DIRECTOR
CHOREOGRAPHER
STRICTLY COME DANCING JUDGE
BalletBoyz
7th Oct 2017
PRESS RELEASE – Wednesday 20 September 2017
BALLETBOYZ present FOURTEEN DAYS
FOUR NEW PIECES EACH CREATED IN FOURTEEN DAYS, BY JAVIER DE FRUTOS, CRAIG REVEL HORWOOD, IVÁN PÉREZ AND CHRISTOPHER WHEELDON
NEW LIVE MUSIC COMPOSED BY SCOTT WALKER, CHARLOTTE HARDING, JOBY TALBOT AND KEATON HENSON
BALLETBOYZ PRESENT THE WORLD PREMIERE OF FOURTEEN DAYS ALONGSIDE FALLEN AT SADLER’S WELLS 10th – 14th OCOTBER
AND THEN ACROSS THE UK The International Emmy Award-winning, all-male dance company BalletBoyz are set to return to London’s Sadler’s Wells this autumn for the world premiere of their new show Fourteen Days before embarking on tour across the UK. The new work from the recent Rose d’Or winners has been created by four internationally celebrated choreographers, alongside four eminent and completely different composers, the new work comprises of four short pieces, and will run alongside their previously acclaimed Fallen. A coproduction with Sadler’s Wells where BalletBoyz are an Associate Artist, and in association with artsdepot, Fourteen Days runs from 10th – 14th October at Sadler’s Wells with an Opening Night on Tuesday 10th October. Choreographers Javier De Frutos (London Road), Craig Revel Horwood (West Side Story, Sunset Boulevard), Iván Pérez (Young Men) and Christopher Wheeldon (An American in Paris) have teamed up with composers Scott Walker, Charlotte Harding, Joby Talbot and Keaton Henson, with each pair given just fourteen days to work with the ensemble to create the new pieces. Playing with the concept of balance and imbalance, the result is an exciting and varied programme of dance and music in BalletBoyz’s inimitable style, performed live musicians. Fallen forms the second half of the evening, choreographed by regular BalletBoyz collabora- tor and Sadler’s Wells Associate Artist Russell Maliphant (Broken Fall), and set to a pow- erful score by French film composer Armand Amar. Fallen won the award for Best Modern Choreography at the 2013 National Dance Awards. Javier De Frutos was born in Caracas and trained at London School of Contemporary Dance and the Merce Cunningham Studio in New York. As director, choreographer and de- signer, his international creations and collaborations have encompassed a variety of different disciplines and scales. He is one of only three artists in the history of the Olivier Awards to have received nominations in all dance categories. In 2000 Javier became one of the first recipients of an Arts Council Fellowship, through which he studied the works of Tennessee Williams. He recently won the Chita Rivera Award for his choreography of the film London
Road. Javier has previously worked with BalletBoyz when he choreo- graphed ‘Fiction’ for Life.
Craig Revel Horwood is Australian-British dancer, choreographer and theatre director. Having performed across Europe as a singer, dancer and actor, he is most famous for his judging role on Strictly Come Dancing. Craig has also chore- ographed and directed many shows in the West End including West Side Story and Sunset Boulevard, and has worked with BalletBoyz Artistic Directors Michael Nunn and William Trevitt in the past.
Iván Pérez is a Spanish choreographer based in the Netherlands. Iván has formerly danced with Netherlands Dance Theater (NDT) and IT Dansa, and received his degree in Performing Arts from the University Rey Juan Carlos. He won the award for ‘Best Interpretation’ during the ‘International Choreography Competition’ New York-Burgos and was nominated for the ‘Swan Best Dancer’ for his role in Indigo Rose by Jiří Kylián (2006). Previously he has worked with BalletBoyz choreographing Young Men.
Christopher Wheeldon is a British choreographer who trained at The Royal Ballet School and danced with the Company between 1991 and 1993. In 2007 Christopher founded Mor- phoses/The Wheeldon Company and became the first British choreographer to create a new work for the Bolshoi Ballet. His awards include the Tony Award for Best Choreography for An American in Paris, and he was made an OBE in 2016. Christopher has worked with Bal- letBoyz on numerous occasions in the past, including Mesmerics.
Russell Maliphant is a British choreographer who trained at the Royal Ballet School and graduated into Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet before leaving to pursue a career in independent dance. In April 2000, he received an Arts Council Fellowship. In 2003, Russell created Bro- ken Fall with Sylvie Guillem and George Piper Dances (now BalletBoyz). Broken Fall premi- ered at the Royal Opera House in December 2003 and was awarded an Olivier Award. Rise and Fall – an evening of work at Sadler’s Wells including Broken Fall – was awarded a Crit- ics’ Circle National Dance Award for Best Choreography (Modern) in 2006.
Scott Walker is an American-born British singer-songwriter, composer and record produc- er. He is noted for his distinctive baritone voice and for the unorthodox career path that has taken him from 1960s pop icon to 21st-century avant-garde musician. Walker’s success has largely been in the United Kingdom, where his first three solo albums reached the top ten. Walker has lived in the UK since 1965; he became a British citizen in 1970.
Charlotte Harding graduated from the Royal College of Music, London with a first class honours degree. On graduating Charlotte won the prestigious Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother Rosebowl, presented by HRH Prince Charles. Charlotte is passionate about the role music can play in both health and education. She is currently an accompanist with Ballet- Boyz, working for the Parkinson’s CAN Dance classes. Charlotte has also been involved in leading and assisting educational workshops for BBC Symphony Orchestra and Teenage Cancer Trust.
Joby Talbot was born in Wimbledon, and studied composition at Royal Holloway and Bed- ford New College. Talbot’s diverse output has included a 60-minute a cappella choral journey along the Camino de Santiago for Nigel Short’s Tenebrae (Path of Miracles, 2005) and a co- production between The Royal Ballet and National Ballet of Canada, Christopher Wheeldon’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (2011). Talbot also has considerable experience writing for the screen, including The League of Gentlemen and the feature film The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (2005). His latest film score is for Sing, the latest animation from Illumination
Entertainment (Despicable Me, Minions) and writer-director Garth Jen- nings, released December 2016.
Keaton Henson is an English folk rock musician, visual artist and poet from London. Henson has released six studio albums. His music video for “Charon” was shortlisted for a UK MVA award in Best Budget Indie/Rock Category. “Small Hands” won Best Music Video at the Rushes Soho Shorts Film Festival in 2012. In November 2012, Henson designed a t-shirt for the Yellow Bird Project to raise money for the Teenage Cancer Trust. Henson also composed the score for the multiple Award-nominated film Young Men by BalletBoyz and BBC 2.
Armand Amar is a French composer living in Paris. In 1976 he met South African choreog- rapher Peter Goss, who introduced him to dance. In subsequent years he worked with a number of choreographers in contemporary dance. His works are focused particularly on Eastern music and he is the author of several ballets and soundtracks films.
The current BalletBoyz Company includes: Jordan Robson, Harry Price, Marc Galvez, Simone Donati, Matthew Rees, Edward Pearce, Matthew Sandiford, Flavien Esmieu, Bradley Waller and newcomers Edd Arnold and Sean Flanagan
The production will tour to: Cambridge, Chester, London, Edinburgh, Dundee, Exeter, Lich- field, Guildford, Bath, Brighton and Richmond.
Tickets are now on sale.
-ENDS-
For further information please contact Maisie Lawrence at The Corner Shop PR on 020 7831 7657 / Maisie@thecornershoppr.com
LISTINGS BalletBoyz present
FOURTEEN DAYS
‘The Title is in the Text’
Choreography: Javier de Frutos Music: Responsorie, composed & orchestrated by Scott Walker. Recorded by Peter Walsh. Produced & Mixed by Scott Walker & Peter Walsh. Conducted by Mark Warman. Keyboards, Music Coordination & Additional Orchestration: Mark Warman. Whispered excerpts from Speech! Speech! by Geoffrey Hill: Lisa Dwan. Spoken words written by Scott Walker: Lisa Dwan. Rapper: Killa Impact. Choir: Metro Voices. Choirmaster: Jenny O’Grady. Soloist: Sarah Eyden. Singers: Joanna Forbes L’Estrange, Ann de Renais, Emma Brain Gabbott, Sarah Eyden, Michael Dore, Sebastian Charlesworth, Jonathan Brown, Nicholas Garrett, James Mawson. Lighting Design: Paul Anderson
‘Human Animal’
Choreography: Iván Pérez Music: Joby Talbot Lighting Design: Paul Anderson
‘Us’
Choreography: Christopher Wheeldon Music: Keaton Henson
Lighting Design: Paul Anderson
‘The Indicator Line’
Choreography: Craig Revel Horwood Music: Charlotte Harding Lighting Design: Paul Anderson
‘Fallen’ Choreography: Russell Maliphant Music: Armand Amar Lighting Design: Michael Hulls
TOUR DATES
LONDON, Sadler’s Wells 10th – 14th October, 7.30pm
14th October, 2.30pm Box Office 020 7863 8000 www.sadlerswells.com
CAMBRIDGE, Arts Theatre
22nd – 23rd October, 7.45pm
Box Office 01223 503333 www.cambridgeartstheatre.com
CHESTER, Story House 30th October , 7.30pm Box Office: 01244 409 113 www.storyhouse.com
LONDON, Artsdepot 2nd November, 7.30pm Box Office: 020 8369 5454 www.artsdepot.co.uk
EDINBURGH, Festival Theatre 7th November, 7.30pm Box Office: 0131 529 6000 www.edtheatres.com
DUNDEE, Dundee Rep 9th November, 8pm Box Office: 01382 2223530 www.dundeerep.co.uk
EXETER, Northcott Theatre 13th – 14th November, 7.30pm Box Office: 01392 726363 www.exeternorthcott.co.uk
LICHFIELD, Garrick Theatre 18th November, 7.30pm Box Office: 01543 412121 www.lichfieldgarrick.com
GUILDFORD, G Live 21st November, 7.30pm
Box Office: 01483 369350 www.glive.co.uk
BATH, Theatre Royal 26th November, 7.30pm Box Office: 01225 448844 www.theatreroyal.org.uk
BRIGHTON, Brighton Dome 28th – 29th November, 7.30pm Box Office: 01273 709709 www.brightondome.org
RICHMOND, Richmond Theatre 1-2nd December, 7.30pm Box Office: 0844 871 7651 www.atgtickets.com/shows/balletboyz-14-days/richmond-theatre/
NOTES TO EDITORS ABOUT BALLETBOYZ
Michael Nunn OBE and William Trevitt OBE, Founders and Artistic Directors of BalletBoyz met when they were dancers with the Royal Ballet; during their 12 years with the company they danced all the principal male roles in Romeo & Juliet, Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Nutcracker, Mayerling and many more and created roles for choreographers Kenneth MacMillan, Twyla Tharp, David Bintley, Christo- pher Wheeldon and more. They co-founded BalletBoyz in 2001 and immediately made a huge impact on the dance scene creating the TV documentaries BalletBoyz and BalletBoyz II and curating the 4Dance season for Channel 4. Since then BalletBoyz has become one of the UK's leading dance com- panies making exciting, entertaining, award-winning art for stage and screen. The company tours na- tionally and internationally; their increasing number of awards include the Olivier for 'Broken Fall' (2004), the Rose d'Or and International Emmy ('Strictly Bolshoi' 2007), Golden Prague Grand Prix (BalletBoyz: The Rite of Spring 2010), and the 2013 Critics' Circle National Dance Award for Best In- dependent Company.
ABOUT SADLER’S WELLS
Sadler’s Wells is a world-leading creative organisation dedicated to dance in all its forms. With over three centuries of theatrical heritage and a year-round programme of performances and learning ac- tivities, its goal is to motivate everyone to experience dance – to take part, learn, experiment and be inspired. Audiences of over half a million come to Sadler’s Wells’ London theatres each year, with many more enjoying its touring productions at partner venues across the UK and around the world, or accessing its content through digital channels.
Sadler’s Wells commissions and presents more new dance work than any other theatre in the world, embracing the popular and the unknown. Since 2005, it has helped to bring over 140 new dance works to the stage, many of them involving its 16 Associate Artists, three Resident Companies and four Asso- ciate Companies – the most exciting talents working in dance today. It also nurtures the next genera- tion of talent through its artist development initiatives, and reaches over 25,000 annually through its learning and engagement programmes
Located in Islington, north London, the current theatre is the sixth to have stood on the site since it was first built by entrepreneur Richard Sadler in 1683. The venue has played an illustrious role in the history of theatre ever since with The Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet and English National Opera having all started at Sadler’s Wells. Sadler’s Wells is a charity and a National Portfolio Organi- sation, currently receiving 10% of its revenue from Arts Council England.
IMAGES CAN BE DOWNLOADED HERE @BalletBoyz / Instagram / www.balletboyz.com