Georgina Butler
Writing. Dancing.

NEWS: World Ballet Day 2023, 1 November 2023

 

Happy World Ballet Day 2023!

 

Today is World Ballet Day 2023 so it is time to enjoy watching a full day of dance, live-streamed for free from six continents.

The world’s most exciting online ballet event is back for its tenth year! Let’s devote twenty-four hours to being grateful for the art form we love and the fact that leading ballet companies have been providing us with behind-the-scenes access to companies around the globe for a whole decade.

Organised by The Australian Ballet, The Royal Ballet and San Francisco Ballet, World Ballet Day 2023 promises to be the biggest celebration yet. The 10-year anniversary programme will give audiences the opportunity to see classes, rehearsals and exclusive footage from more than 60 companies.

 

World Ballet Day 2023. Royal Ballet artist Sumina Sasaki at the barre in ballet class. She is standing on her right leg, with her left leg extended behind in arabesque.

 

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NEWS: Don’t let ‘The Drifters Girl’ musical drift by – Milton Keynes Theatre, October 2023

 

Soul fan? Get swinging, dancing and singing in anticipation of The Drifters Girl, which will come on over to Milton Keynes Theatre this month.

The acclaimed jukebox musical tells the story of 1950s vocal backing group The Drifters and the woman who made the ever-changing line-up of singers a household name. As the world’s first female, African American music manger, Faye Treadwell was a force to be reckoned with at Atlantic Records, where she spent decades fighting for The Drifters’ place in music history.

From the highs of hit records and sell-out tours to the lows of legal battles and personal tragedy, the show charts her trailblazing efforts. She simply refused to give up on the group she loved. Thirty years and hundreds of hit songs later, there is no doubt that Faye Treadwell was, and always will be, The Drifters Girl.

The narrative unfolds to a soundtrack bursting with the doo-wop, rhythm-and-blues and soul hits Faye helped create. Some of the most well-known tunes to look forward to include ‘Saturday Night At The Movies’, ‘Save The Last Dance For Me’, ‘Under The Boardwalk’ and ‘Stand By Me’. Theatregoers can expect to be transported to an era of classic soul!

 

The Drifters Girl. Four men in smart blue suits perform as a vocal group. They are watched by a young girl who is sitting on the floor in front of them.

 

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NEWS: Dare to watch ‘2:22 A Ghost Story’ – Milton Keynes Theatre, October 2023

 

Acclaimed play 2:22 A Ghost Story will have theatregoers in Milton Keynes on the edge of their seats this month.

Jenny believes her new house is haunted, but her husband Sam is infuriatingly opposed to the possibility. There can surely only be ‘natural’ explanations for the seemingly ‘supernatural’ sounds Jenny hears coming from her baby daughter’s bedroom at 2:22 each morning. They invite their friend Lauren and her new partner, Ben, round for dinner – and a debate. Can the dead really walk again?

Belief and scepticism clash as the couples discuss, and dissect the details of, every sound. There is no denying that something feels strange and frightening. There is only one way to find out the truth. They are going to stay up until 2:22…

 

2:22 A Ghost Story. Nathaniel Curtis as Sam, Joe Absolom as Ben, Charlene Boyd as Lauren and Louisa Lytton as Jenny.

 

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NEWS: Join ‘Life of Pi’ on its biggest journey yet – Milton Keynes Theatre, September 2023

 

Multi-award-winning play Life of Pi is setting sail for performances at Milton Keynes Theatre this month.

The West End spectacle, which won five Olivier awards (including best new play), is touring the UK for the first time. Theatregoers can look forward to a story of survival and strong will, imaginatively brought to the stage with incredible puppetry and state-of-the-art visuals.

Life of Pi made huge waves as a best-selling novel and an Oscar-winning film before being adapted as a powerful theatrical experience. It tells the story of an Indian teenager, Pi, who survives a harrowing shipwreck and spends months lost at sea, stranded on a lifeboat. Pi goes through this ordeal in the company of four wild animals – a badly injured zebra, a vicious hyena, a motherly orangutan and a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker.

Time is against them. Nature is harsh. Who will survive?

 

Setting sail with Life Of Pi on tour in the UK. Bengal tiger Richard Parker and Pi on the lifeboat.

 

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NEWS: Expect expressive and energetic dance from Ailey 2 – Milton Keynes Theatre, September 2023

 

Modern dance company Ailey 2 will bring captivating performances full of grace, strength and soul to Milton Keynes this month.

Ailey 2 – Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s second company – is known for merging the creative vision of exceptional choreographers with the energy and talent of the next generation of dance artists. Celebrating its fiftieth anniversary and keen to share the famous Ailey spirit with new audiences, Ailey 2 is back in the UK for the first time since 2011.

Twelve incredible young dancers are taking to the stage at twelve regional venues, including Milton Keynes Theatre on Friday 29 and Saturday 30 September. They will dance an exhilarating programme of four works, which includes a timeless classic devised by Alvin Ailey himself.

 

Ailey 2 Dancers in Revelations. Nine dancers stand in a cluster, with their heads bowed and arms outstretched.

 

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