New English Ballet Theatre will make its St Albans debut at the Alban Arena on 1 October with a mixed bill of dance titled Baroque & Roll, featuring neoclassical ballet, modern ballet and contemporary dance.
The first half of the programme will feature Baroque Encounters, created by Daniela Cardim, Artistic Director of Ballet Arizona in the US, performed by seven dancers in red costumes to the music of J S Bach, and Mendelssohn, created by French choreographer and director Constant Vigier—most recently a dancer with Scottish Ballet—performed by six dancers to the music of Felix Mendelssohn. The second half features four works by choreographer Kristen McNally, who is also a Principal Character Artist with the Royal Ballet.
NEBT Founder and Artistic Director Karen Pilkington-Miksa said, “our programme is called Baroque & Roll to reflect the dance styles and music we’ll be presenting. Choreographer Daniela Cardim, for example, has chosen music by Bach, the Baroque master, for her group piece, Baroque Encounters.
"Choreographer Kristen McNally has four pieces in the programme: I Can’t Dance and Invisible Touch are performed to the two classic Genesis tracks of the same name while Lonesome Gun and Mad Women are set to a range of contemporary music including Ennio Morricone’s classic ‘The Good, the Bad and the Ugly’.”
About Mad Women McNally said, “I was inspired by an exhibition of photographs by Miles Aldridge at Somerset House in London. He created a dream world populated by modified women who are visually perfect objects of desire. These women have evolved into flesh and blood Stepford Wives and men are assumed to be their consumers. Mad Women is me wanting to comment that this isn’t a man’s world, it’s very much a woman’s one.”