THE BALLET AWAKENS

A newly commissioned Royal New Zealand Ballet (RNZB) production of The Firebird will soar across the country this month. Following the triumph of his spectacular Hansel and Gretel in 2019, RNZB Artistic Director Patricia Barker invited RNZB Choreographer in Residence and multi-award-winning choreographer for stage and screen Loughlan Prior to create a new production with fresh ideas for the fantastical fairytale set in a mystical world. Patricia says, “How we treat one another and how we care about the world for the next generations is at the forefront of our new production. Loughlan has dived into the world of The Firebird and the magic of Stravinsky’s score and has created a work that brings us closer to our own humanity.” 

First staged in Paris in 1910, The Firebird changed the direction of ballet and catapulted Stravinsky to star status. Together with designer Tracy Grant Lord, Loughlan’s rendition of The Firebird is one in which the natural world is threatened, and humanity is staring into the abyss of extinction. Captured, the Firebird – a fertility goddess with magical powers – offers the possibility of redemption, if only humankind is brave enough to follow her. 

Loughlan says, “The Firebird draws on the beauty of the earth at its most elemental, the vastness of the cosmos and the impact – both good and evil – of humans on our precious world.” Generations of choreographers have been inspired by the elemental power of Stravinsky’s music and by the Firebird herself – a timeless, untameable force. In the iconic and spine-tingling score, sinuous melodies spiked with shimmering orchestration create an exotic universe full of wild enchantment that was worlds away from the classics of Russian ballet. The RNZB has paired The Firebird with a Russian classic, Paquita – two very different kinds of ballet. Paquita, first staged in 1846, features sparkling tutus inspired by Russian master jeweller Fabergé, fleet footwork, soaring leaps, turns like spinning tops, and a finale that leaves the audience breathless and exhilarated as the dancers themselves. 

The Firebird touches down at the Isaac Theatre Royal from Thursday 26 to Saturday 28 August.