Welcome to Madrid

The English National Ballet is back at the Teatro Real from 10 to 13 May, two years after its last performance with Giselle. Now, Tamara Rojo is making her debut as both director and choreographer in an adaptation of the great work by Alexander Glazunov.

It is a written version by Gavin Sutherland and Lars Payne, with co-production by the Finnish National Opera and Ballet and the participation of the lighting technician, Mark Henderson, winner of the Tony Award, and the designer, Antony Mcdonald, winner of the Design and Set Design Award at the International Opera Awards 2013.

This ballet in three acts, with music by Aleksandr Glazunov and choreography by Marius Petipa, was premièred at the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg (Russia) in 1898 and its original plot takes place in medieval France, during the Crusades. However, on this occasion, the production takes the audience to the Crimean War, a conflict between 1853 and 1856 that saw the Russian Empire and the Kingdom of Greece fighting against an alliance made up of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and the Kingdom of Sardinia.

Taking inspiration from the British nurse and writer, Florence Nightingale, considered to be the forerunner of contemporary nursing, and the women who accompanied her in helping the wounded during the Crimean War, it tells how Raymonda is an idealistic young woman who leaves her comfortable home in London (United Kingdom) in 1854 to work as a nurse in Crimea. There, her heart faces not only the horror of war and death, but also the difficult predicament of having to choose between two handsome suitors: an English soldier and a charismatic Ottoman leader.

The English National Ballet is one of the three leading companies in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1950 and has approximately 65 dancers and its own symphony orchestra. The choreographer, Tamara Roja, has been its artistic director since 2012.

Artistic File:

• Musical Director - Gavin Sutherland
• Director and Choreographer - Tamara Rojo
• Set and Costume Designer - Antony Mcdonald
• Lighting Technician - Mark Henderson
• Video Designer - Alexander Gunnarsson
• Playwright - Lucinda Coxon
• Orchestra - Teatro Real Resident Orchestra

Programme:

• Music by Alexander Glazunov (1865-1936) with adaptation by Gavin Sutherland and Lars Payne
• A co-production by the English National Ballet and the Finnish National Opera and Ballet