 – 11 April 8.30pm Manchester Palace Theatre, 0844 847 1735 20 – 24 April 7.30pm, 22 April 2pm (sch), 24 April 2.30pm Southampton Mayflower, 02380 711 811 28 April – 1 May 7.30pm, 29 April 2pm (sch), 1 – 2 May 2.30pm London Coliseum, 0871 911 0200 10 – 14 August 7.30pm, 12, 14 August 2.30pm Swan Lake in-the-round London, Royal Albert Hall, 020 7838 3100 9 – 18 June 7.30pm, 12, 13, 19 June 2.30p, 16 June 2pm (sch) Nureyev’s Romeo & Juliet Manchester Palace Theatre, 0844 847 1735 14 – 16 October 7.30pm, 14 October 2pm (sch), 16 October 2.30pm, 17 October 3pm (F) Southampton Mayflower, 02380 711 811 20 – 23 October 7.30pm, 21 October 2pm (sch), 23 October 2.30pm, 24 October 3pm Milton Keynes Theatre TBC 3 – 7 November London Coliseum, 0871 911 0200 5 – 8, 11 – 15 January 7.30pm 6, 8 – 9, 11, 13, 15 January 2.30pm Wayne Eagling’s The Nutcracker London Coliseum, 0871 911 0200 10 December 7.30pm World Premiere 10 – 12, 14 – 18, 21 – 23, 27 – 30 December 7.30pm 11 –12, 14 – 19, 21 – 24, 26 – 30 December 2.30pm  Download a printable version of the press release |
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SpotlightBegona Cao
Principal Begona dances Cinderella, Stepsisters and the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella this Summer
