Wed 22 Mar 2006

Balanchine’s Don Quixote presented by The Suzanne Farrell Ballet company

British debut of Bruno Beltrão and Grupo de Rua de Niterói from Brazil

Scottish Ballet returns to the Festival

Nederlands Dans Theater presents a Paul Lightfoot/Sol Leon programme

Classical Indian Dance from Alarmel Valli and Madhavi Mudgal

A diverse three weeks of dance offers everything from classical ballet, with Balanchine’s Don Quixote and Scottish Ballet, through the great contemporary ballet company Nederlands Dans Theater, to the pure dance energy of Brazil’s Grupo de Rua de Niterói and the classical dance of India.

Brazilian Bruno Beltrão has burst onto the contemporary dance scene with his company of extraordinary dancers, Grupo de Rua de Niterói. Using the movement language of hip hop and inspired by its music, Beltrão has used street dance to inform, shape and colour his contemporary dance, moving into a new dimension with breathtaking feats of physical control and explosive energy. The company has generated great acclaim on tour in North and South America and Europe. These Festival performances are the first time his work will be seen in the UK.

Grupo de Rua de Niterói; Bruno Beltrão, choreographer.

Telesquat Mon 14 – Sat 19 August 8.00pm. The Hub. Tickets £15.

H2 Tue 22 & Wed 23 August 8.00pm. The Edinburgh Playhouse. Tickets from £6.50

Scottish Ballet’s performances at Festival 2005 proved it is a company at the top of its form and secured a return visit to the Festival in 2006. It presents an eclectic programme including Balanchine’s quintessential contemporary ballet Agon, Jerome Robbins’s Afternoon of a Faun, Hans van Manen’s Two Pieces for HET and Krzysztof Pastor’s lyrical In Light and Shadow. Nicholas Kok conducts the Orchestra of Scottish Opera.

Scottish Ballet; Fri 18 & Sat 19 August 7.30pm, Sun 20 August 4.00pm. The Edinburgh Playhouse. Tickets from £7.50

Two superstars of Indian dance appear onstage together in Samanvaya, which means ‘a coming together’. Traditionally forms of Indian dance remain separate; in this rare programme incorporating specially commissioned music, Madhavi Mudgal a specialist in the graceful and sensuous Odissi style, and Alarmel Valli a specialist in the dynamic and geometric Bharatnatyam along with eleven musicians explore new dimensions and fresh perspectives on their respective disciplines.

Alarmel Valli & Madhavi Mudgal; Mon 21 & Tue 22 August 8.00pm. Royal Lyceum Theatre. Tickets from £7.50.

The UK premiere of Balanchine’s Don Quixote offers the first opportunity for many dance fans to see this masterpiece, and first time ballet goers a spectacular and sumptuous night out. This is the first new production of the ballet in more than 25 years, mounted by one of the greatest ballerinas of the 20th century, Suzanne Farrell, who was a trusted collaborator of George Balanchine and for whom he created this ballet, dancing opposite her at the premiere in 1965. The ballet takes its inspiration from the eccentric Spanish nobleman who, in his own world of chivalry, bravely tries to right wrongs and fight the good fight alongside his trusty companion Sancho Panza.

Balanchine’s Don Quixote; The Suzanne Farrell Ballet, Kennedy Centre, Washington D.C. in a co-production with The National Ballet of Canada. Sat 26 – Tue 29 August 7.30pm, Matinee Sun 27 August 2.30pm. The Edinburgh Playhouse. Tickets from £7.50. Sponsored by Standard Life.

The dance programme closes with a showcase of the work of a single choreographic voice: a characteristic of Brian McMaster’s programming at the Edinburgh International Festival. One of the world’s most popular contemporary dance companies, Nederlands Dans Theater, presents work by its resident choreographers, British born Paul Lightfoot and Spanish born Sol León. The couple have made more than 30 ballets for NDT; this programme presents works created between 1994 and 2005: Silent Screen, a touching work melding dance and film to Philip Glass’s Glassworks; the entertaining SH-Boom set to a variety of music; Shutters Shut, a lighthearted miniature set to text by Gertrude Stein; and Signing Off, a moving piece about saying goodbye.

Nederlands Dans Theater; Thu 31 August – Sat 2 September 7.30pm. The Edinburgh Playhouse. Tickets from £7.00.

ENDS