English ballet troupe to ring in New Year

England's Northern Ballet Theater (NBT) will bring two productions, Madame Butterfly and Romeo and Juliet, to the National Center for the Performing Arts (NCPA) from Jan 1 to 5.

This is their fourth visit to China. The company first staged Madame Butterfly at Beijing's Poly Theater in 2007, which was a huge success. Inspired by Puccini's great opera, NBT's artistic director David Nixon first created this piece for his ballerina wife Yoko Ichino.

The story about love, sacrifice and betrayal is set in the picturesque gardens of a Japanese villa. While Butterfly sacrifices everything for her love for American Lieutenant Pinkerton, he abandons her and their child. Years later, Pinkerton returns with his new wife.

As the story blends both oriental and Western elements, NBT's performance will have Japanese-style dancing infused into classical ballet, to capture Butterfly's pain and suffering. Audiences can also feast their eyes on the colorful Japanese kimonos and umbrellas on stage.

Romeo and Juliet was created by Christopher Gable (1940-1998), former artistic director of NBT. Made a Commander of the British Empire, Gable's best-known productions include A Christmas Carol, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and The Amazing Adventure of Don Quixote.

"NBT ballets have a tradition of telling stories," says Mark Skipper, chief executive of NBT. "Besides these productions, we will put up Cleopatra next February."

NBT was founded in Manchester in 1969, and moved to Leeds in 1996. Its productions range from classical dance and theater to those inspired by literature, such as A Christmas Carol and Wuthering Heights.

China Daily

(China Daily 12/31/2010 page20)