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FEDORA
VAN CLEEF & ARPELS
Prize for Ballet 2017
Shortlist
Arcadia model box © i
Presentation
Arcadia © Birmingham Royal Ballet i
Birmingham Royal Ballet creates world-class ballet and we want it to be seen, experienced and enjoyed. We want people throughout the UK to see as wide a range of high-quality classical ballet as possible, and new commissions by emerging artists will be an essential contributor to this. They will also enable us to further enhance the creative environment at BRB and our global reputation as a leading company where world-class talent is nurtured and creativity has time to develop. By presenting relatively inexperienced voices in an experienced environment, we can ensure a vibrant future for ballet, stretch the vocabulary of the art-form and inspire a generation of new audiences.
Arcadia will be a brand new one-act ballet by Birmingham Royal Ballet based on music of the same name by renowned saxophonist and composer John Harle, with choreography by BRB dancer Ruth Brill and designs by Iranian-born design student Atena Ameri. The production will feature in BRB’s 2017-18 programme, with its world premiere as part of a triple bill in Cheltenham on 5 May 2017 and a subsequent nationwide tour including Poole, Truro, Birmingham, Plymouth and London. We envisage that it will remain in the Company’s repertory with further performances in Birmingham and on tour across the UK in the near future.
The ballet will be set in Arcadia, the ancient Greek land of pastoral utopia populated by nymphs and dryads and ruled over by the satyr Pan, god of fertility. The narrative will focus on Pan and his unsuccessful attempts at seduction, which are interrupted by Selene, goddess of the moon, who ultimately teaches him about the meaning of true love.
The creation of new work is an integral part of BRB’s ethos as it challenges our dancers, encourages new audiences and forges new partnerships (often across multiple art-forms). Through innovation and development we can ensure that ballet as an art-form retains its vitality, dynamism and relevance in the modern world.
Artistic Team
Choreographer: Ruth Brill Composer: John Harle Costume Designer: Atena Ameri Arcadia is a new production which is a bold statement of intent towards Birmingham Royal Ballet (BRB)’s commitment to developing creative talent. The production will be led by up-and-coming choreographer and BRB dancer Ruth Brill. Alongside her dancing Ruth is a rising choreographic star, having created works for Elmhurst School for Dance (Butterfly Effect and Tempo di polacca) and BRB’s 2014 Evening of Music and Dance (Rhapsody in Blue) and 2015 south tour (Matryoshka). Arcadia will be her first major production. The score will be by renowned saxophonist and composer John Harle, a multi-award winner and nominee (including Ivor Novello, Mercury and Grammy awards) who is expanding his existing work Arcadia and will be playing live saxophone in this, his first ever ballet. Arcadia’s set and costume designer Atena Ameri is currently studying Fashion Design with Design for Performance at Birmingham City University. Arcadia is her first experience of designing for the professional stage.
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