Finnish National Ballet’s 90th Anniversary Culminates in Kenneth Greve's Snow Queen
The Finnish National Ballet continues the celebration of its 90th anniversary in the year 2012. The autumn season’s first premiere takes place on 21 September 2012 with Ivan Liška’s Le Corsaire. This is the first time the Finnish National Ballet will ever perform this Marius Petipa ballet revival classic from the late 19th century. Ivan Liška based his version on Petipa’s earlier choreography, for the Bavarian State Ballet in 2006. Set and costume design is the work of Roger Kirk and lighting is designed by Christian Kass.
The anniversary year culminates on 23 November 2012 when the Artistic Director of the Ballet Kenneth Greve presents the premiere of his new choreography, The Snow Queen; a work for the whole family based on the fairy tale of the same name by Hans Christian Andersen and set to music by the Finnish composer Tuomas Kantelinen. “The Snow Queen has always been one of my favourite fairy tales – it is a wondrous exaltation of love, as well as the innocence and power of children,” explains Greve. Assisting in the creation of the fairy tale world are costume designer Erika Turunen and lighting designer Mikki Kunttu. The season’s third premiere on 15 February 2013 features an ensemble of contemporary dance; named from a work by the choreographer Jiří Kylián entitled Bella Figura. One of Kylián's most recognized works, Bella Figura is a testament to the naked beauty of the human body, set to a slow hypnotic score from Baroque composers like Vivaldi and Pergolesi. The opening piece of the performance, George Balanchine's 1946 work The Four Temperaments was inspired by the Middle Age notion that human character is composed of four separate elements. Music for string orchestra and piano from Paul Hindemith accompanies the neo-classic piece. William Forsythe, the master of deconstruction, originally created his work In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated for the Paris Opera Ballet in 1987. The work is one of Forsythe's most praised short ballets, with music from the Dutch composer Thom Willems. The season programme also includes such favourites as John Cranko’s famous Romeo and Juliet and Sir Kenneth MacMillan’s Manon. The autumn also contains the popular Dance with Dancers club event, workshops presenting the dancers’ choreography skills, and the contemporary dance festival I Love NYKY, featuring Finland's most intriguing contemporary choreography. In addition, the Dance Schools’ Palette of Contemporary Dance event in November gathers dance schools from all corners of Finland to Helsinki to perform in the Almi Hall.
The Finnish National Ballet dates its history from the first performance of Swan Lake in Finland on 17 January 1922 - incidentally becoming the first Western ballet company ever to perform the work - and accordingly is celebrating its 90th anniversary in 2012.
Source: Finnish National Opera
Josef Bartos
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