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Some of the brightest stars of British ballet are to join forces in a major dance initiative being launched this summer. Entitled GENESIS, this unique project is set to captivate ballet audiences everywhere and appeal to a wider digitally-aware generation. The initiative is being launched in Tokyo on 1 July when downloads will become available internationally to the general public. A European launch will take place in London in September 2013.
GENESIS is the brainchild of Crystal Ballet, a Company set up in 2011 to explore new frontiers in dance. When the downloads become available to the general public, it will be the first time ever that a collection of dance pieces has been created and filmed specifically for download to personal portable devices.
Created by renowned choreographers Kim Brandstrup and Ernst Meisner to music by Bach, Mendelssohn and Rachmaninoff, GENESIS features stars of The Royal Ballet: including Alina Cojacaru, Sarah Lamb and Steven McRae, together with stars of English National Ballet: Esteban Berlanga, Daria Klimentová, Vadim Muntagirov and Erina Takahashi.
With atmospheric lighting design created especially for the medium by Nicholas Holdridge, GENESIS is a collection of eight original dance pieces exploring aspects of human relationships. Featuring female and male solos as well as pas de deux, GENESIS takes audiences from the beginning of a relationship, to the passionate exuberance of youth, through to the comfort of middle life and to the inevitable end.
Using the same state-of-the-art camera and techniques that have dazzled worldwide audiences in recent films such as The Amazing Spiderman and Prometheus, GENESIS will be directed especially for the medium by Kim Brandstrup and The Royal Ballet's Bennet Gartside.
Co-founder and Artistic Director of Crystal Ballet, Henry St Clair comments:
'Together with our Managing Director, Mark Handford, and all the creative team, I am thrilled that this new frontier for dance performance is being launched in Tokyo. Dance enjoys a huge following in Japan, and Japanese audiences are well known for their enthusiasm for the art form. The Tokyo launch paves the way nicely for a European launch in London after the summer. With the launch of GENESIS, dance lovers will at last be able to watch dance that has been created especially for personal portable devices, and a new digitally-minded generation will have an excellent entry point to appreciate it, perhaps for the first time'.
The 'album' will be available to download internationally from 1 July from itunes at £15. More information from www.crystalballet.com
