Tombeaux

Birmingham Royal Ballet: Artists of the Company; photo: Bill Cooper

MUSIC William Walton
DESIGNS Jasper Conran
LIGHTING John B. Read

One of my most deeply felt and personal ballets, Tombeaux was the final piece I created as Resident Choreographer to the Royal Ballet, and drew to a close a period of much unhappiness and self searching.

A meditation on classicism and an homage to the spirit of Sir Frederick Ashton, the ballet is an exhaustive exploration of the so called ‘Fred Step’ and was once described by a critic as ‘…Aurora’s Funeral’. The original cast featured Viviana Durante and Bruce Sansom in the leading male role, a particularly testing one, once described by Adam Cooper as ‘…. Mayerling in twenty five minutes.’