A ballet based on the life of Jacqueline du Pré and an epic inspired by Dante’s Divine Comedy are the highlights of the Royal Ballet’s 2019-20 season, announced today.
Choreographer Cathy Marston, riding high on the success of her ballets Jane Eyre and Victoria, will make her first main-stage work for the Royal Opera House, examining the life and art of the exceptional cellist Du Pré, who had multiple sclerosis and died in 1987 aged 42.
“I think with somebody who is as passionate an artist as Jacqueline du Pré, Cathy’s the right person to tackle it,” said the Royal Ballet’s artistic director Kevin O’Hare. “She’s got an astute way of telling a story and getting to the real heart of it.” Marston and O’Hare went to see Du Pré’s former husband, the conductor Daniel Barenboim, to discuss their plan. “I think he was touched that we went and told him,” says O’Hare. “He said, ‘Yes, go and do it!’”
“So often in ballet we’re dealing with fictional characters or historical characters, so to address somebody of our generation is interesting,” said O’Hare. There will be a new score by composer Philip Feeney as well as extracts from some of the works Du Pré performed, including Elgar’s Cello Concerto. The music will all be played in the orchestra pit rather than on stage. “No, nobody in a blond wig playing the cello,” said O’Hare.
The most epic production of the season will come from the Royal Ballet’s resident choreographer Wayne McGregor, whose Dante Project has an all-star cast of collaborators with a score by composer Thomas Adès and designs from artist Tacita Dean. “The drawings I’ve seen so far are beautiful,” says O’Hare. “The first act is the underworld – it’s as if you’re seeing everything in mirror image; a beautifully drawn mountainscape in reverse.” The first act, the Inferno, will premiere in Los Angeles in July as part of the Royal Ballet’s tour, but the complete work will not be seen until May 2020 in London.
The productions returning to the Royal Opera House include Preludes, a reworking of Alexei Ratmansky’s 24 Preludes, which the choreographer felt was not as successful as it could have been. “There are lots of great things in there but we both felt there were things that could be different, so we’re really paring it down,” said O’Hare. “It’s important to bring work back. Having that second look, in a colder light, you can learn a lot of lessons.”
In the refurbished Linbury theatre, which now plays a more significant role in the Royal Ballet’s programming, the company will perform its first work by contemporary legend Merce Cunningham, alongside a new commission by New York choreographer Pam Tanowitz. Another new piece from a female choreographer is the modern fairytale Aisha and Abhaya, from Israeli choreographer Sharon Eyal, directed by film-maker Kibwe Tavares. Performed by dancers from Rambert, it is part of a commitment on O’Hare’s part to share the Royal Opera House’s resources with other dance companies, and bring new audiences in to Covent Garden. The company commissions more new work than ever before, says O’Hare, but that is balanced by a dedicated programme delving into the company’s heritage and remounting lesser known works from the archive.
Away from Covent Garden, there will be a large-scale education project in Doncaster, which came about thanks to local MP Ed Miliband. The Royal Ballet will be working with every school in the area and launching a new version of the Chance to Dance programme, giving access to ballet to disadvantaged children, plus there will be a gala performance from the company at Doncaster’s Cast theatre.
With such ambitious plans, money is always a challenge, said O’Hare. “And obviously Brexit is looming.” Ballet is an international art form, and O’Hare believes contemporaries across Europe are “looking at us aghast”. The most obvious problems the Royal Ballet may face would be if working visas and touring became more difficult. “We would be a much poorer company without some of the dancers and collaborators we work with,” he says. “Obviously we don’t know what Brexit is going to mean, but we would fight against it making us a weaker company.”
Yet there are a great number of homegrown dancers making headlines, with the careers of Francesca Hayward, Matthew Ball, Yasmine Naghdi, Anna Rose O’Sullivan, Joseph Sissens and William Bracewell all on upward trajectories. There’s a rare excitement around the next generation of stars. “It’s a very special time, I think, to see so much talent in the company,” said O’Hare. “We’re in a really great position.”
