ENB at HOME: Wednesday Watch Parties – July

English National Ballet’s ‘ENB at HOME’ programme has been providing free access to full-length ballets and online content as a way for people to keep fit and active during this time and keeping ballet accessible to everyone, everywhere. The Company have announced the final instalment of their ENB at Home Wednesday Watch Parties.

Through the weekly watch parties English National Ballet has invited audiences from around the world to enjoy never before seen recordings of Company performances for free, from their own homes. The eight full-length ballets which have been streamed in the series so far have been viewed more than 900,000 times by people in over 100 countries.

The final instalments of the company’s Wednesday Watch Party series are announced today, and will be available on Facebook and YouTube for 48 hours.

Wednesday 1 July, 7pm – La Sylphide

Wednesday 8 July, 7pm – Christopher Wheeldon’s Cinderella in-the-round

Devised by one of the world’s leading producers of Bournonville ballets, Frank Andersen’s faithful version of the 1830s Romantic ballet La Sylphide sees James wake from a dream on the morning of his wedding to Effy to encounter a mysterious sylphide before him, setting off a fateful sequence of events. This performance was filmed at the Palace Theatre Manchester in October 2017 and was the first time Andersen’s La Sylphide had been performed in the UK.

Co-produced by English National Ballet and the Royal Albert Hall, Christopher Wheeldon’s Cinderella in-the-round features over 90 dancers and combines magnificent sets and costumes, theatrical surprises, and lively choreography set to Prokofiev’s famous score performed by English National Ballet Philharmonic. Working from the darkly intriguing Brothers Grimm version of the story, Wheeldon originally created Cinderella to great acclaim for Dutch National Ballet and San Francisco Ballet: he and his creative team reunited in 2019 for the re-staging of this sparkling ballet. This performance was filmed at the Royal Albert Hall on 5 June 2019.

The ENB at HOME programme, which has been running since March, hosts a range of videos and classes on the Company’s website and YouTube channel. These include ballet classes with ENB’s Artistic Director Tamara Rojo, family workshops, Ballet Fit classes, beginners classes, Dance for Parkinson’s, Youth Ballet, Boy’s classes and classes for those with limited mobility.

To find out more visit: https://www.ballet.org.uk/onscreen/watch-party-cinderella-round/

Image courtesy of ENB