Mark Morris' "Drink To Me Only With Thine Eyes" will receive its British premiere in Southampton on 12 November 2002.

Created for American Ballet Theatre in 1988, the piece features music by Virgil Thomson and combines the contemporary with the classical.

In the same programme there will also be further performances of Christopher Hampson's "Double Concerto" (premiered November 2001) and, as part of the celebration of Kenneth MacMillan's life and works, will present his production of "The Rite of Spring" with Stravinsky's celebrated score.



<small>[ 09-23-2002, 13:16: Message edited by: Stuart Sweeney ]</small>

Sweetness gives way to savagery
Ismene Brown for The Daily Telegraph reviews the English National Ballet at the Southampton Mayflower.


A toast to English National Ballet, who, in their new triple bill, have a night of all that is best in the art - three ballets of superb quality, alternately exhilarating, lovable and awesome, bringing out all the company's considerable strengths.

Double Concerto, a beautiful big classical work by the young English choreographer Christopher Hampson, deservedly won this year's Barclays Theatre Dance award. Set to Poulenc's upbeat Double Piano Concerto, it has the speed of swallows and the gleam of fast cars in its daring lifts and spectacular chrome set but with moments for pure dreaming, too. It is a memorable opener and perfectly sets up the more freehand wit of Mark Morris's first piece at ENB.

As effervescent as a spritzer, Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes was created in 1988 for American Ballet Theatre dancers.

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Morris major
By Nadine Meisner
19 November 2002
The US choreographer Mark Morris may be the hottest property in the land of dance, coveted on both sides of the Atlantic, but his work has long been absent from the repertoires of British ballet companies. As if to make up for this lacuna, the past three weeks have seen his debut not just in one of our leading companies, but two.

First was the Royal Ballet with Gong, made for American Ballet Theatre; now here comes English National Ballet with Drink To Me Only With Thine Eyes, an older piece (1988) also for ABT, which ENB is showing on an unmissable triple bill with Christopher Hampson's gleaming Double Concerto and Kenneth MacMillan's Rite of Spring. Morris's ballet uses six men and six women, and while the British cast does not include the celebrity likes of Mikhail Baryshnikov and Julio Bocca, they dance magnificently, etching Morris's sharp dance pictures with the bright energy of Olympian gods at play.

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Trio grande
Festive it’s not, but ENB’s triple bill is a real treat. Cause for rejoicing, says David Dougill for The Sunday Times



Very soon now, English National Ballet will be embarking on its usual Christmas marathon of Nutcrackers twice daily at the reopened London Coliseum; but anyone requiring an antidote — something rewardingly different — should book for the triple bill that will briefly interrupt it. This brings a new acquisition from Mark Morris (American, but almost everybody’s darling), Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes, together with the return of two British works, Christopher Hampson’s Double Concerto and Kenneth MacMillan’s The Rite of Spring, a com- bination that went down well on tour last Tuesday in Manchester.

Made originally for American Ballet Theatre in 1988, Morris’s happy ballet is set to a sequence of brief, bright piano Etudes by Virgil Thompson, and echoes the wit of Thompson’s section titles (such as Oscillating Arm, or Pivoting on the Thumb). The cast of 12, dressed simply in white frocks and slacks, exude skippy, idyllic youth in sophisticated numbers that look deceptively artless. Agnes Oaks may be the head girl, with her tight blonde hair, but she lets it down, metaphorically, to ragtime; and Thomas Edur, newly tousle-topped, gets some surprise moves (such as being caught horizontally in Daniel Jones’s arms), rather different from his usual princely persona.

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ENB has announced that its chairman, journalist and broadcaster Angela Rippon, is to appear on stage to host a special matinee performance of the Triple Bill at 2.30pm on 11 December 2002. All tickets will be available for only £10. Ms Rippon will introduce each ballet in turn, providing the audience with a unique insight into what they are about to see on stage. This is the latest example of ENB's commitment to making ballet accessible to new audiences.

Principal Casting for the Mixed Bill:

Review in The Times.

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And also in The Guardian.

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<small>[ 12-10-2002, 07:51: Message edited by: Joanne ]</small>

I saw ENB's Mixed Programm last night at the London Coliseum and it was absolutely fabulous in my opinion. Hampson's '"Double Concerto" is all cool classical elegance, Morris's "Drink To Me Only With Thine Eyes" is a playful mixture of classical and contemporary vocabulary and MacMillan's "The Rite Of Spring" is the most powerful work I have ever seen.
The company is in great form. I cannot go into more detail right now but I recommend to anyone interested in dance to go and see it.
The programm can be seen for 1 more day on Wednesday 11.12.02 and with prices ranging from 5-20 Pounds it is an absolute bargain.

Slashing big, clean shapes from the air
By Clement Crisp for The Financial Times


Sanity has been restored, if only for three days, at the Coliseum. Instead of the frightful Nutcracker that hangs like a reproach amid the Yuletide decorations, English National Ballet began this week with a spiffing triple bill. The dancers who, be-Nutcrackered and bedizened, had looked like zombies, were shown as serious and gifted artists. The theatre itself, instead of seeming a mad compromise between a crêche and a loony-bin, had that intoxicating atmosphere created by an audience enjoying itself. Hurrah for artistry. To hell with money-grubbing predictabilities. (ENB's accountants will not agree: and until the company receives a deserved and much-increased grant, Nutcrackers will stretch to the crack of doom).

But to our muttons. Three recent acquisitions were on display for the early part of this week: Christopher Hampson's Double Concerto (Poulenc, witty and stylish design, fluent dances, Jan-Erik Wikstrom and Daria Klimentova on brightest form leading a bright-cut cast); the new arrival of Mark Morris's Drink to me Only, and the staging of MacMillan's Rite of Spring - the troupe's salute in this MacMillan Year.

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I agree entirely Odile, it's a splendid evening of ballet. Tonight, Wednesday is sadly the last evening. The Coliseum has tickets at all prices - £5, £10, £15 and £20. What a bargain!

Later: Here is the link to our topic on Sarah McIlroy's promotion to Principal

<small>[ 12-12-2002, 04:23: Message edited by: Stuart Sweeney ]</small>

Triple Bill
By Jann Parry for The Observer

English National Ballet took a break at the Coliseum last week with four performances of a grown-up triple bill, before returning to Tchaikovsky's sweetmeats. There was plenty to occupy dancers and musicians alike in two big ensemble pieces, The Rite of Spring (MacMillan/Stravinsky) and Double Concerto (Hampson/Poulenc). In the middle came Mark Morris's Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes, to Virgil Thomson's piano studies, played onstage by Jonathan Still.

ENB's recent Morris acquisition was created for American Ballet Theatre in 1988, when Mikhail Baryshnikov was still with the company. Not surprisingly, it features witty, show-off choreography for the men. Cameron McMillan and Gary Avis seize their chance to display what they can do; Jan-Erik Wikstrom and Dmitri Gruzdyev, alternating in the leading role in Double Con certo , are already proven stars.

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English National Ballet – Triple Bill
By Lucy Wallis for The Stage

Artistry and contrast are at the heart of this intoxicating Triple Bill from the English National Ballet. With a mixture of old and new choreographic talent on parade, this evening proves to be a real powerhouse of creativity.

The programme starts with Double Concerto, Christopher Hampson's work, originally premiered in November 2001. With Francis Poulenc's music, which strangely manages to combine solemnity with coarseness, this piece proves what can be achieved when raw energy and enthusiasm are let loose on the stage.

Adding to the drama of the evening is a performance of Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes from the notorious Mark Morris. This frenetic piece is a celebration of both classical line and contemporary sensuality with a pinch of the playful and eccentric thrown in.

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