Valley of Shadows (ballet)

Last updated

Valley of Shadows is a one-act ballet created by Kenneth MacMillan in 1983 for the Royal Ballet. The music is by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (extracts from Hamlet and Souvenir de Florence ) and Bohuslav Martinů (Double Concerto, 1938). The story is loosely based on the novel The Garden of the Finzi-Continis by Giorgio Bassani. The designer was Yolanda Sonnabend, who had first collaborated with him on 1963's Symphony. [1]

Contents

Original cast

The first performance was on 3 March 1983, at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. [2]

See also

Notes

  1. "MacMillan and His Designers". KM.com. Archived from the original on 9 May 2014. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  2. "Valley of Shadows", Royal Opera House Collections Online, retrieved 8 October 2014


Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Royal Ballet</span> Ballet company in the United Kingdom

The Royal Ballet is a British internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, England. The largest of the five major ballet companies in Great Britain, the Royal Ballet was founded in 1931 by Dame Ninette de Valois. It became the resident ballet company of the Royal Opera House in 1946, and has purpose-built facilities within these premises. It was granted a royal charter in 1956, becoming recognised as Britain's flagship ballet company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Cranko</span> South African choreographer

John Cyril Cranko was a South African ballet dancer and choreographer with the Royal Ballet and the Stuttgart Ballet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Natalia Makarova</span> Soviet and American ballet dancer

Natalia Romanovna Makarova is a Russian prima ballerina and choreographer. The History of Dance, published in 1981, notes that "her performances set standards of artistry and aristocracy of dance which mark her as the finest ballerina of her generation in the West."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenneth MacMillan</span> British ballet dancer and choreographer (1929–1992)

Sir Kenneth MacMillan was a British ballet dancer and choreographer who was artistic director of the Royal Ballet in London between 1970 and 1977, and its principal choreographer from 1977 until his death. Earlier he had served as director of ballet for the Deutsche Oper in Berlin. He was also associate director of the American Ballet Theatre from 1984 to 1989, and artistic associate of the Houston Ballet from 1989 to 1992.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alessandra Ferri</span> Italian prima ballerina

Alessandra Ferri OMRI is an Italian prima ballerina. She danced with the Royal Ballet (1980–1984), American Ballet Theatre (1985–2007) and La Scala Theatre Ballet (1992–2007) and as an international guest artist, before temporally retiring on 10 August 2007, aged 44, then returning in 2013. She was eventually granted the rank of prima ballerina assoluta.

Sir Anthony James Dowell is a retired British ballet dancer and a former artistic director of the Royal Ballet. He is widely recognized as one of the great danseurs nobles of the twentieth century.

<i>Mayerling</i> (ballet) Ballet by Kenneth MacMillan

Mayerling is a ballet choreographed by Kenneth MacMillan to the music of Franz Liszt, arranged by John Lanchbery, scenario by Gillian Freeman and designed by Nicholas Georgiadis. The ballet is based on the Mayerling incident, a series of events surrounding the apparent murder–suicide of Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria and his lover, Baroness Mary Vetsera. The ballet premiered on 14 February 1978, at the Royal Opera House, danced by The Royal Ballet, with David Wall as Prince Rudolf and Lynn Seymour as Vetsera.

The Prince of the Pagodas is a ballet created for The Royal Ballet by choreographer John Cranko with music commissioned from Benjamin Britten. Its premiere took place on 1 January 1957 at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, conducted by Britten.

Choreographer Sir Kenneth MacMillan's Royal Ballet production of Sergei Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet premiered at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden on 9 February 1965.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ashley Lawrence (musician)</span>

Ashley Macdonald Lawrence, was a New Zealand conductor mainly active in the UK and Germany, and particularly associated with ballet.

Requiem is a one-act ballet created by Kenneth MacMillan in 1976 for the Stuttgart Ballet. The music is Gabriel Fauré's Requiem (1890). The designer was Yolanda Sonnabend, who had first collaborated with him on 1963's Symphony.

<i>Song of the Earth</i> (ballet) Ballet adaptations of a Mahler symphony

The Song of the Earth is a ballet based on Das Lied von der Erde, a symphonic work written by the Austrian composer Gustav Mahler in 1908–1909. It is scored for two voices and orchestra, and has been used for ballets by several well-known choreographers, including Antony Tudor (1908–1987), Kenneth MacMillan (1929–1992), Heinz Spoerli, and John Neumeier.

Concerto is a one-act ballet in three movements created by Kenneth MacMillan in 1966 for the Deutsche Oper Ballet. The music is Dmitri Shostakovich's Second Piano Concerto (1957). The ballet premiered on 30 November 1966.

My Brother, My Sisters is a one-act ballet created by Kenneth MacMillan in 1974 for the Stuttgart Ballet, under the title Mein Bruder, meine Schwestern. The music is by Arnold Schoenberg and Anton Webern. The story is loosely based on the lives of the Brontë family. The designer was Yolanda Sonnabend, who had first collaborated with him on 1963's Symphony.

The Judas Tree is a one-act ballet created by Kenneth MacMillan in 1992 for the Royal Ballet. The music is by Brian Elias.

The Rite of Spring is a one-act ballet created by Kenneth MacMillan in 1962 for the Royal Ballet, set to Igor Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring (1913). The conductor was Colin Davis, and the designs were by Sidney Nolan.

Anastasia is a ballet created by Kenneth MacMillan. The first version in one act was premiered in 1967 by the Deutsche Oper Ballet. In 1971 MacMillan expanded the work to three acts for the Royal Ballet; the original one-act version became the final act of the 1971 work.

The Prince of the Pagodas is a ballet created by Kenneth MacMillan in 1989 for the Royal Ballet, London, based on the original 1957 John Cranko version. The music is by Benjamin Britten. The scenario was by Colin Thubron, the set and costume designer was Nicholas Georgiadis, and the lighting designer was John B Read.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yolanda Sonnabend</span> British theatre and ballet designer and painter (1935–2015)

Yolanda Paulina Tamara Sonnabend was a British theatre and ballet designer and painter, primarily of portraits.

Sandra Conley is a former ballet dancer, a principal dancer with the Royal Ballet.