The BalletBoyz are set to make their debut appearance at the Royal Opera House from 16-27 September, dancing in the Linbury studio theatre. The company will present theTalent 2014 in a brand new triple bill at the Linbury as part of Deloitte Ignite 2014, the contemporary arts festival curated by the Royal Ballet and Minna Moore Ede of the National Gallery.
Former Royal Ballet dancers Michael Nunn and William Trevitt, co-founders and artistic directors of BalletBoyz will present works by Christopher Wheeldon (Artistic Associate of The Royal Ballet), Kristen McNally (Royal Ballet Soloist) and Alexander Whitley (New Wave Associate artist at Sadler’s Wells). The triple bill is the company’s first chance to perform new work since their final performances of the award-winning double bill – Liam Scarlett’s ‘Serpent’ and Russell Maliphant’s ‘Fallen’ – at the Camden Roundhouse in July.
Mesmerics, by Christopher Wheeldon, is a piece created in 2004 for three men and two women. Wheeldon’s reworking has recreated the piece for eight of theTalent’s dancers. The old format, set to a score by Philip Glass, contained a lot of pointe work and traditional partnering. Wheeldon set about re-inventing it, working closely with Nunn and Trevitt.
Kristen McNally, Soloist with the Royal Ballet, has created Untitled. She is a fast rising choreographer and recently made the fresh, indie-ballet ‘Mad Women’ for New English Ballet Theatre at the Peacock Theatre. Nunn and Trevitt, along with Kevin O’Hare, are keen to encourage the development of new artists, including McNally. She has found new ways to work with boys and the result is highly anticipated.
The Murmuring by Alexander Whitley, in its well crafted and constantly moving structure, is relatively abstract in its nature. It is set to a low, distinctive and continuous sound, as murmurings is also the flight pattern of flocks of birds, particularly starlings.