Georgina Butler
Writing. Dancing.

NEWS: Happy International Dance Day, 29th April 2019

 

The theme for International Dance Day 2019 is “Dance and Spirituality”.

When I am dancing, I am meditating. I am living in the moment: body, mind and soul uniting to make me “me”.

I have always used dance classes as an opportunity to escape day-to-day concerns and realign myself. My fondness for being productive means that I am inclined to treat myself like a machine, diligently getting things done – but no one can be industrious all the time. Dancing is the equivalent of pressing pause, switching myself off and rebooting in safe mode!

 

Georgina Butler. International Dance Day 2019. Dance and Spirituality.

 

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NEWS: Northern Ballet returns with ‘Victoria’, a new dance production fit for a queen – Milton Keynes Theatre, April 2019

 

Revel in a royal visit when Northern Ballet brings its latest ambitious narrative ballet, Victoria, to Milton Keynes Theatre next week.

The title character is, of course, Queen Victoria and the production’s inaugural year in Northern Ballet’s repertoire coincides with the 200th anniversary of her birth.

Britain’s second-longest reigning monarch (her record was broken in 2015 by her great-great-granddaughter, Queen Elizabeth II) was famously “not amused”. Ironically, Victoria remains a figure of fascination and inspiration to the people who produce our entertainment today.

 

Northern Ballet dancers Abigail Prudames and Joseph Taylor as Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in Victoria. Photo by Guy Farrow.

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NEWS: Northern Ballet makes cinema debut with ‘Tortoise & the Hare’ – January 2019

 

Little ones will be dancing with excitement at the news that Northern Ballet’s Tortoise & the Hare is racing on to the big screen at cinemas nationwide this weekend.

The bite-sized ballet is being shown on Saturday as part of Northern Ballet’s first ever cinema season for children.

 

Northern Ballet in bite-sized children's ballet Tortoise & the Hare.

 

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NEWS: Matthew Bourne’s ‘Swan Lake’ refreshed and on its way to wow new audiences – Milton Keynes Theatre, January 2019

 

Choreographer Sir Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake, danced by his New Adventures company, returns to Milton Keynes Theatre this month and the revival will have audiences flocking to the venue.

First performed in 1995, Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake is an unconventional take on the beloved nineteenth century classical ballet. Although still set to Tchaikovsky’s magnificent score, this interpretation replaces the customary corps of swan maidens with a posse of feral, bare-chested male birds and adds a homoerotic twist to the traditional tale of love, freedom and identity.

These bold choices ruffled plenty of feathers when audiences first encountered the production.

 

Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake

 

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NEWS: English National Ballet artists will dance a doomed love affair in Kenneth MacMillan’s ‘Manon’ – Milton Keynes Theatre, October 2018

 

The dancers of English National Ballet are prepping their pointe shoes ready to thrill theatregoers with the timelessly romantic tragedy of Manon this season.

Legendary British choreographer Sir Kenneth MacMillan’s Parisian period drama is a highlight of the ballet repertoire, yet it is rarely seen outside London. Indeed, English National Ballet is touring Manon for only the second time in thirty years this season and Milton Keynes Theatre is one of just three venues outside of London to be hosting the production. (The other two regional venues are Manchester Opera House and Mayflower Theatre, Southampton.)

The late MacMillan choreographed this steamy three-act ballet in 1974. He was inspired by French author Abbé Prévost’s controversial 1731 novel, L’historie du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut, which was considered so scandalous at the time of its publication that it was banned in France.

 

English National Ballet dancers in Kenneth MacMillan's Manon

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