<img src="http://www2.britishcouncil.org/arts-dance-255x243-richard_alston.jpg" alt="" />
<small>Grey Allegro
Photographer: Chris Nash</small>

RICHARD ALSTON DANCE COMPANY
SADLER’S WELLS season – February 25th-28th 2004

The Richard Alston Dance Company returns to London for its second Sadler’s Wells season from February 25th – 28th 2004. The company will present two London premieres – "Shimmer" and "Overdrive" – plus a revival of one of Alston’s most popular and uplifting pieces, "Brisk Singing".

OVERDRIVE
Overdrive is powered by the relentless drive of Californian composer Terry Riley’s exciting Keyboard Studies. As the music creates ever more complicated layers of insistent rhythm, Alston’s dancers are pushed to keep up with the pace, bouncing off the rhythms, creating dazzling groupings and whirling solos. The result is sharp, energetic and thrilling.

SHIMMER
Alston’s latest creation is a personal tribute to the distinguished art critic and writer Bryan Robertson, who died after a prolonged illness last year. Amongst many fervent passions, Robertson adored French music and in particular that of the great melodic composer Maurice Ravel. Mediterranean heat is measured with French formality in Ravel’s delicate Sonatine and in the evocative imagery of his Miroirs. Played live by virtuoso pianist Jason Ridgway, Ravel’s piano pieces balance lush impressionism with classical form and the dance is a warm and subtly personal tribute to a close friend.

BRISK SINGING
A revival (1997) of one of Alston’s most popular and uplifting pieces, Brisk Singing celebrates the music of the 17th century baroque French composer, Jean-Philippe Rameau whose bold experimentations in harmony and orchestral sound effects have influenced generations of composers. Brisk Singing is awash with glorious movement and colour, limbs flung high and wide in lunging, soaring space. An expansive and beautifully crafted work using the music from Rameau’s opera, Les Boréades.

Sadler’s Wells Listings Information:
Dates: Wednesday February 25th to Saturday February 28th at 7.30pm
Venue: Sadler’s Wells, Rosebery Avenue, London EC1
Box Office: 020 7863 8000
Tickets: Weds-Fri: £9-£27 (plus concessions)
Saturday: £12-£30

COMPANY HISTORY:

The Richard Alston Dance Company was launched in 1994 to great critical acclaim and is now one of the UK’s most celebrated contemporary dance companies. It offers a unique combination of the innovative and the entertaining in the work of its artistic director, Richard Alston, who, in 1998, celebrated 30 years of dance making. An experienced and mature artist, whose talent has had the time and space to develop and deepen, Alston is internationally recognised as a master of his craft.

Music plays a vital part in the company’s identity and Alston’s passion for a huge range of composers is illustrated by his use of music by Brahms, Britten, Hoagy Carmichael, Handel, Monteverdi, Astor Piazzolla, Schumann, Shostakovich and Stravinsky.

In 2002 the BBC commissioned Richard Alston to choreograph excerpts of Rite of Spring for their Masterworks series, directed by Jonathan Haswell. In autumn 2003 Martin Lawrance’s Grey Allegro was introduced into the repertoire – the first time another choreographer’s work has been performed by the company. In May 2004 the Company makes its New York debut with a week of performances at the Joyce Theater.

Richard Alston – biography
Trained at the London School of Contemporary Dance, Richard Alston choreographed for the London Contemporary Dance Theatre before forming the UK’s first independent dance company, Strider, in 1972. Three years later he went to New York to study at the Merce Cunningham Dance Studio and in 1980 he was appointed resident choreographer with Ballet Rambert, serving as the company’s artistic director from 1986 to 1992. During that time he created 25 works for Rambert as well as the Royal Danish Ballet (1982), the Royal Ballet (1983), and two solo works for Michael Clark (Soda Lake, Dutiful Ducks). He returned to Rambert in 2001, creating Unrest for the company’s 70th anniversary. A revival of his Dangerous Liaisons (1985) was toured by Scottish Ballet in 2003.

In 1994 Alston took up the post of artistic director at The Place and formed The Richard Alston Dance Company; since then he has made over 20 pieces for the company.

Alston was made a honorary Doctor of Philosophy (Dance) at Surrey University in 1992 and in 2003 he received an honorary MA from University College Chichester. In 1995 he was named Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in recognition of his work in France. In January 2001 he was awarded the CBE

Richard Alston Dance Company - Spring 2004 tour dates

STOKE Regent Theatre 20 January at 7.30pm
Piccadilly Cultural Quarter, Stoke-on-Trent ST1 1AP Box Office 01782 213800
Programme: Brisk Singing, Grey Allegro, Overdrive
NOTTINGHAM Playhouse 22 & 23 January at 8pm
Wellington Circus, Nottingham NG1 5AF Box Office 0115 941 9419
Programme: Brisk Singing, Grey Allegro, Overdrive

SHEFFIELD Lyceum 6 & 7 February at 7.45pm
55 Norfolk Street, Sheffield S1 1DA Box Office: 0114 249 6000
Programme: Brisk Singing, Grey Allegro, Overdrive

CANTERBURY The Marlowe Theatre 20 & 21 February at 7.30pm
The Friars, Canterbury CT1 2AS Box Office: 01227 787787
Programme: Brisk Singing, Shimmer, Overdrive

LONDON Sadler’s Wells 25 – 28 February at 7.30pm
Rosebery Avenue London EC1R 4TN Box Office 020 7863 8000
Programme: Brisk Singing, Shimmer, Overdrive
GLASGOW Theatre Royal 6 March at 7.30pm
Hope Street, Glasgow G2 3QA Box Office 0141 332 9000
Programme: Brisk Singing, Shimmer, Overdrive

SALFORD The Lowry 9 March at 7.30pm
Pier 8, Salford Quays M50 3AZ Box Office 0870 787 5790
Programme: Brisk Singing, Shimmer, Overdrive

NORWICH Theatre Royal 26 & 27 March at 7.30pm
Theatre Street, Norwich NR2 1RL Box Office: 01603 630000
Programme: Grey Allegro, Shimmer, Brisk Singing

LIVERPOOL Playhouse 15 & 16 April at 7.30pm
Williamson Square, Liverpool L1 1EL Box Office: 0151 709 4776
Programme: Grey Allegro, Shimmer, Brisk Singing

NEW YORK The Joyce Theater 11 – 15 May
175 Eighth Avenue, New York, New York 10011 Box Office 212 242 0800
Programme: Brisk Singing, Shimmer, Overdrive

PRESS RELEASE

Richard Alston to collaborate with top British fashion designer Julien Macdonald

World Premiere 20 & 21 February at The Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury
London Premiere 25 – 28 February at Sadler’s Wells

Richard Alston Dance Company is delighted to announce that the brilliant young fashion designer Julien Macdonald has agreed to design costumes for Alston’s new creation Shimmer.

Shimmer is danced to the lush and atmospheric piano music of Maurice Ravel. The rich melody and glorious colour of Ravel make this a particularly appropriate collaboration for Alston and Julien Macdonald, a designer so well-known for his exciting and innovative use of textures and shimmering fabrics.

“I am incredibly excited about designing the costumes for Shimmer. I have always wanted to design for a dance production and I feel very honoured to be able to work with Richard Alston on his production, Shimmer.”
Julien Macdonald

Julien Macdonald keeps British fashion’s name up in lights as a maestro of glitz and glam, and as artistic director of Givenchy in Paris. His own label has acquired a reputation for clothes that are sexy, slinky and sparkly, with a celebrity client list including Nicole Kidman, Christina Aguilera, Ms Dynamite and J-Lo. Macdonald studied at Cardiff Art College before completing a BA in Fashion Textiles in Brighton. He progressed to an MA in knitwear at London’s Royal College of Art and was commissioned by Karl Lagerfeld to design knitwear for Chanel. In February 1997 Macdonald launched his own label with his Mermaids collection, styled by Isabella Blow and photographed by Sean Ellis. This was followed six months later by his first runway show and he has never looked back. He won the Glamour Designer of the Year title at the British Fashion Awards in 2000 & 2003. He has also designed uniforms for British Airways and for staff at Bluewater, and has dressed Kylie Minogue for her world tour.

Shimmer is Julien Macdonald’s first collaboration for dance.