Dance Revolutionaries: Yorke Dance Project film of works by Robert Cohan and Kenneth MacMillan, screenings at Phoenix Picturehouse and Curzon Oxford 26th & 30th June

Dance Revolutionaries is a captivating 74-minute exploration of raw emotion through dance set in stunning locations, showcasing Portraits – five solo dances, and an innovative production of the rarely-seen ballet, Sea of Troubles. From Emmy-nominated director David Stewart, the film explores the emotive world of two dance visionaries: choreographers Kenneth MacMillan and Robert Cohan, who redefined our connection to the art form.

Cohan’s film work Portraits is an intimate series of solos created with award-winning dancers. MacMillan’s Sea of Troubles, inspired by Shakespeare’s Hamlet, poignantly explores universal human emotions of grief, jealousy and the drive for revenge.

Yorke Dance Project, in partnership with the Royal Ballet and award-winning artists, produces and performs this extraordinary journey, providing unprecedented access to the revolutionary works of Cohan and MacMillan.

Director: David Stewart
UK, 2024, 74 minutes, PG rated
Cast: Dane Hurst, Romany Pajdak, Edd Mitton, Jonathan Goddard, Freya Jeffs, Oxana Panchenko, Benjamin Warbis, Yolande Yorke Edgell, Laurel Dalley Smith

Dance Revolutionaries: Two Artists Who Revolutionised Dance In The Twentieth Century will be screening nationwide from 24th June, with screenings in Oxford on 26th and 30th June at the Phoenix Picturehouse and Curzon.

Date: Wednesday 26th June 8.20pm Phoenix Picturehouse and 6.20pm Curzon Oxford, Sunday 30th June 2.40pm Phoenix Picturehouse

Venues: Phoenix Picturehouse, 57 Walton Street, Oxford OX2 6AE: Curzon Oxford, Westgate Shopping Centre, Oxford OX1 1NZ

Find information about all screenings and how to book tickets here

Find out more about Yorke Dance Project here

Read Susie Crow’s piece about the history of Sea of Troubles and its revival for Yorke Dance here

 

Bolshoi Ballet: A Hero Of Our Time, live transmission at Phoenix Picturehouse Sunday 9th April 2017

An exciting opportunity to see the Bolshoi Ballet in a new full-length work in live transmission at Oxford’s Phoenix Picturehouse. Pechorin, a young officer, embarks on a journey across the majestic mountains of the Caucasus, on a path set by his passions. Disillusioned and careless, he inflicts pain upon himself and the women around him…

“Give me everything, it is still not enough.” This story based on the larger-than-life hero Pechorin is adapted from Mikhail Lermontov’s literary masterpiece, A Hero Of Our Time, three separate tales recounting Pechorin’s heartbreaking betrayals. Is he a real hero? Or is he just a man like any other? This brand new production by choreographer Yuri Possokhov is a tragic poetic journey that can only be seen at the Bolshoi.

Music: Ilya Demutsky
Choreography: Yuri Possokhov
Libretto: Kirill Serebrennikov
Cast: The Bolshoi Principals, Soloists and Corps De Ballet

Cinema rating 12A

Performance:  Sunday 9th April 4.00pm

Venue:  Phoenix Picturehouse, 57 Walton Street, Oxford OX2 6AE

Tickets:  Adults £22, Child £10, Student & Retired £17.50, Family x4 £64

Available online here

 

Boshoi Ballet live transmission of Neumeier’s The Lady of the Camellias, Phoenix Picturehouse 6th December 2015

A pre-Christmas treat in the form of an opportunity to see the Bolshoi Ballet at the Phoenix Picturehouse  in a live transmission of John Neumeier‘s ballet The Lady of the Camellias.  Set to music by Frédéric Chopin, John Neumeier presents his vision of the novel by Alexandre Dumas fils, written in 1848.  Premiered by the Stuttgart Ballet on 4 November 1978, with Marcia Haydée in the title role, the work entered the repertoire of the Hamburg Ballet on 31 January 1981. The choreographer, who often seeks inspiration in literature, had long been fascinated by “The Lady of the Camellias”, an account of Dumas fils’s own unhappy affair with Rose-Alphonsine Duplessis, a Parisian courtesan, who died of consumption at the age of 22.

A young bourgeois, Armand Duval, falls madly in love with Marguerite Gautier, a gorgeous courtesan celebrated by Parisian high society. Despite her infidelity, Armand will do all he can to win the beautiful woman’s heart and convince her to leave her indulgent life.  The Bolshoi breathes new life into Neumeier’s tragic masterpiece,  this production assuming a new emotional and dramatic texture that only the Bolshoi’s dancers can deliver.

“Neumeier’s character-rich ballet has found a company that is equal to its challenges.” – Financial Times.

Date:  Sunday 6th December 2015, 3.00pm

Venue:  Phoenix Picturehouse, 57 Walton St, Oxford OX2 6AE

Book tickets online here or phone 0871 902 5736

 

Bolshoi Ballet in Jewels recorded transmission Phoenix Picturehouse 8th November

As part of the Screen Arts programme, the Phoenix Picturehouse brings another opportunity this weekend to see the Bolshoi Ballet in George Balanchine’s Jewels, in a performance captured live in 2014.  Inspired by the famous jewellers of New York’s Fifth Avenue, this triptych is a tribute to women, and to the cities of Paris, New York and St Petersburg. Choreographed in 1967 for New York City Ballet, this ballet, with its jewel-like costumes, celebrates the three cities and three dance schools that forged the elegance, aesthetic and style of choreographer George Balanchine. Emeralds was conceived as a poetic tribute to the French romantic school and Rubies to the American tradition of Broadway musicals, while Diamonds honours the virtuosity of classical Russian dancers.

Date:  Sunday 8th November 2015, 3.00pm

Venue:  Phoenix Picturehouse, 57 Walton St, Oxford OX2 6AE

Tickets:  Adult £20, Child £8, Student and Retired £15.50

Book online here or phone 0871 902 5736

Read Maggie Watson’s review of Jewels in 2014 here

 

Royal Ballet in Giselle live transmission at Phoenix Picturehouse Monday 27th January

A chance to see The Royal Ballet in one of the most popular Romantic ballets of all time.  The story of Giselle brings together an engaging mix of human passions, supernatural forces and the transcendent power of self-sacrificing love.  The production by Sir Peter Wright catches the atmosphere of this great Romantic ballet, especially in the perfection of its second Act, with ghostly maidens drifting through the forest in spectacular patterns – one of the most famous of any scenes for the corps de ballet. Giselle dances with lightness and fragility, giving the impression of floating through the mist.  This is one of the Royal Ballet’s most loved and admired productions, faithful to the spirit of the 1841 original, yet always fresh at each revival.  This live transmission from the Royal Opera House at the Phoenix Picturehouse on Monday 27th January features the company’s new star dancer Natalia Osipova in the title role, partnered by Carlos Acosta.

 

Royal Ballet’s Romeo and Juliet at the Phoenix 22nd March

If you didn’t manage to make it see the Bolshoi’s Le Corsaire last weekend, here is another chance to see one of the world’s great ballet companies here in Oxford in a live relay performance from the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden:

The Royal Ballet in

Romeo and Juliet

7.15pm Thursday 22nd March 2012, Phoenix Picturehouse

Romeo and Juliet was Kenneth MacMillan‘s first full-evening ballet and, from its premiere in 1965, it has been one of The Royal Ballet’s signature works, popular all over the world.

At the beginning of the ballet MacMillan’s crowd scenes teem with life and colour. It’s a pleasure to be able to follow the characters created by members of the corps de ballet as they portray the townspeople, market traders and servants of the rival Montagues and Capulets.

However, once Romeo and Juliet meet, everything else on stage can only be scenery for their story. Three great pas de deux: the meeting in the ballroom, the balcony scene and the morning after the wedding eloquently convey the narrative: adolescent shyness and fascination; the headlong rush of love declared; and the grief of parting. The final scene in the tomb, a pas de deux with a lifeless partner, is devastating.

The Royal Ballet has performed Romeo and Juliet well over 400 times, yet each performance is subtly different. Every pairing in the title roles brings fresh nuances to the young lovers’ characters, while the wealth of supporting roles, from the exuberant trio of harlots in the town square to the murderous rage of Tybalt, offers scope for dancers throughout the Company. Nicholas Georgiadis’s earthy Renaissance designs, with some of the original details recently restored, are the perfect backdrop, and Sergei Prokofiev’s music is one of ballet’s greatest and best loved scores.

Running time: 190 Minutes

These relays are selling out, so book your tickets quickly!  Either online by selecting a time, or call the Box Office:
0871 902 5736 (10p a minute from a landline)

http://www.picturehouses.co.uk/cinema/Phoenix_Picturehouse/film/Roh_Live_Romeo_And_Juliet/