23rd October at the Lanterns Studio Theatre, London

 

PROGRAMME

PART I

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CHOPIN BALLADE No. 1 in G MINOR

Performed by Viktor Erik Emanuel

“Both the First Ballade and the Barcarolle are masterpieces of the piano literature, and Chopin remains one of the most sophisticated composers for the instrument. Chopin is credited as the person who first introduced the Ballade, previously a literary genre, as a musical work, and he develops the character and form of the Barcarolle far beyond any established convention. The Ballade is a vast journey through a rich emotional landscape, with all its mountains and valleys.” Viktor Erik Emanuel

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MEDORA VARIATION – ACT II CORSAIRE

Performed by Ivana Bueno

Choreographed by Marius Petipa

Music Adolphe Adam

“Travel to a faraway land for the adventures of a dashing pirate, Conrad, and his feisty girlfriend Medora. Will they outfox evil schemers and find happiness on the high seas?” English National Ballet

Ivana Bueno is from Mexico and after her initial training there went on to join the Princess Grace Academy in Monte Carlo.

After competing in YAGP Mexico she joined ENB and has since won the Emerging Dancer 2020 Award. Ivana is rising quickly within English National Ballet. We are delighted to be able to give you a glimpse of this young talented artist on her journey to the top!

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KIRRA’S DEATH, GREATER THAN LION

Choreographed by Kennedy Junior Muntanga

Performed by Kennedy Junior Muntanga & Olivia Grassot

Composed by Tommy Khosla, Maia Sophie Phllips & Choolwe Laina Muntanga

Greater Than Lion is a new project created by Kennedy Muntanga Dance Theatre based on two tales, 'Greater Than Lion' from the book The Girl Who Married A Lion by Alexander McCall Smith, and the biblical tale of Jonah and The Whale. This work follows a woman suffering with grief after losing her young daughter. “There are strong themes of Rebirth, Death, Confrontation, Grief and Acceptance which I believe, I am somewhat trying to understand and process on a personal level.” Kennedy Junior Muntanga

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HEAVENLY BODIES

Choreographed & Performed by Daniel Davidson

Music Written & Performed by Douglas Dare​

Commissioned by BALLET NIGHTS

Supported by Erased Tapes

“I consider my identity to be male but am often faced with the idea that I’m not ‘man enough.’ Heavenly Bodies is inspired by the idea of masculinity and the pressures society places on people to behave in a certain way.” Daniel Davidson

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SWAN LAKE ACT II PAS DE DEUX

Choreography and Concept David Dawson

Performed by Constance Devernay & Barnaby Rook Bishop
Music Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Costume Design Yumiko Takeshima
Rehearsed by Oliver Rydout
With Kind Permission from Scottish Ballet

“Premiering in 2016, Scottish Ballet commissioned David Dawson to create a new SWAN LAKE for a new generation. One that sees balletic forms taken to their astonishing extremes, with pointe-work balances poised on a tilt that challenges gravity to unstitch the relationship between ballerina and partner. Kinetic sculpture on one level, but also – on a more profound level – an expression of emotions and trust. Dawson’s instinct for movement somehow draws you into knowing what the emotional subtext is within the imagery, the effort, the flesh-and-blood physicality.

SWAN LAKE becomes Siegfried’s story. A coming-of-age journey where a young man – an innocent who doesn’t really fit into the ‘real’ world – learns about love because of the choices he makes, and because some of those choices turn out to be mistakes he regrets but can’t change.” www.DavidDawson.com

 

 

 

PART II

 

CHOPIN BACAROLLE in F# MAJOR, OP.60

Performed by Viktor Erik Emanuel

“The Barcarolle transports us to the gondoliers in Venice - an exquisitely beautiful and dynamic serenade.” Viktor Erik Emanuel

 

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COMMUNION

Choreographer Robert Cohan

Performed by Luke Ahmet
Music Nils Frahm
With Kind Permission from The Cohan Collective

“This solo is taken from a larger group work for ten dancers created in 2018 . Communion is a gathering of people in a shared space where each individual tells their story within a solo or group”

 

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HOW DO YOU KNOW ALL THIS?

Choreographed & Performed by Hannah Rudd

Composed by Quinta

Featuring Kevin G Davy

“‘How do you know all this’ leans to that which we know through feeling, not only facts. It was originally made for Draft works in collaboration with the Royal Ballet. The desire for this collaboration was to create an environment in which the artists involved could simply explore their joy for dance, feel a sense of luxury, sensuality and play through movement, and celebrate one current state of an ever-evolving relationship with oneself as an artist and as a woman. With special thanks to Hannah Grennell and Nadia Mullova-Barley, tonight I will share an excerpt of a longer work.” Hannah Rudd

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UNTITLED

Choreographed & Performed by Jeffrey Cirio

Pianist Viktor Erik Emanuel

• Frédéric Chopin

Sound Design Fabian Reimair

“Untitled” was last performed in 2018 for Dance Gala St. Louis. It was originally created for Cirio Collective, which then was performed in Japan, as well as Cape Dance Festival in the US. I choose to show this work because I think it represents a true identity of who I am as an artist and choreographer. Originally the first part of the piece was done in silence. I decided I wanted to change that and commission Fabian Reimair to create a new composition.” Jeffrey Cirio

 

 

DON QUIXOTE PAS DE DEUX

Performed by Katja Khaniukova & Francesco Gabriele Frola

Choreography Marius Petipa

Composer Ludwig Minkus

Costumes courtesy of English National Ballet

Katja Khaniukova was born in Kyiv, Ukraine, and joined the ballet company of National Opera of Ukraine, where she became a Principal half a year later. Katja went on to join English National Ballet and was promoted to First Soloist in 2019.  Throughout her career Katja has won several gold medals around the world in international competitions, and most recently received the Critics’ Circle National Dance Award for Outstanding Female Performance (classical).  Gabriele was previously with National Ballet of Canada and has been with English National Ballet since 2018.

Gabriele has performed internationally for audiences including in Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Champs-Elysées Theatre, across Russia and many more with NBoC and ENB. The last time Gabriele and Katja performed abroad as a pair together was in Spoletto Italy.

 

Having flown back from Kiev this morning after dancing Manon last night at the National Opera of Ukraine, we are thrilled to present Katja alongside Gabriele as one of our star couples performing for you tonight.

 

 

With Thanks To

THE LANTERNS STUDIO THEATRE . THE LOCKDOWN ROOM . DAVID DAWSON . COHAN COLLECTIVE . SCOTTISH BALLET . ENGLISH NATIONAL BALLET . RAMBERT . ERASED TAPES RECORDS . AALCHEMY & NPAFE . WHITE LIGHT LTD . JOHN & HILARY AUSTIN .

. JUDY LIPSEY .