Two dance companies have now announced collaborative projects with opera companies to appear at The Lowry.
National Dance Company Wales and Music Theatre Wales with London Sinfonietta and EXAUDI in a new production of Pascal Dusapin's 2009 vocal work/opera Passion, which appears to have originally choreographed by Sasha Waltz (although Waltz is not mentioned in the credits for this new production. NDC Wales's Caroline Finn is billed as co-director but no one gets credit as choreographer...
Meanwhile, Phoenix Dance Theatre have announced a production of The Rite of Spring for 2019 in collaboration with Opera North, their Leeds neighbours. Is it worth noting that The Rite of Spring is not an opera and Phoenix are now a relatively small company of eight dancers (plus two apprentices): although Scottish Ballet recently did The Rite with just three dancers.
The big question is: is this some 'new' European-style genre-combining vogue drifting across the mainland (while we still have the option). Obviously the linkages between opera and ballet are historic.
Or - in a climate in which it is starting to appear quite starkly that the dance market is going into crisis (outside London, possibly in London) is it that dance companies are seeking actively to collaborate with their more successful operatic partners in search of stages and audiences?
Interestingly, neither NDC Wales nor Phoenix Dance Theatre have managed to secure a regular home at The Lowry in recent years.
Passion - by Pascal Dusapin & Sasha Waltz from Stephan Talneau on Vimeo.
National Dance Company Wales and Music Theatre Wales with London Sinfonietta and EXAUDI in a new production of Pascal Dusapin's 2009 vocal work/opera Passion, which appears to have originally choreographed by Sasha Waltz (although Waltz is not mentioned in the credits for this new production. NDC Wales's Caroline Finn is billed as co-director but no one gets credit as choreographer...
Meanwhile, Phoenix Dance Theatre have announced a production of The Rite of Spring for 2019 in collaboration with Opera North, their Leeds neighbours. Is it worth noting that The Rite of Spring is not an opera and Phoenix are now a relatively small company of eight dancers (plus two apprentices): although Scottish Ballet recently did The Rite with just three dancers.
The big question is: is this some 'new' European-style genre-combining vogue drifting across the mainland (while we still have the option). Obviously the linkages between opera and ballet are historic.
Or - in a climate in which it is starting to appear quite starkly that the dance market is going into crisis (outside London, possibly in London) is it that dance companies are seeking actively to collaborate with their more successful operatic partners in search of stages and audiences?
Interestingly, neither NDC Wales nor Phoenix Dance Theatre have managed to secure a regular home at The Lowry in recent years.
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| Passion - by Pascal Dusapin & Sasaha Waltz |
Passion - by Pascal Dusapin & Sasha Waltz from Stephan Talneau on Vimeo.