TRAILBLAZING BALLET

Treat yourself and book a special night out at the Royal New Zealand Ballet to see two breathtaking new works – a double bill of The Firebird with Paquita.

Powerful, timeless, spectacular – The Firebird with Paquita will soar across stages this winter, bringing a sensational display of world-class ballet to theatres across New Zealand. The Firebird, first staged in Paris in 1910, brings to life a character from Russian folklore with a sumptuous, spine-tingling score that propelled composer Igor Stravinsky to prominence and changed the direction of ballet. Created by award-winning choreographer Loughlan Prior, the RNZB’s production of The Firebird is a beautiful collision of movement and narrative, told for a new time and a new generation.

The ballet is set in a wasteland, scarred by human carelessness, and the remnants of the natural world are threatened by humanity, until the Firebird arrives, bringing elemental power, hope and redemption. In collaboration with Tracy Grant Lord, Prior has created a futuristic, cinematic world rooted in realism, using motion graphics and animations. To create what Prior has described as “a love letter to the Earth”, the duo take inspiration from Stravinsky’s elemental music, the climate crisis and the power of the Firebird herself – a timeless, untameable force, and a bringer of change, hope and rebirth.

“The Firebird draws on the beauty of the earth at its most elemental, the vastness of the cosmos and the impact – both good and evil – of humans on our beautiful world,” says Prior.

The Firebird is paired with the 19th-century classic Paquita;a celebration of much-loved elements of the art form with its glittering tutus, classical technique and breathtaking finale.

The Firebird with Paquita premieres in Wellington on 29 July and tours to Napier, Auckland, Dunedin, Christchurch and Palmerston North until 2 September. Book now at rnzb.org.nz