Stanley & Audrey Burton Theatre
New season of dance at Leeds’
The Stanley & Audrey Burton Theatre in Leeds has announced a new season of dance opening in October 2022. The season will include performances by returning dance companies James Wilton Dance and Ballet Cymru, alongside a new collaboration between the United Strings of Europe and Gandini Juggling and the return of Northern Ballet’s hugely popular children’s production, Ugly Duckling.
To kick off the season, James Wilton Dance returns to Leeds with a new production, LORE on 11 October 2022. Inspired by a folklore journey into a pagan world of gods, demons and humans, the show is embodied through the otherworldly athleticism of James Wilton’s dancers. The energy-filled evening explores our connection to nature, showing how we are made from the soil that we walk on and the air that we breathe. With a specially composed soundtrack by Michal Wojtas, influenced by Viking, Celtic and Slavic folk music, LORE is like listening to the tales our ancestors told while sat in a clearing in the woods, and hearing the ancient stories that bind humanity together.
Families can look forward to the return of Northern Ballet’s hugely popular, Ugly Duckling between 24 – 27 October. Retelling the famous Hans Christian Andersen fairytale, Ugly Duckling is lonely and fed-up, ignored by those around her who think she is too ugly to fit in. Follow the duckling on her journey as she overcomes her troubles and realises that she was beautiful all along. This short ballet is the perfect opportunity for your little ones to enjoy live ballet, music and theatre for the first time this October half-term.
In a special collaboration between United Strings of Europe and the Gandini Juggling, Stravinsky’s ballet, Apollo and His Muses is restaged as Apollo Resurrected on 3 November. Exploring the essential role art has to play in a world recovering from tragedy and isolation, the new narrative, by theatrical director Bill Barclay, re-casts Apollo as an artist recovering from personal tragedy who must learn how to fall in love with life, and art, again. Alongside Stravinsky’s sumptuous score for Apollon Musagete, the hour-long show includes music by Osvaldo Golijov and a new commission from British composer Joanna Marsh. This performance is presented in collaboration with Leeds International Concert Season.
Ballet Cymru returns to Leeds for two nights on 11 – 12 November with a vibrant, fresh, and innovative new full-length ballet based on Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. DREAM is a sparkling re-interpretation in ballet, creating a magical world of fairies, lovers, and bewitching enchantment for those watching. Featuring Ballet Cymru’s groundbreaking dancers, stunning video projection, and innovative choreography from Artistic Directors Darius James OBE and Amy Doughty, the show is accompanied by music from award-winning instrumentalist and composer Frank Moon.
The Stanley & Audrey Burton Theatre’s Autumn season is a great opportunity to see high quality dance at great value, performed in a local intimate setting. Tickets can be booked online at theatreleeds.com, by calling the Box Office on 0113 220 8008 or in person at the Stanley & Audrey Burton Theatre, Northern Ballet, Quarry Hill, Leeds LS2 7PA.