Royal New Zealand Ballet kicks off UK & Italy tour

Royal New Zealand Ballet kicks off UK & Italy tour in Scotland tomorrow.

The Royal New Zealand Ballet will open a major international tour in Scotland tomorrow (8.30am NZ time). The eight centre tour will see the company perform in leading venues in the UK and Italy, including, for the first time, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, home of The Royal Ballet. Following performances in five venues in the UK, Artistic Director Francesco Ventriglia will then take the company to his home country of Italy.

“To lead a national company on the world stage is a great honour, and to introduce the RNZB to my homeland is going to be a very special experience. I could not be more thrilled to showcase their tremendous talents.” he says.

The programme includes Ethan Stiefel and Johan Kobborg’s landmark production of Giselle, and a mixed programme of contemporary works named after multi-award winning Javier De Frutos’ The Anatomy of a Passing Cloud. Also featured in the programme will be Andonis Foniadakis’ Selon désir, UK Critics’ Circle nominated Andrew Simmons’ Dear Horizon, and Neil Ieremia’s Passchendaele. Simmons’ and Ieremia’s works were specially created to mark the centenary of World War One as part of the RNZB’s acclaimedSalute programme earlier this year.

New Zealand works Dear Horizon and Passchendaele garnered rave reviews earlier this year with their world premieres. Selon désir will receive its New Zealand premiere as part of the RNZB’s Speed of Lightmixed bill in 2016, appearing at the New Zealand and Auckland Arts Festivals and touring to Christchurch and Dunedin.

"In the Royal New Zealand Ballet’s Salute, four works (Dear Horizon, Soldier’s Mass, Salute and Passchendaele) combine in a triumph of the human spirit – and the company’s artistry." Francesca Horsley, New Zealand Listener

“Passionately and stunningly choreographed and performed, Passchendaele is brilliant!" From Sheree Bright, www.theatreview.org.nz

UK press quotes from our last UK tour in 2011,

“the company look wide awake, sexy and charged” The Guardian

“very clever, very engaging. I look forward to their next visit” Daily Express

“such an energetic, hungry and joyous troupe” The Stage

“These New Zealanders are more than capable of hot-blooded abandon” The Telegraph

The tour will visit Edinburgh, Leeds, High Wycombe, Canterbury and London in the UK; followed by Udine, Vicenza and Rome in Italy. For dates and venues, see http://rnzb.org.nz/news/rnzb-international-tour-2015/

ENDS

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