Artistic Director to Introduce MacMillan's 'Elite Syncopations'

Christopher Hampson, Artistic Director of Scottish Ballet, will be introducing the 1975 BBC archive footage of MacMillan’s ballet, ‘Elite Syncopations’ at the Grosvenor Cinema, 22^nd June.  

“The ballet is fun...Here is Mr MacMillan in full verve. That’s entertainment.” 

Anna Kisselgoff, The New York Times, 1976.

We are privileged and delighted to be showing MacMillan's popular, light hearted ballet 'Elite Syncopations', which premiered in 1974 and was recorded by the BBC in 1975. With music by Scott Joplin, this playful piece was choreographed on the Royal Ballet by their Director Sir Kenneth MacMillan, who created many ballets that remain in the repetoire today; Manon, Mayerling, Romeo and Juliet and Song of the Earth, to name a few. Scottish Ballet performed the quirky ballet last year, so we will be able to hear some ‘backstage’ insight into the piece and how it is staged from their Artistic Director Christopher Hampson.

The original cast is a list of Royal Ballet royalty; Monica Mason, Merle Park, David Wall, Donald Macleary, Wayne Sleep, to name but a few, so come and see them let their hair down to Joplin's fantastic rhythms! (image by Leslie. E. Spatt)

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Sir Kenneth MacMillan

“I wanted dance to express something largely outside its experience, I had to find a way to stretch the language - otherwise I should just produce sterile academic dance.” MacMillan.

Kenneth MacMillan was the leading ballet choreographer of his generation. Born of a poor Scottish family (Dunfermline, Fife), he had a burning sense that ballet theatre should reflect contemporary realities and the complicated truths of people’s lives. He became director of The Royal Ballet in and created some of the outstanding dance works of the twentieth century. To learn more about MacMillan's life and works, please visit the dedicated website www.kennethmacmillan.com 

Christopher Hampson

Christopher trained at the Royal Ballet Schools. His choreographic work began there and continued at English National Ballet (ENB), where he danced until 1999 and for whom he subsequently created numerous award-winning works, including Double Concerto, Perpetuum Mobile, Country Garden, Concerto Grosso and The Nutcracker.

Christopher’s Romeo and Juliet, created for the Royal New Zealand Ballet (RNZB), was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award (Best New Production 2005) and his production of Giselle for the National Theatre in Prague has been performed every year since its premiere in 2004. Christopher created Sinfonietta Giocosa for the Atlanta Ballet (USA) in 2006 and after a New York tour it received its UK premiere with ENB in 2007.

He created Cinderella for RNZB in 2007, which was subsequently hailed as Best New Production by the New Zealand Herald and televised by TVNZ in 2009. His work has toured Australia, China, the USA and throughout Europe. His most recent commissions are Dear Norman (Royal Ballet, 2009); Sextet (Ballet Black/ROH2, 2010); Silhouette (RNZB, 2010), Rite of Spring (Atlanta Ballet, 2011), Storyville (Ballet Black/ROH2, 2012) nominated for a National Dance Award 2012, and Hansel and Gretel (Scottish Ballet 2013).

Christopher is a co-founder of the International Ballet Masterclasses in Prague and has been a guest teacher for English National Ballet, Royal Swedish Ballet, Royal New Zealand Ballet, Hong Kong Ballet, Atlanta Ballet, Bonachela Dance Company, Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures and the Genée International Ballet Competition. Christopher’s work now forms part of the Solo Seal Award for the Royal Academy of Dance.