Elmhurst Ballet Company, the graduate year of Elmhurst Ballet School, will present Legacy at Sadler’s Wells Lilian Baylis Studio, London on 13 May and Elmhurst Studio Theatre, Birmingham on 19 and 20 May 2023.
The Elmhurst initiative, now in its fifth iteration, prepares students for life after school with daily ballet class, working with established artists and delivering outreach sessions in schools in their final year.
The students worked with Jordan James Bridge, a Company Wayne McGregor artist, to create The End is Where We Start, a gentle nod to the door closing on the students’ time at Elmhurst and another door opening for their next career stage.
The school continues to celebrate its centenary with an excerpt from Frederick Ashton’s Birthday Offering, which Ashton, Founder Choreographer and later Director of The Royal Ballet, created in 1956 to mark the 25th anniversary of the Sadler’s Wells Ballet.
Bronislava by Avatâra Ayuso, choreographer and artistic director of Ava Dance Company, honours the 1923 Les Noces (The Wedding) by Bronislava Nijinska.
Argonauts is an excerpt from David Bintley’s jazz-based The Orpheus Suite, with music by Colin Towns. The theme continues in a new jazz dance Doin’ That Doo-Wah Thing! by choreographer Cris Penfold.
The Argentinian-inspired Malambo by Elmhurst teacher Sonia Fajardo and Resonate by Jack Farren complete the programme.
Elmhurst Ballet Company members in 2023 are Amelia Cook, William Davolls, Ella Dennehy, Caitlin Edgington, Jack Farren, Florence Fowler, Leo Morad, Kazusa Murayoshi, Léo Rech, Benjamin Spiteri, Isabel Tornqvist, Sophie Walters, Heidi Whiting and Samantha Wong.