BalletBoyz to Bring FOURTEEN DAYS to Storyhouse This Autumn

The International Emmy Award-winning, all male dance company BalletBoyz return to the stage this Autumn for the world premiere of their new show, Fourteen Days.

The new show, which comes to Storyhouse in Chester later this month, will also see Wirral dancer Sean Flanagan make his professional dance debut.

Fourteen Days from BalletBoyz, recent Rose d'Or winners, has been created by four internationally celebrated choreographers, alongside four eminent and completely different composers. The new work comprises of four short pieces and will run alongside their previously acclaimed Fallen. A co-production with London's Sadler's Wells, where BalletBoyz are an Associate Artist, and in association with artsdepot, the world premiere of Fourteen Days opened this week to rave reviews.

BalletBoyz brings Fourteen Days to Storyhouse on Monday 30 October 2017 for one night only.

The cast includes Wirral-born dancer Sean Flanagan. Sean began dancing at the age of six at Hoylake School of Dance. In 2009, he joined The Royal Ballet School in London, where he trained until earlier this year. Sean is making his professional debut with BalletBoyz.

Choreographers Javier De Frutos (London Road), Craig Revel Horwood (West Side Story, Sunset Boulevard), Iván Pérez (Young Men) and Christopher Wheeldon (An American in Paris) have teamed up with composers Scott Walker, Charlotte Harding, Joby Talbot and Keaton Henson, with each pair given just 14 days to work with the ensemble to create the new pieces.

Playing with the concept of balance and imbalance, the result is an exciting and varied programme of dance and music in BalletBoyz's inimitable style, performed live musicians. Fallen forms the second half of the production, choreographed by regular BalletBoyz collaborator and Sadler's Wells Associate Artist Russell Maliphant (Broken Fall), and set to a powerful score by French film composer Armand Amar. FAllen Won the award for Best Modern Choreography at the 2013 National Dance Awards.

Javier De Frutos was born in Caracas and trained at London School of Contemporary Dance and the Merce Cunningham Studio in New York. As director, choreographer and designer, his international creations and collaborations have encompassed a variety of different disciplines and scales. He is one of only three artists in the history of the Olivier Awards to have received nominations in all dance categories. In 2000, Javier became one of the first recipients of an Arts Council Fellowship, through which he studied the works of Tennessee Williams. He recently won the Chita Rivera Award for his choreography of the film London Road. Javier has previously worked with BalletBoyz when he choreographed 'Fiction' for Life.

Craig Revel Horwood is Australian-British dancer, choreographer and theatre director. Having performed across Europe as a singer, dancer and actor, he is most famous for his judging role on Strictly Come Dancing. Craig has also choreographed and directed many shows in the West End including West Side Story and Sunset Boulevard, and has worked with BalletBoyz Artistic Directors Michael Nunn and William Trevitt in the past.

Iván Pérez is a Spanish choreographer based in the Netherlands. Iván has formerly danced with Netherlands Dance Theater (NDT) and IT Dansa, and received his degree in Performing Arts from the University Rey Juan Carlos. He won the award for 'Best Interpretation' during the 'International Choreography Competition' New York-Burgos and was nominated for the 'Swan Best Dancer' for his role in Indigo Rose by Ji?í Kylián (2006). Previously he has worked with BalletBoyz choreographing Young Men.

Christopher Wheeldon is a British choreographer who trained at The Royal Ballet School and danced with the Company between 1991 and 1993. In 2007 Christopher founded Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company and became the first British choreographer to create a new work for the Bolshoi Ballet. His awards include the Tony Award for Best Choreography for An American in Paris, and he was made an OBE in 2016. Christopher has worked with BalletBoyz on numerous occasions in the past, including Mesmerics.

Russell Maliphant is a British choreographer who trained at the Royal Ballet School and graduated into Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet before leaving to pursue a career in independent dance. In April 2000, he received an Arts Council Fellowship. In 2003, Russell created Broken Fall with Sylvie Guillem and George Piper Dances (now BalletBoyz). Broken Fall premiered at the Royal Opera House in December 2003 and was awarded an Olivier Award. Rise and Fall - an evening of work at Sadler's Wells including Broken Fall - was awarded a Critics' Circle National Dance Award for Best Choreography (Modern) in 2006.

Scott Walker is an American-born British singer-songwriter, composer and record producer. He is noted for his distinctive baritone voice and for the unorthodox career path that has taken him from 1960s pop icon to 21st Century avant garde musician. Walker's success has largely been in the United Kingdom, where his first three solo albums reached the Top 10. Walker has lived in the UK since 1965, he became a British citizen in 1970.

Charlotte Harding graduated from the Royal College of Music, London with a first class honours degree. On graduating Charlotte won the prestigious Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother Rosebowl, presented by HRH Prince Charles. Charlotte is passionate about the role music can play in both health and education. She is currently an accompanist with BalletBoyz, working for the Parkinson's CAN Dance classes. Charlotte has also been involved in leading and assisting educational workshops for BBC Symphony Orchestra and Teenage Cancer Trust.

Joby Talbot was born in Wimbledon, and studied composition at Royal Holloway and Bedford New CollegE. Talbot's diverse output has included a 60-minute a cappella choral journey along the Camino de Santiago for Nigel Short's Tenebrae (Path of Miracles, 2005) and a co-production between The Royal Ballet and National Ballet of Canada, Christopher Wheeldon's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (2011). Talbot also has considerable experience writing for the screen, including The League of Gentlemen and the feature film The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005). His latest film score is for Sing, the latest animation from Illumination Entertainment (Despicable Me, Minions) and writer-director Garth Jennings, released December 2016.

Keaton Henson is an English folk rock musician, visual artist and poet from London. Henson has released six studio albums. His music video for 'Charon' was shortlisted for a UK MVA award in Best Budget Indie/Rock Category. 'Small Hands' won Best Music Video at the Rushes Soho Shorts Film Festival in 2012. In November 2012, Henson designed a T-shirt for the Yellow Bird Project to raise money for the Teenage Cancer Trust. Henson also composed the score for the multiple Award-nominated film Young Men by BalletBoyz and BBC2.

Armand Amar is a French composer living in Paris. In 1976 he met South African choreographer Peter Goss, who introduced him to dance. In subsequent years he worked with a number of choreographers in contemporary dance. His works are focused particularly on Eastern music and he is the author of several ballets and soundtracks films.

The current BalletBoyz Company includes Jordan Robson, Harry Price, Marc Galvez, Simone Donati, Matthew Rees, Edward Pearce, Matthew Sandiford, Flavien Esmieu and Bradley Waller, and newcomers Edd Arnold and Sean Flanagan.

Tickets are priced from £16.50. Storyhouse has a dynamic pricing policy on the majority of shows, ensuring the earlier you book your tickets, guarantees the best seats at the lowest price.

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BalletBoyz present FOURTEEN DAYS:

'The Title is in the Text'

Choreography: Javier De Frutos

Music: Responsorie, composed and orchestrated by Scott Walker. Recorded by Peter Walsh. Produced and Mixed by Scott Walker & Peter Walsh. Conducted by Mark Warman. Keyboards, Music Co-ordination and Additional Orchestration: Mark Warman. Whispered excerpts from Speech! Speech! by Geoffrey Hill: Lisa Dwan. Spoken words written by Scott Walker: Lisa Dwan. Rapper: Killa Impact. Choir: Metro Voices. Choirmaster: Jenny O'Grady. Soloist: Sarah Eyden. Singers: JoAnna Forbes L'Estrange, Ann de Renais, Emma Brain Gabbott, Sarah Eyden, Michael Dore, Sebastian Charlesworth, Jonathan Brown, Nicholas Garrett, James Mawson. Lighting Design: Paul Anderson.

'Human Animal'

Choreography: Iván Pérez. Music: Joby Talbot. Lighting Design: Paul Anderson.

'Us'

Choreography: Christopher Wheeldon. Music: Keaton Henson. Lighting Design: Paul Anderson.

'The Indicator Line'

Choreography: Craig Revel Horwood. Music: Charlotte Harding. Lighting Design: Paul Anderson.

'Fallen'

Choreography: Russell Maliphant. Music: Armand Amar. Lighting Design: Michael Hulls.

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IF YOU GO:

BALLETBOYZ PRESENT FOURTEEN DAYS

Storyhouse Chester

Monday 30 October 2017

Start time 7.30pm

Running time 1 hour 40 minutes, including a 20-minute interval

Tickets: From £16.50 (Dynamic Pricing: Book early to guarantee cheapest and best seats)

HOW TO BOOK

Online: Visit www.storyhouse.com

By Phone: Call 01244 409 113

In person: Visit the Ticket Kiosks at Storyhouse, Hunter Street, Chester, CH1 2AR

Visit Chester Visitor Information Centre.

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Storyhouse is a new public attraction - a theatre, library and cinema, home to a year-round programme of home-made and touring theatre, film along with a host of activities across its considerable public spaces.

Designed by Bennetts Associates and featuring an 800/500 seat-theatre; a 100-seat cinema; a 150-seat flexible Studio Theatre; library spaces; digital production and broadcast facilities; a café bar and restaurant.

Storyhouse is carved from the Grade II Listed art deco 1936 Odeon cinema and a brand-new state of the art glass extension. Storyhouse is predicted to receive 600,000 visits per year, it brings cinema and theatre back to Chester city centre after a decade long absence.

Cheshire West and Chester council has committed an inspirational £32.5million to fund the creation of Storyhouse.

Michael Nunn OBE and William Trevitt OBE, Founders and Artistic Directors of BalletBoyz met when they were dancers with the Royal Ballet, during their 12 years with the company they danced all the principal male roles in Romeo & Juliet, Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Nutcracker, Mayerling and many more and created roles for choreographers Kenneth MacMillan, Twyla Tharp, David Bintley, Christopher Wheeldon and more. They co-founded BalletBoyz in 2001 and immediately made a huge impact on the dance scene creating the TV documentaries BalletBoyz and BalletBoyz II and curating the 4Dance season for Channel 4. Since then BalletBoyz has become one of the UK's leading dance companies making exciting, entertaining, award-winning art for stage and screen. The company tours nationally and internationally, their increasing number of awards include the Olivier for 'Broken Fall' (2004), the Rose d'Or and International Emmy ('Strictly Bolshoi' 2007), Golden Prague Grand Prix (BalletBoyz: The Rite of Spring 2010), and the 2013 Critics' Circle National Dance Award for Best Independent Company.

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