English National Ballet Announces 2014 Season and New Barbican Performances

English National Ballet has announced that award winning British choreographers Akram Khan, Russell Maliphant and Liam Scarlett will all create new works for English National Ballet, as part of a programme of dance inspired by the centenary of the Great War. The three pieces, part of a programme of British choreography entitled Lest We Forget, will be accompanied by a reworking of Firebird by English National Ballet’s Associate Artist George Williamson and will be performed at the Barbican in April 2014. This is the first time that the Company has performed at the Barbican.

Announcing the commissions as part of the Company’s 2014 Spring-Summer season, Artistic Director Tamara Rojo said: “Lest We Forget marks my first commission for English National Ballet and I am thrilled that these three great artists have agreed to create works for the Company. I wanted an evening of British work and the Great War still has such resonance in British culture and society that the occasion of the centenary was an obvious inspiration.”

“I am particularly excited to be bringing the works to the Barbican which will offer a natural home for this programme. English National Ballet has a rich tradition of touring and going to the Barbican fits with the Company’s ethos of presenting ballet to new and established audiences nationwide. The Barbican programmes contemporary dance and has an excellent reputation for working with major UK and international theatre and dance companies.”

Akram Khan said: “For a long while now, I have been waiting for the right moment to work with a ballet company on which to explore, investigate and discover new directions with my choreography, until, in the winter of last year, Tamara Rojo asked if I would be interested in exploring some ideas with the English National Ballet dancers. I said ‘yes’. This is my first venture with a ballet company, and I am extremely excited to create a new work for them for 2014. I have also invited my collaborative team to create this new work with me, Kimie Nakamo (costume designer) Fabiana Piccioli (lighting designer) Jocelyn Pook (composer) Ruth Little (dramaturge) and Jose Agudo (rehearsal director).

Liam Scarlett said: “After having created for and worked so closely with Tamara Rojo as a dancer, there was no hesitation in accepting her commission to create a new work for English National Ballet. It is wonderful to see the company under her directorship and I look forward to be working alongside her once again.”

Russell Maliphant said: “Having met the Company, I am looking forward to getting started on this piece for English National Ballet. Work for me begins with a meeting point of myself, music and dancers in the studio. I always search to draw out unique qualities specific to each dancer and utilise those in the emerging work. For this piece we will use a contemporary personal version of classical language.”

Rojo also announced that she and Carlo Acosta, the great Cuban dancer, will again partner each other when they dance the lead roles in Derek Deane’s Romeo & Juliet in-the-round at the Royal Albert Hall in June 2014.

July 2014 sees English National Ballet back at the London Coliseum with the perennially popular Coppélia - the comic adventure story of Franz and how he falls in love with a beautiful, life-like doll, choreographed by Ronald Hynd.

2013/14 Season

Le Corsaire
17 October – 30 November 2013, and 11 February – 15 Feb on tour
9 January – 19 January 2014, London Coliseum

Nutcracker
20 – 23 November 2013, on tour
11 December – 5 January 2014, London Coliseum

Lest We Forget
2 – 12 April 2014, Barbican Theatre

My First Ballet: Coppélia
5 – 25 May 2014, Peacock Theatre, London and on tour

Choreographics
Dates tbc 2014

Emerging Dancer 2014
Dates tbc 2014

Romeo & Juliet
11-22 June 2014, Royal Albert Hall

Coppélia
23 – 27 July 2014, London Coliseum

ENB promotions with effect from the new Autumn Season:

James Forbat promoted to First Soloist (currently Soloist)
Shiori Kase is to be promoted to Soloist (currently 5th Year Artist)
Nancy Osbaldeston promoted to First Artist (currently 6th Year Artist)
Ksenia Ovsyanick promoted to First Artist (currently 7th Year Artist)
Guilherme Menezes promoted to 8th Year Artist (currently 2nd Year Artist)
Ken Saruhashi promoted to 8th Year Artist (currently 2nd Year Artist)
Laurretta Summerscales promoted to First Soloist (currently 5th Year Artist)

ENB has announced the following will be joining the company for the 2013-14 season:

Alina Cojocaru (from The Royal Ballet) - Lead Principal Dancer
Fernando Bufala (from Barcelona Ballet, previously at English National Ballet, Royal Ballet School) - Soloist
D Jeanette Kakareka (The Rock School, San Francisco Ballet School) - 1st Year Artist
Madison Keesler (San Francisco Ballet School) – First Artist
Daniele Silingardi (Royal Ballet School) - 1st Year Artist
Joan Sebastian Zamora (The Rock School, The Royal Ballet School, Institucion Colombiana de Ballet Clasico) - 1st Year Artist

Le Corsaire casting

ENB has released details of the planned casting for "Le Corsaire." Since this is not presently on the ENB website, dancers scheduled for Medora and Conrad are listed below. As always, subject to change.

Milton Keynes
Thu Mat 17.10.13 (final public dress rehearsal): Takahashi, Acosta
Thu Eve 17.10.13: Cojocaru, Muntagirov
Fri 18.10.13: Rojo, Bufala
Sat Mat 19.10.13: Takahashi, Acosta
Sat Eve 19.10.13: Klimentova, Muntagirov

Southampton
Tue Eve 22.10.13: Cojocaru, Muntagirov
Wed Eve 23.10.13: Rojo, Golding
Thu Mat 24.10.13: Oliveira, Konvalina
Thu Eve 24.10.13: Takahashi, Acosta
Fri Eve 25.10.13: Klimentova, Muntagirov
Sat Mat 26.10.13: Rojo, Golding
Sat Eve 26.10.13: Oliveira, Konvalina

Oxford
Wed Eve 30.10.13: Rojo, Golding
Thu Mat 31.10.13: tbc, tbc
Thu Eve 31.10.13: Klimentova, Muntagirov
Fri Eve 1.11.13: Oliveira, Konvalina
Sat Mat 2.11.13: tbc, tbc
Sat Eve 2.11.13: Klimentova, Muntagirov

Bristol
Tue Eve 26.11.13: Cojocaru, Muntagirov
Wed Eve 27.11.13: Oliveira, Konvalina
Thu Mat 28.11.13: tbc, tbc
Thu Eve 28.11.13: Cojocaru, Muntagirov
Fri Eve 29.11.13: Rojo, Golding
Sat Mat 30.11.13: tbc, tbc
Sat Eve 30.11.13: Takahashi, Acosta

London Coliseum
Thu Eve 9.1.14: Cojocaru, Muntagirov
Fri Eve 10.1.14: Takahashi, Acosta
Sat Mat 11.1.14: Oliveira, Konvalina
Sat Eve 11.1.14: Rojo, Golding
Sun Mat 12.1.14: Cojocaru, Muntagirov
Tue Eve 14.1.14: Oliveira, Konvalina
Wed Eve 15.1.14: Cojocaru, Muntagirov
Thu Mat 16.1.14: tbc, tbc
Thu Eve 16.1.14: Rojo, Golding
Fri Eve 17.1.14: Cojocaru, Muntagirov
Sat Mat 18.1.14: Takahashi, Acosta
Sat Eve 18.1.14: Rojo, Golding
Sun Mat 19.1.14: Klimentova, Muntagirov

Principal casting is now also available for The Nutcracker, on the English National Ballet website.

Click here for details

Ismene Brown interviews Alina Cojocaru for the Telegraph.

Telegraph

Reading that article I am puzzled as to her timing of leaving the RB. Okay, Monica Mason gave her (and a number of others) a hard time and her wanting to get out is understandable, but why leave when a new director, Kevin O'Hare had just been installed? Why not wait to see if he liked her better than Mason did, after all she got one of her best roles in Ratmansky's '24 Preludes' when he took over and he seemed to be casting her in roles pretty consistantly. None of this makes much sense to me and I think there must be some back story that isn't being made public.

I'll be reviewing it formally soon, but just a quick note to say that ENB's Corsaire looked great last night. Some of the company need to relax a bit more and treat it as the silly story it is, although it did look better as it went on. One thing I will guarantee - you won't be disappointed at the amount of dancing - it's non-stop!

It did seem to take a while to get going. Act I was good, but a bit one-paced without too much tone in the dancing (plenty of tone in the designs, though - it's the most colourful ballet I've seen in ages). Act II positively soared, as indeed did the leads figuratively and in reality.

Cojocaru and Muntagirov look made for each other. She positively rocketed through her choreography, always managing to leave that split second pause atthe end of phrases or sections to let you take it in. Junor Souza was also excellent as Ali. Michael Coleman had a ball as the Pasha. I've always found Act III a bit of a let down after all the previous fireworks, and that hasn't changed. I could also quite happily do without the children in "Le Jardin Anime". I can't believe they are here other than for an attempt at the 'aahhh' factor? And if that is the reason, it doesn't work anyway. The end comes too swiftly, of course, but the story and music is what it is.

A hit - methinks!

Reviews of "Le Corsaire" at the Milton Keynes Theatre on October 17, 2013.

Laura Thompson for the Telegraph.

Telegraph

Hanna Welbye for the Arts Desk.

Arts Desk

Zoe Anderson for the Independent.

Independent

Georgina Butler for the Milton Keynes Citizen.

MK Citizen

Judith Mackrell for the Guardian.

Guardian

Actually the children are traditional and have been a feature in most other versions I've seen. Perhaps in the ENB production they also serve the extra purpose of filling up the stage for a company that doesn't have the resources of the Bolshoi.

Roslyn Sulcas reviews "Le Corsaire" for the New York Times.

NY Times

Luke Jennings interviews Alina Cojocaru for the Observer.

Observer

In the New York Times, Alastair Macaulay reviews two performances of "Le Corsaire" at the Bristol Hippodrome, November 28 and 29, 2013. One performance with Alina Cojocaru; the other with Tamara Rojo.

NY Times