CELEBRATING their 50th anniversary in 2019 is Scottish Ballet, the national classical ballet company set up in Glasgow in 1969 by choreographer Peter Darrell.
Their most ambitious season yet, Scottish Ballet’s birthday year will feature three world premieres: Dextera by Sophie Laplane, Helen Pickett’s adaptation of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible at the Edinburgh International Festival in August and, for Christmas 2019, a new version of The Snow Queen choreographed by Scottish Ballet’s artistic director Christopher Hampson (above).
In addition, the company will launch their second digital season, allowing people from across Scotland to enjoy a new series of commissions, live streams and collaborations.
Kicking off the birthday year in March in Inverness will be Spring!, a double bill of Dextera, a work created by former Scottish Ballet dancer and now choreographer-in-residence Sophie Laplane, and a revival of Elite Syncopations, a classic by the Dunfermline-born Sir Kenneth MacMillan.
“Syncopations is really an excuse to have a party on stage,” says Hampson. “It’s got the entire company on stage and the orchestra form into a rag-time band. On the opening night in Inverness we’re going to invite everyone to join in the party in the foyer in Eden Court.”
Hampson notes that the anniversary year is not simply about dazzling audiences with top quality productions. Important, too, is the company’s community engagement programme.
“Our mission is to inspire on stage and beyond and we do that in so many different ways,” he says. “With something like The Crucible, there’s a fantastic opportunity there to engage with young people about the issues being written about in that play and how relevant they are to today.”
Taking a production such as The Crucible from page to stage takes around two years. The adaptation of Miller’s paranoid classic will be the first of five new full-length ballets Hampson has committed the company to producing over the next five years.
“My Snow Queen will be the second,” says Hampson. “To produce five full-length productions in five years is quite a feat. It’ll stretch us but I truly believe we can do it.”
Over the past 50 years, the company says, Scottish Ballet has been “crafted by Scotland – by the people, the traditions, the sense of humour, the generosity and the spirit”. To thank the country, people are currently invited to ask Scottish Ballet to make a wish come true.
“Anyone can go to our website and make a wish,” says Hampson. “We want to know how we can thank people for their support and their continued support. It can be anything – we want to be challenged.”
“We can only commit to making five of them come true. But maybe we can even make a few little extra wishes come true along the way.”
Spring!: Mar 28 to 30 2019, Inverness, April 4 to 6, Glasgow; Apr 11 to 13, Aberdeen; May 2 to 4, Edinburgh
The Crucible: August, Edinburgh International Festival; Sep 26 to 28, Glasgow; Oct 3 to 5, Aberdeen; Oct 9 and Oct 10, Inverness.
The Snow Queen: Dec 7 to 29, Edinburgh; Jan 3 to 19 2020, Glasgow; Jan 22 to 26, Aberdeen; Jan 29 to Feb 2, Inverness.
www.scottishballet.co.uk
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