Ballet Cymru is a professional ballet company based in Newport, South Wales. The company was established in 1986 by Artistic Director, Darius James OBE, and tours across the UK and internationally. As well as producing professional performances, Ballet Cymru has an extensive outreach and education programme and it is our mission to make ballet more inclusive and accessible to everyone. We love collaborating with other artists and art forms and our recent productions have included Welsh clog dancing, aerial circus skills, live spoken word and live music.
Website: http://www.welshballet.co.uk
Darius James - Artistic Director
Amy Doughty - Assistant Artistic Director
Check out the following interview with Ballet Cymru to find out more about the company and their choreographic processes:
Entertainment
Giselle
This is Ballet Cymru’s upcoming work for 2021 and is a remake of the traditional ballet that has been performed around the world since 1841. Ballet Cymru are updating the storyline by setting it in Newport and the current day. The new musical score has been composed and recorded by Welsh Harpist Catrin Finch and the costumes made from recycled clothing and material.
Below are a couple of choreographic tasks which the artistic directors of Ballet Cymru have used to create movement material for the production.
Task 1: Hand motif
The hand motif is a short gestural movement phrase where each action has a meaning and connection to the character the phrase belongs to. This arm only version is phase one of this task. Phase two continues with the arm movements adding a few on the spot leg movements, different uses of level and direction (but keeping it small) to accompany the gestural phrase. Phase three expands the sequence for it to travel and move through the space, transforming the original gestural phrase into a rich, full bodied sequence of motion.
Task 1
Task 2: Duet to solo
This task is taking a section of movement originally created as a duet and adapting it to be a solo. Some of the movements will be easily transferred whilst others will need to be changed to make sense for only one body performing the action and additional movements may need to be added to fill gaps that have appeared and continue the flow of the sequence. The benefit of this choreographic technique within a ballet following a narrative is that the audience can make the connection between characters and their emotions and it reinforces the characters that are portrayed.
Task 2
