Requiem

Premiere - Opera House - Big Stage
March 24, 25, 29, 31
April 1, 3, 4, 6

Choreography: Tim Rushton
Music: Henryk Górecki and Karol Szymanowski
Sets and Light Design: Steven Scott
Costumes: Mia Steensgaard
Conductor: Graham Bond


Passion and yearning
Tim Rushton breaks new frontiers by in the spring's big world premiere at the Copenhagen Opera House. The classic full-evening ballet is turned upside down and finds new expression in the powerful choreography, imaginative costumes and an impressive light design, with a production that includes the entire Royal Danish Opera Choir.

The themes of 'Requiem' are the fundamental emotions like passion, desire and yearning, interpreted through the dancers' bodies. A message about the soul's survival in spite of war, destruction and lost love; hope in the middle of hopelessness. 'Requiem' shows ballet at its strongest, when pure dance gives ecpression after words have lost their meaning. A message direct to the heart.[/b]

Casting for 'Requiem'

Solister fra Den Kongelige Opera:
Mezzo-sopran: Klaudia Kidon (Aileen Bramhall Itani on March 29, 31 and April 1)
Mezzo: Elisabeth Jansson
Baryton: Per Høyer

Gitte Lindstrøm, Caroline Cavallo, Izabela Sokolowska Tina Højlund, Susanne Grinder, Yao Wei, Christina L. Olsen, Elisabeth Dam, Ellen Green, Haley Henderson, Kizzy Howard, , Louise Midjord, Giorgia Minella, Alba Nadal, Camilla Ruelykke Holst, Esther Lee Wilkinson, Louise Østergaard

Mads Blangstrup Andrew Bowman, Fernando Mora, Dawid Kupinski, Julien Ringdahl, Constantine Baecher, Gabor Baunoch, Ulrik Birkkjær, Sebastian Kloborg, Marcin Kupinski, Cédric Lambrette, Christopher Rickert, Asger Schlichtkrull, Martin Stauning, Alexander Stæger, Mads Eriksen


Casting for April 4 and 6 is the same with two exceptions
*Kristoffer Sakurai replaces Andrew Bowman
*Louis Midjord is not dancing, and Julie Valentin joins the cast

The press release:

English (my translation)

Opera House – Main Stage
World Premiere – March 24, 2006
Performances – March 25, 29 and 31 and April 1, 3, 4 and 6

Denmark’s leading chreographer, Tim Rushton, has created the ballet ‘Requiem’ for the Royal Danish Ballet. “Requiem”, the spring’s biggest ballet event, involves the Royal Danish Orchestra, the Royal Danish Opera Choir and solists from the Royal Danish Opera.

The theme of “Requiem” is the pain we experience when we stand face to face with death; the despair, powerlessness, loss – and a yearning for reconciliation. The music has been composed by two Polish composers who both have experienced wars’ destruction. Górecki’s Third Symphony is a openly minimalistic work, which reflects the pain and gravity that is a common ‘tone’ in Rushton’s work. Szymanowski’s “Stabat Mater” contains the conflicts and fighting that the individual must experience to achieve final acceptance by death and the fundamental belief in people.

Rushton says about the performance:
“Death is, in our European culture, a taboo and something deeply traumatic, which we have difficulty accepting. At the same time, we are perhaps more than ever confronted with death in the form of war, natural catastrophes and man-made conflicts. I feel a deep obligation to relate to the time and the society I live in – not on account of political reasons, but for human and ethical reasons. The ballet, which I created together with the dancers, has to be essential and significant – not only for me personally, but for the audience, who are going to see the performance."

Ballet master Frank Andersen says:
“It is incredibly important to constantly search for new frontiers and challenges and thus be open to the currents of time; new ways of moving to express our emotions. Choreographer Tim Rushton, who started his dance career here in the theatre at the end of the 1980s, has developed into one of Denmark’s best choreographers. It is a delight that Tim has accepted our invitiation to create his first large evening-length ballet. Tim Rushton focuses on the big emotions in the center and tells us about love, passion and loss. The emotions front & center and there is no doubt that this is somehing to look forward to.”



Danish:

Operaen | Store Scene
Urpremiere 24. Marts, kl. 20 | Spiller derefter 25 | 29 | 31 marts
1 | 3 | 4 | 6 april 2006 kl. 20

Danmarks førende koreograf, Tim Rushton, har skabt balletten Requiem til Den Kongelige Ballet og står dermed bag forårets store balletsatsning, hvor både Det Kongelige Kapel, Det Kongelige Operakor og solister fra Den Kon-gelige Opera medvirker.

Temaet i Requiem er den smerte, vi gennemlever, når vi står ansigt til an-sigt med døden: fortvivlelse, afmagt, savn – og en længsel mod forsoning. Musikken er skabt af to nyere polske komponister, som begge har oplevet krigens ødelæggelser. Góreckis 3. Symfoni er et åbent, minimalistisk værk, der reflekterer den smerte og alvor, som er en gennemgående ’tone’ i Rushtons værk; og Szymanowskis Stabat Mater rummer de modsætninger og kampe, den enkelte må gennemleve for at nå frem til den endelige accept af døden og den fundamentale tro på mennesket, som er drivkraften i Tim Rushtons Requiem.

Rushton siger om forestillingen:
Døden er i vores europæiske kultur et tabu og noget dybt traumatisk, som vi har svært ved at acceptere. Samtidig er vi måske mere end nogensinde konfronteret med døden i form af krig, naturkatastrofer og menneskeskabte modsætninger.
Jeg føler en dyb forpligtelse til at forholde mig til den tid og det samfund, jeg lever i – ikke af politiske grunde, men af menneskelige og etiske grunde. Det, jeg skaber sammen med danserne er nødt til at være essentielt og betydningsfuldt – ikke bare for mig selv personligt, men for det publikum, der skal se forestillingen.

Frank Andersen udtaler:
Det er utroligt vigtigt hele tiden at søge nye grænser og udfordringer og dermed være åben for tidens strømninger. Nye trinsprog til at forløse vores udtryk og følelser. Koreografen Tim Rushton, som startede sin dansekarriere her på teatret i slutningen af 80’erne, har udviklet sig til at være en af Danmarks mest spændende koreografer; det er dejligt, at Tim har taget imod vores invitation til at skabe sin første rigtigt store helaftensballet. Tim Rushton sætter de store følelser i centrum og fortæller os om kærlighed, lidenskab og savn. Emotionen er i centrum, og der er ingen tvivl om, at der virkelig bliver noget at glæde sig til.

Koreografi: Tim Rushton
Scenografi og lysdesign: Steven Scott
Kostumer: Mia Steensgaard
Musik: Henryk Górecki og Karol Szymanowski
Dirigent: Graham Bond

Medvirkende:
Det Kongelige Kapel
Den Kongelige Ballet
Det Kongelige Operakor
Solister fra Den Kongelige Opera: sopran Aileen Bramhall Itani, mezzoso-pran Elisabeth Jansson, baryton Per Høyer.