From Covent Garden to the Berkshires
London’s Royal Ballet visits US for the first time since 2015, in Jacob’s Pillow takeover
The british are coming, but this time it’s cause for cheers rather than alarm.
London’s royal ballet, one of the supreme treasures of the international dance world, will appear at Jacob’s pillow in Becket July 3-7, for a five-day takeover of the oldest summer dance festival in the United states. It’s the troupe’s first visit to the pillow and will be the first time that one company will perform consecutively on both stages: the outdoor Henry J. leir stage at 6 p.m., followed by a different program indoors at the ted shawn theatre at 8 p.m. the engagement is a coup for the pillow — the royal ballet hasn’t appeared in the United states since its 2015 tour to Washington, D.c., chicago, and new York — its stop at the pillow will be its only Us appearance this time around, and performances are selling out fast.
Last August, Jacob’s pillow’s director pamela tatge welcomed Kevin o’Hare, director of the royal ballet, for his first visit to the berkshires. “I credit Kevin for the idea to perform on both stages. When he saw the outdoor stage, he asked, ‘can we have that, too?’” tatge recalled.
Speaking by phone from london, o’Hare said, “We are the royal. We do the classical works. on the outdoor stage, we will present the solos and pas de deux from them with recorded music, to show a range of works.”
Meanwhile, the indoor program, which incorporates live music, will reflect the company’s more diverse repertory for the 21st century. “on the ted shawn stage we will perform the Us premiere by [American choreographer] pam tanowitz, ‘secret things,’” said o’Hare, who has served as the royal’s director since 2012. the company will also perform christopher Wheeldon’s “For Four,” danced by four men, and a world premiere by its resident choreographer Wayne McGregor.
“Wayne is very excited about the commission for Jacob’s pillow. He’s a sponge for all that history,” o’Hare said. Another of McGregor’s works will be set on 24 students from the school at Jacob’s pillow and performed to open the outdoor program on saturday night.
Wheeldon, who is artistic associate of the royal and in demand everywhere for his ballets and on broadway, directed and choreographed “MJ the Musical,” coming on tour to boston in June. tanowitz will receive the annual Jacob’s pillow Award of $25,000 at the Festival’s Gala on June 22.
The United states first saw the english company in 1947, when the sadler’s Wells ballet appeared at new York’s Metropolitan opera House. the troupe was renamed the royal ballet in 1956 when Queen elizabeth II granted it a charter. the new York run gave the United states its first full-length performances of Marius petipa’s “the sleeping beauty” and launched the superstardom of the young Margot Fonteyn, not to mention the troupe’s subsequent adoration by American fans. Fonteyn appeared at Jacob’s pillow, as did early regulars Alicia Markova and Anton Dolin, but never the entire company.
The royal ballet, which presents 135-150 performances each year at covent Garden (“always sold-out” according to o’Hare), has not set its collective feet on our shores in nine years, at least in part because of funding cuts and the pandemic. this time, the brits will bring 22 of the company’s dancers, including six principals. natalia osipova, the former bolshoi ballerina who joined the royal in 2013, will appear only on opening night. sarah lamb will be dancing in this country for the first time since she defected from boston ballet 20 years ago.
Although the royal will not be showing any of its famed productions of full-length ballets, the repertory for the pillow includes selections by choreographers identified with the company since its founding, including Frederick Ashton and Kenneth MacMillan. the royal’s residency will include an exhibit at the pillow’s archives, a pillow talk on saturday, a film showing of the troupe in ”romeo and Juliet,” and a sunday morning workshop with Festival Artists on July 7.
“I want the pillow audiences to come away with an appreciation of the virtuosity of the company,” said o’Hare, who himself entered the royal ballet school at age 11, graduating into the company and rising through the ranks to principal dancer. “I think we are dancing in a much freer way, but with our amazing technique, taught in our school. I think the audiences will be drawn into the world we are portraying onstage, even in a five-minute pas de deux.”