Wayne McGregor's Deloitte Ignite 08

Wayne McGregor curates the first Royal Opera House Deloitte Ignite: A three-day artistic feast for the senses.

This very first festival is under the artistic direction of Wayne McGregor, Resident Choreographer of The Royal Ballet and one of the 21st century's most exciting dance talents. Wayne's wide-ranging interests and unique perspective have brought together a menu of events and performances, unexpected, intriguing and up-to-the-moment that reveal new and surprising angles on the Royal Opera House and its repertory.

Over three days a diverse and surprising range of performances and experiences will take place throughout all the different spaces of the Royal Opera House and its surroundings.

Deloitte Ignite will showcase the known alongside the unexpected, at the same time illuminating the wide-ranging arts that the Royal Opera House provides for everyone.

Audio courtesy of Scanner.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• Wayne
• McGregor
• Royal
• Opera
• House
• Deloitte
• Ignite
• Covent
• Garden
• Scanner

[ArnoldtheDestroyer]

until now i havent been a fan of contemporary ballet. fantastic, inspiring and fresh! exactly what the rbc need!

[BrianFantana18]

yes pddwatch81, i know that entity is a work for random dance im just merely saying that he is able to create a piece which has longevity and popularity. This is a stupid argument, the only opinion which really matters in this case is that of Monica Mason and she obviously seems to think that Mcgregor is doing good at the RB.

[LaMagnifica13]

pddwatch81, I repeat, you don't 'get 'Wayne. Or, you think you do, which is your opinion to which you are entitled. You praise him with one remark then damn him with the next. His Acis and Galatea has some supremely elegant, emotional and sophisticated choreography that I forsee will be revived. Only time will tell.

[pddwatch81]

LaMagnifica13, What's 'easily upset' got to do with anything? I'm just saying what I feel, I made a few jokes too!

I feel I *do* get WM and that is why I feel he is inappropriate for the RB.

You say he's 'White hot'. This is a good description. His works are all buzz and gloss and hype and it soon fizzes out to nothing .. that is just not good enough for a big company which needs new works able to sustain themselves beyond just 1 or 2 runs. OK not every work but one that could would be good!

[pddwatch81]

BrianFantana18, Entity is Random Dance not RB and therefore not what I was talking about at all. AFAIC RD is where his style works and all he has done at the ROH is to stick it the same tried and tested formula onto a completely different (kind of) company (sure they look hot ...). THAT to me shows lack of imagination, or guts or respect + narrow mindedness.

If he'd gone the other way and started making big classical ballets (new or old) for random dance that would have been equally misguided.

[LaMagnifica13]

pddwatch81

You seem very easily upset. Clearly you don't 'get' Wayne's heart, soul and intellect which is present in different doses throughout his work. I am not a dancer but I fully appreciate the importance of someone coming into the grand ship that is the ROH/RB and adding something creatively white hot.

Check out his Dido and Aeneas guys.

[BrianFantana18]

pddwatch81, argue with monica mason, and if your talking about the popularity of a piece and how long it stays in a rep, do you know that mcgregors "entity" is touring untill April 2010. Thats a full two year tour of one show. Also, getting mcgregor into RB is purely to make new things, The RB are constantly performing the classics which are incredibly popular, but having a contemporary choreographer can create something for a new audience. Stop being so narrow minded

[pddwatch81]

'Grand' does not need to mean court scenes - it can be of this age too! To not see this is to be totally lacking in imagination IMO

Make ballets of ANY kind on ANY subject but ones that actually SUIT the grand scale vessel which is RB/ROH and you will ALWAYS have wind in your sails and an audience desperate to climb on board!

Make 'non ocean going works' that don't suit the RB/ROH and you'll be forever resorting to HYPE, gimmicks and still papering the first run before shelving them forever...

[pddwatch81]

But make no mistake it is that grand 'ship like scale' of sets (or at least space) / grand choreography/ music/ EMOTION which draws 2000ppl a night to a ballet 50 -100 years old

So WHY make 'grand' so forbidden in ballet now? WHY follow technology and be so nano - in EMOTIONS, story, heart and soul!

Who'd dare choreograph a Juliet now with emotion so intense it presses up against the exit doors? What we have from WM is a little angst, irritation- to glitchy music, a mere puddle- not the sea!

[pddwatch81]

What everyone seems to be forgetting/ ignoring/ unable/willing to grasp is that, like I just said, the RB and ROH is a BIG (classical) company in a BIG theatre+orchestra et al.

Whether people like it or not the ROH is in so many ways a grand ocean going ship! And a beautiful one with a passionate crew of hundreds! And like any vehicle it moves best in its own element.

And in hiring WM they seem to have hired someone who seems to have no interest in large ships, or sailing, or the sea....