July 28 - August 4

Natalia Makarova's new production of Swan Lake, and their own Raise the Red Lantern,

followed by the Guangdong Acrobatic Troupe with Swan Lake on 4 - 9 August, also at the ROH.

TICKETS GO ON SALE AT CHINESE NEW YEAR (7 FEB) FOR UK PREMIERE OF THE
CHINESE Acrobatic Swan Lake

The Lowry, 30 July – 2 August 2008

UK PREMIERE & Press Night, Wed 30 July, 7.30pm

Chinese Acrobatic Swan Lake

Tickets go on sale at Chinese New year (7 Feb) for The Lowry’s UK premiere of a spectacular new interpretation of the greatest classical ballet. Swan Lake gets a radical makeover from a unique Chinese company which turns ballet on its head by combining classical ballet with traditional acrobatics.

The Guandong Acrobatic Company’s extraordinary Chinese Acrobatic Swan Lake - in which Black Swans dance on high wires and the Swan Princess dances on pointe on her partner’s head - has created a worldwide sensation.

In this fresh and original adaptation of Swan Lake, a European prince falls in love with a Chinese swan, and performers use acrobatics and their very considerable talents as classical dancers to tell the story.

Pole balancing, jumping through fire hoops, rope walking, ball walking and jujitsu are all seamlessly woven into the story, and there is constant blurring of performance styles, including not only ballet and acrobatics but also elements of Peking Opera.

Directed by Guangzhou Acrobatic Company’s director Ning Genfu and choreographed by former Hong Kong Ballet principal dancer Zhao Ming, the production grew out of a desire to bring the traditional performing art out of the circus tent and onto the stage. It was created as a co-production with Shanghai City Dance Company.

The Chinese Acrobatic Swan Lake includes scenes in which the White Swan dances on pointe on top of the Prince’s head and shoulders and another in which the famous dance of four little swans is transformed into a performance of four little frogs, played by men who do the entire dance on their arms.

The incredible pas de deux between Wei Baohua's Prince and Wu Zhengdan's White Swan has made the couple – husband and wife in real life – into international stars.

The production proved a hit at its Premiere in Beijing in 2006 and has since thrilled audiences worldwide, from Moscow to New York.

The Co-Operative Bank is pleased to sponsor the UK premiere performance of the Chinese Acrobatic Swan Lake.

The impresario Victor Hochhauser presents the Company’s first ever UK tour which visits Salford, London and Nottingham for a three-week tour in the summer of 2008.

30 July – 2 August The Lowry, Salford

4 – 9 August Royal Opera House, London

13 – 16 August Theatre Royal, Nottingham

Chinese Acrobatic Swan Lake
The Lowry, Salford Quays, Pier 8, Salford Quays, M50 3AZ

Wed 30 July – Sat 2 Aug 2008

Times: Eves 7.30pm & Sat matinee 2pm

Ticket Prices £25 - £43. Booking fees apply.

Box office: 0870 787 5793 or www.thelowry.com

http://www.hkiac.gov.hk/2007/en/prog/swan.html

and this one includes a picture with a girl on pointe on her partner's head.....

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/02/arts/dance/02swan.html

The National Ballet of China

Swan Lake
July 28th to 30th 2008 at 7.30pm
Matinee July 30th at 2.00pm

Raise The Red Lantern
August 1st to 2nd at 7.30pm
Matinee August 2nd at 2.00pm

Tickets £8 to £75, Champagne Superseats £102
Children under 16 half price at Matinees on top four price ranges

Friends of Covent Garden Priority Booking opens 14th April at 10.00am

### Please note that all details of venues, dates, times and programmes are subject to change. Please check with the theatre or company for accuracy and up-to-date information.

>Pole balancing, jumping through fire hoops, rope walking,
>ball walking and jujitsu are all seamlessly woven into the
>story, and there is constant blurring of performance styles,
>including not only ballet and acrobatics but also elements
>of Peking Opera.

>The Chinese Acrobatic Swan Lake includes scenes in which
>the White Swan dances on pointe on top of the Prince’s head
>and shoulders and another in which the famous dance of four
>little swans is transformed into a performance of four
>little frogs, played by men who do the entire dance on
>their arms.

I think I do not wish to see this - because of concerns over the safety and welfare of the performers.

There was a news item recently about a serious injury to a performer with the Chinese State Circus:

Crippled Chinese acrobat's ordeal

I hope that the Guandong performers are afforded much better protection and support by their home company/country than that apparent in this very sad case.

All further news about the acrobatic Swan Lake there please.

Ditto - does it have a Rothbart?!

I haven't seen this Makarova production yet, I missed its premiere in Beijing last April. (Kirov star Andrian Fadeyev danced in the premiere, but unfortunately I don't think he will dance in London this summer.) From what I've heard, it's similar to Makarova's production for the London Festival Ballet which includes Ashton's Act 4. Actually Makarova more recently staged a production for the Perm Ballet. I gather that there will be more performances of this production in Beijing this spring before the London tour.

I would like to link you some photos published on NBC's blog.

The premiere(Wang Qimin & Andrian Fadeyev ):

http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_473f97a00100097v.html

The third performance (Zhu Yan and Hao Bin):

http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_473f97a001000995.html

The fourth performance (Zhang Jian and Sheng Shidong)

http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_473f97a0010009c5.html

The rehearsals:
http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_473f97a0010008q4.html

The press conference:
http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_473f97a0010008st.html

I think the major differences between the old production of the London Festival Ballet and the new production are:

The normal pas de trois in the first act replaced pas de quatre of the old production.
Makarova has added more national dances (Spanish/ Czardas/ Mazurka, which were very similar to Kirov's Sergeyev version) in her new production.

To Paul A:
Yes, Mr. Rothbart is still there. And like the old production, there is no jester but Benno instead.

FYI.

http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_473f97a0010009c7.html

Best regards.

Looks like this is a more traditional version, which I think I'm glad of. I'll give it a go although I had wanted to give Swan Lake a miss for a while!

Looks like the new system is at work. When you hover over a seat all the others in that section at the same price light up! Several of them are at champagne prices.

The have to pay for the security for the Olympic flame somehow!!

VICTOR HOCHHAUSER PRESENTS
THE NATIONAL BALLET OF CHINA

Royal Opera House, London
July 28 – August 2, 2008

- New production of Swan Lake by Natalia Makarova

- Raise the Red Lantern based on Zhang Yimou’s epic film

After sell-out seasons worldwide, The National Ballet of China makes
its first visit to The Royal Opera House (July 28 – August 2, 2008)
with Natalia Makarova’s ravishing new production of Swan Lake and one
of the ensemble’s most breathtaking recent accomplishments, Raise the
Red Lantern, directed by film-maker Zhang Yimou.

The company is presented by Victor Hochhauser, one of the first
European promoters to bring Chinese arts to the UK almost half a
century ago. The visit opens a two-week China Season at the Royal
Opera House (July 28 – August 9) promoted by Victor Hochhauser.

With an unsurpassed repertoire that includes dozens of traditional
classics, The National Ballet of China, under the Artistic
Directorship of Mme. Zhao Ruheng, is one of the world's supreme
ballet ensembles.

Chinese audiences first saw Swan Lake fifty years ago in a production
by the National Ballet of China – and they took it to their hearts.
Since then, generations of Swan Lake casts have laid the foundation
for the history of Chinese ballet. In a bold move, the National
Ballet invited Natalia Makarova to create a new production for them,
which opened in the Spring of 2007. Ms. Makarova, one of the greatest
living interpreters of Odette-Odile, stages classical ballets for the
world’s leading companies.

Makarova’s opulent production, which opens the season on Monday, July
28, has set designs by Peter Farmer and costume design by Galina
Solovyeva.

Adapted from Zhang Yimou's award-winning film and directed by the
film-maker himself, Raise the Red Lantern is a visually ravishing and
dramatically daring piece of theatre. The story recounts the fate of
a young woman forced to marry an old feudal lord. His other wives
receive her unwillingly, and in the end, the tense family structure
crashes bloodily down.

Zhang brings a passionate and cinematic vision to the dance stage.
With vivid performances from its 70-strong cast of dancers, ravishing
designs, choreography by Xin Peng Wang and an original score by
Qigang Chen, Raise the Red Lantern is a unique piece of Chinese dance
theatre with the sweep of a big budget motion picture.

Press quotes (Raise the Red Lantern):

“East meets West in epic style” SUNDAY TIMES

“Ravishing….A combination of Chinese and Western balletic traditions
that hooks the ear and opens the eye” Daily Telegraph

“Brilliantly staged” WASHINGTON POST

National Ballet of ChinaSwan Lake/Raise the Red Lantern
Performance Calendar & booking details

Royal Opera House
Bow Street, Covent Garden,
London WC2E 9DD

Mon 28 July 7.30pm   Swan Lake
Tues 29 July 7.30pm   Swan Lake
Wed 30 July 2pm   Swan Lake
Wed 30 July 7.30pm   Swan Lake
Thur 31 July no performance
Fri 1 Aug 7.30pm   Raise the Red Lantern
Sat 2 Aug 2pm   Raise the Red Lantern
Sat 2 Aug 7.30pm   Raise the Red Lantern

Box Office: 020 7304 4000
Online booking: www.roh.org.uk
Tickets: £8 - £75