Infra

A TV show called “The Royal Ballet World Premiere” is going to be a hard sell for a lot of people, but there’s far more to this than you might think. Sure, it’s based around a piece of contemporary dance, shown in full, but the first half hour shows how it was created – a collaboration between choreographer Wayne McGregor, artist Julian Opie, and composer Max Richter.

It’s amazing to see how quickly (and how late) the elements are put together, with items still being changed 4 days before the premiere. It’s also nice to see some of the supporting artists, and seeing how they work – the lighting designer, the choreologist (and the first time I’ve seen Laban notation being used). Everyone’s so passionate about their professions, and how they all come together to make something new, and special.

In terms of the choreography, there’s something interesting in how a vocabulary of movement is first developed with the dancers – who aren’t used to working with such an evolving piece, nor are used to this range of movements. Wayne McGregor is interested in their muscle memory – as ballet dancers, they’re etched with the previous works they’ve performed, and so the piece is more balletic than I’ve seen in a lot of contemporary dance.