The Royal NZ Ballet invites you to The Wedding...

Media release

17 October 2005

The Royal New Zealand Ballet invites you to The Wedding…

The Royal New Zealand Ballet celebrates its 2006 programme by inviting you all to The Wedding – a homegrown love story by Witi Ihimaera.

From rugby club to inner-city night club, hotel reception to church, Witi Ihimaera has created a madcap take on modern romance.

It’s a marriage made in heaven. The major commission of 2006 unites the acclaimed creative team - choreographer Mark Baldwin, designer Tracy Grant, lighting designer John Rayment – that gave the Royal New Zealand Ballet its groundbreaking ballet FrENZy.

Combining pure classical technique with a contemporary edge, The Wedding is set to Gareth Farr’s sparking new orchestral score.

“We’re delivering passion on a grand scale in 2006, ” says Artistic Director Gary Harris.

From the white-hot heat of Trinity to the seductive charms of Giselle and The Wedding, The Royal New Zealand Ballet’s 2006 programme fuels the fires of the heart: The Meridian Energy Season of The Wedding will have its world premiere at The Edge in Auckland on 1 March 2006, and then tours to six centres until 8 April.

The Lion Foundation Season of Trinity is a bold new triple bill: one of New Zealand’s foremost choreographers, Michael Parmenter, vividly explores Stravinsky’s remarkable score in Les Noces; Christopher Hampson brings spark and sophistication to traditional ballet with a full company version of Esquisses, first seen by New Zealand audiences in Tutus on Tour 2005; and Olivier-nominated Javier De Frutos - creator of the company’s Milagros - returns with an intensely anticipated new work. Trinity tours to three centres 27 July - 12 August.

The company will then leap across the Tasman to accept an invitation from the Australian Ballet to tour Trinity to Sydney, Brisbane, and Melbourne from 16 August – 11 September.

The year’s grand finale is classical ballet at its most bewitching. Gary Harris sensitively restages The TOWER Season of Giselle in a superbly atmospheric production of this enduring Romantic treasure. Giselle will tour to eight centres from 3 November – 14 December.

The box office opens to subscribers on 18 October and the public on 15 November.

ENDS

A full repertoire listing and tour itinerary follows.

2006 seasons

The Meridian Energy Season of The Wedding
1 March – 8 April 2006
The Lion Foundation Season of Trinity
27 July – 12 August 2006
The TOWER Season of Giselle
3 November – 14 December 2006

THE MERIDIAN ENERGY SEASON OF THE WEDDING
A heartwarming tale of hot heads and cold feet.

Angie and Brad are love’s young dream. With their movie-star good looks and impending nuptials, the couple are the toast of Auckland society.

The big day draws closer and Angie begins to doubt her all-American fiancé is the marrying kind.

When Charles shambles his way back into her life, she finds herself caught in a hopeless love triangle. As her suitors square off, Angie is forced to choose between her head and her heart.

Master of Ceremonies Witi Ihimaera has created a madcap take on modern romance. From rugby clubroom to inner-city nightclub, hotel reception to church, The Wedding is a distinctly homegrown love story.

The major commission of 2006 reunites the acclaimed creative team - choreographer Mark Baldwin, designer Tracy Grant and lighting designer John Rayment - that gave the Royal New Zealand Ballet its groundbreaking ballet FrENZy. Combining pure classical technique with a contemporary edge, The Wedding is set to the Gareth Farr’s sparkling new score. It’s a marriage made in heaven.

Touring
Auckland: 1 – 5 March
Christchurch: 9 – 12 March
Dunedin: 17 & 18 March
Wellington: 22 – 26 March
Palmerston North: 30 March – 1 April
Napier: 6 – 8 April
Original concept and narrative: Witi Ihimaera
Choreography: Mark Baldwin
Dramaturgy: Raymond Hawthorne
Music: Gareth Farr
Design: Tracy Grant
Lighting: John Rayment

THE LION FOUNDATION SEASON OF TRINITY
Ballet ignites the senses, the spirit, the soul.

With boundless energy and hypnotic charm the Royal New Zealand Ballet presents a bold new triple bill.

Esquisses is a sweetly subversive homage to 19th century tutu tradition from “the man who put the ’cor!’ into corps”, Christopher Hampson. Set to Alkan’s luminous piano studies, Hampson has created a series of crisp and challenging works for the dancers. This is classical ballet with spark and sophistication.

Javier De Frutos, the Olivier-nominated creator of the company’s Milagros, returns with a hotly anticipated new work. With the natural instinct of a showman, De Frutos’ work is consistently dramatic, intensely personal and passionate.

Michael Parmenter’s Les Noces is a vividly theatrical exploration of Stravinsky’s remarkable score.

Parmenter, one of New Zealand’s foremost choreographers, infuses life and light into the peasant wedding setting. “Parmenter has risen to the challenge of a great dance score and created a masterful dancework” Dominion Post (2003)

Touring
Wellington: 27 – 30 July
Auckland: 9 – 12 August
Christchurch: 9 – 12 August
Sydney: 16 – 19 August
Brisbane: 23 – 26 August
Melbourne: 31 August – 11 September
Esquisses
Choreography: Christopher Hampson
Music: Esquisses Op. 63 by Charles-Valentin Alkan
Design: Gary Harris
New work
Choreography: Javier De Frutos
Les Noces
Choreography: Michael Parmenter
Music: Les Noces by Igor Stravinsky
Design: John Verryt

THE TOWER SEASON OF GISELLE
Love conquers all – even death.

Moonlit and magical, Giselle is classical ballet at its most bewitching.

Giselle, a simple country girl, dies of a broken heart when she discovers her lover Albrecht has deceived her.

Returning to haunt him, she joins the ghostly ranks of the Wilis: abandoned brides who rise from the grave to prey on the men who wronged them. Even in death Giselle’s devotion to Albrecht remains, and she fights to save him from a deadly dance with her supernatural sisters.

Regarded as the masterpiece of the Romantic ballet treasury, Giselle was first performed in Paris in 1841. In a superbly atmospheric production, Gary Harris’ restaging sensitively expresses the emotional depth and drama of this enduring classic.

A work of singular beauty and grace, Giselle is a must-see for lovers of ballet tradition.

Touring
Wellington: 3 – 11 November
Invercargill: 14 – 15 November
Dunedin: 18 – 19 November
Christchurch: 22 – 25 November
Palmerston North: 28 – 29 November
Napier: 2 – 3 December
Auckland: 6 – 10 December
Hamilton: 13 – 14 December
Choreography: Jean Coralli and Jules Perot
Restaged by: Gary Harris
Music: Adolphe Adam

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