Interview with Calvin Richardson
Between performances as Oberon in the Royal Ballet’s Midsomer Night’s Dream, we caught up with First Soloist, Calvin Richardson to find out how his new choreographic work, soon to premiere at Hatch House 2024, is progressing.
Between performances as Oberon in the Royal Ballet’s Midsomer Night’s Dream, we caught up with newly promoted Principal, Calvin Richardson to find out how his new choreographic work, soon to premiere at Hatch House 2024, is progressing.
Photo credit: Andrej Uspenski.
From what inspires him, to how he balances choreography alongside his performances at the Royal Opera House, Calvin explains why he’s so excited to be choreographing on The Royal Ballet’s First Artists and Hatch House performers, Marco Masciari and Viola Pantuso.
Talk us through your journey with choreography
I’ve always choreographed from when I was at school in Melbourne, right through to Upper School at the Royal Ballet, when I became known for my Dying Swan choreography, which I made in my graduate year.
That took me around the world and from there, I have created solos and duets for galas and a piece here at the Royal Opera House’s Linbury Theatre. Then when the pandemic hit, lots of jobs fell through so it was a strange process. Once I came out of the pandemic, my dance career kicked off and I’m a Principal in the company now so the balance has really shifted.
Since my promotion, the focus has been on my dancing, so it’s really nice to have the opportunity to continue nurturing that side of my work as well.
Obviously Marco and Viola are emerging talent within the company. They are amazing artists and so to work with them has been a joyful experience; to be amazed by what they do.
What has been your favourite role since becoming Principal with the Royal Ballet?
Definitely Romeo, The Statement by Crystal Pite and then this year, I performed in Manon with Melissa Hamilton - that was amazing as well. You always have those dreams of like, these are the roles that I want to do. To actually start being able to tick those things off, I have to pinch myself a little bit at times, but it's been a great time.
Photo credit: Andrej Uspenski.
How do you balance your choreography with your dancing?
It’s a balance like everything. When you first start out you’re on stage a lot more, but maybe it’s not the same level of pressure, and then as you work your way up, you’re on stage less, but when you’re on, there’s a bit more pressure to deliver your performance and maintain a certain reputation. So it’s nice to find other things that aren’t always about you, about achieving and about success.
Tell us more about the piece you are choreographing for Hatch House 2024.
I’ve always wanted to create a piece to music by Colin Stetson; I’ve always been a fan. I was listening to his recent album, When We Were That What Wept For The Sea, and I found track The Lighthouse V, which is just beautiful, and I thought it would fit with a lot of images of the natural world. It’s composed by Colin, but it’s featuring Iarla Ó Lionáird who recites poetry throughout.
It’s just a beautiful piece and it’s got a lot of images of the natural world. The Lighthouse evokes images of a journey and when I was doing research on the album that he composed, I discovered that Colin’s father had passed away quite suddenly, so the album was created in a very short space of time and in light of that event.
It’s a bit more of a sombre subject matter, which I didn’t intentionally choose for Hatch, but I just knew that the music spoke to me in a way that would suit the location of the event.
Even just to watch the performance as a whole, in that location is going to be quite the spectacle, and I just thought that it would pair really well with the music’s images of the natural world really nicely.
How does your new piece evoke the natural world?
I want to evoke abstractions of nature in all of its different colours and textures. It highlights the beauty and brutality of our environment, which reflects our own human experiences on this voyage here together.
The dancers in some moments depict waves pushing and pulling and at other times evoke a human, emotional landscape between them. I thought it would be interesting to blur these lines that we enforce in our collective consciousness. The piece seeks to represent this sensed awareness of reality. One where things are not separate but unified by relationship.
What inspired you to create this piece?
Nature has been my inspiration for the movement. The images I’ve been working with are water, life and death journeys and light.
Photo credit: Andrej Uspenski.
My Grandma passed away recently and at the time when I found the music, I was going through that and I think it just spoke to me. It’s not that I am presenting that subject matter as the piece, but I think when I am creating there are always little signs to me and I just follow that even if it’s not directly a presentation of my thoughts or what I am experiencing. But it has been really nice to create movement from a genuine place; I try to maintain authenticity in what I am doing, even if it is not universally the most beautiful.
How much have Viola and Marco influenced the piece?
Marco and Viola are very natural artists and naturally emotive performers in how they use their bodies, so that’s already inherent in what we’re creating, just by being in the studio together. That has been a huge help.
Photo credit: @dancersdiary
Choreography for me has always been a bit of a spontaneous connection that you have with the people in the room. It’s inherent in the work. I always want it to be genuine and authentic in the studio when we’re creating, so I am always working against the idea that I am the choreographer and it’s me trying to tell the dancers what to do and making nice shapes. Obviously sometimes you shift in different roles, but I try to create a space where people can bring their own creativity and have fun with it.
Given the nature of what we do every day, there is always repetition and you are always under the public eye and you’re used to fixing everything to the last detail, so I try to move away from those temptations and sort of move in a felt experience.
Calvin, Viola and Marco in rehearsal at the Royal Opera House.
Why did you want to work with the Covent Garden Company?
I’m really supportive of Matt’s ambition to create a venue to give these sorts of opportunities to people to create new work, especially after the pandemic. I’m really grateful.
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Interview with James Bamford
In the middle of rehearsals for his new choreographic work, funded by the Dicky Buckle Fund, we caught up with artist, director and choreographer, James Bamford about his new piece and what he is most looking forward to about Hatch House 2024.
Thanks to the Dicky Buckle Fund, James is currently creating a new work for Hatch House 2024. A truly collaborative and transdisciplinary piece, combining music, dance, art and projection, we are incredibly excited to premiere this unique work.
James is a producer, creative, teacher and performer with a passion for freedom of expression and storytelling through dance. In 2018, at the age of 14, James founded arts organisation Project Dance, a vessel he would use to facilitate opportunities for anyone to be able to engage with dance. Six years on, the company now produces original, full length narrative works which tour nationally, alongside the provision of an array of social engagement activities, reflecting the organisation’s commitment to its founding values.
Photo credit: Grace Noelle.
Can you tell me three things people don’t know about you.
I was a footballer for a very long time before I went into ballet. I like Krispy Kremes and I have hayfever!
Can you please tell me how long you have been working with Covent Garden Dance Company?
I first worked with the Covent Garden Dance Company just over a year ago when there was a Dicky Buckle (DBHF) fundraising performance and I presented a new piece especially for that. It was at that point that I found out that fundraising had been secured for me to create a new work for their main event in the summer this year.
Photo credit: Studio H Photography
What has the DBHF grant meant to you?
The Dicky Buckle Fund is really exciting. It’s really empowering and it’s really inspiring. I’ve been able to meet the trustees behind the charity and witness their passion for the arts, for continuing Dicky Buckle’s legacy and supporting the creation of new works. I think in the current climate, where the arts’ sector currently stands, that cannot be underestimated. Its value is incomparable and that is something that I am really excited to foster and champion through this new work.
“I have really enjoyed being able to speak on behalf of this charity and to fly the flag and beat the drum for what they are trying to do. I think it is really exciting.”
What are you looking forward to most about your piece premiering at Hatch House?
I am really excited to premiere something different at Hatch House; a work that I think will stand out for its uniqueness amongst such an exciting bill of works.
I am really excited to present two dancers who are right at the beginning of their professional journey, but are so exquisite at what they do and I feel very, very fortunate to be able to work with them.
“Any opportunity that I have to work with brilliant dancers, I take as an absolute privilege.”
Photo credit: Len Copeland
What inspired you to create this piece?
As the Director of an arts organisation called Project Dance and with the company, I have taken works across England. My favourite thing is narrative dance theatre and we toured with Growing Pains last year and this year we are making a new show called All That Matters.
“This is what makes me most passionate, it’s telling stories which people can connect to.”
How did this new piece come to life?
I first met Matt Brady (Director of Covent Garden Dance Company) when he came to watch my production of Growing Pains where there was an element of transdisciplinary arts engagement between the dancers and projection and art; the three unique disciplines working together to create a spectacle and that was when this concept was first conceived. We’ve taken inspiration from that and expanded it in a really holistic and thorough way, and that was how this new piece came to life.
The possibility of various creative mediums: dance, music, animation, costume, art, uniting together to enrich a single creative output entrances me, and the work presented today is a manifestation of such. Exploring this multitude of outlets has catalysed new opportunities for collaboration, for which have all been joyous and I am immensely grateful for.
“The dancers; young, ambitious, kind, have been magnificent to work with - that’s all I can ever ask for.”
Andrew Parfitt, James Bamford & Grace Noelle in rehearsal.
When you’re watching this piece, how does it make you feel, and what do you hope the audience feels?
I feel very inspired by the work of the dancers and how they are connecting with one another and the intimacy that they are portraying. I am also inspired by the true charisma that they share for one another, the space that they are working in, and the art that they are making.
It is truly exciting to be able to work with the dancers, because there is something very real and very honest and very authentic about them both. It is coming from a very true and organic place and I think that it is very fulfilling to work with as a choreographer, but you can also feel it permeate as an audience member.
Tell us about who will be dancing your new work and why you chose them.
Grace Noelle is a classically trained ballet dancer, originally from California. She trained with Bolshoi Prima Ballerina Alla Khanashvilli and Vera Ninkovic. She has danced principal roles such as Sugarplum Fairy (The Nutcracker), Aurora (Sleeping Beauty), and Mercedes (Don Quixote) with Palos Verdes Performing Arts. She has been a company dancer with Project Dance for over a year and will be the associate producer and rehearsal director in the company’s upcoming show, All That Matters.
Andrew Parfitt is an 18 year old dancer from Hertfordshire and is currently training at London Studio Centre. He previously trained at Italia Conti Junior School, Kreative Dance Academy and MEPA Academy and was an associate at The Royal Ballet School. Andrew is currently a member of 2 companies: Project Dance and the Dane Bates Collective and previously, Sol Dans Youth.
Andrew’s professional credits include the Wicked movie, London Fashion Week, Britain’s Got Talent, ‘Kam’ in Project Dance’s‘ Growing Pains and other corporate jobs.
Tell us about the piece of music you are using
We are using a brand new piece of music that I have been able to commission thanks to the Dicky Buckle Fund. It is by a fantastic composer called Benjamin Kahn and he has created a really sensitive, thoughtful piece using piano and cello; it will compliment the dancing in a really sensitive way.
I’ve known Ben for a really long time and I’m really excited that finally, I am able to work with him in this way.
How important are charities like the Dicky Buckle Fund for the future of dance?
The future of dance is dependant on charities like the Dicky Buckle Fund. The amount of surplus money that exists currently solely for the creation of art is so minimal. Public funding is in a precarious position at the moment, so having funds like the Dicky Buckle Fund which are able to create and be the catalyst for new work without the process of going through public funding routes, not only does it preserve the creation of new work, but it also makes artists feel like their work is valued and that it is wanted, necessary and valued.
Many children will be coming to watch the premiere of your piece at the rehearsal on the 24th July - you do so much to support the future generations of dance already, what will it mean to you to watch them watching your new work?
One of the massive things that I enjoy working with Project Dance is how we are able to engage with the communities that we work in, so I am really excited that the dress rehearsal is opened up to so many children in the local area so that they can get their first taste of what ballet actually looks and feels like.
Photo credit: Meg Sayer
“It is such a special thing. I feel very proud that I can contribute a work that will be part of that and it resonates really deeply with the values of Project Dance.”
Don’t miss out on James’ exciting new collaborative work.
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Hatch House 2023 Programme
Our Hatch House 2023 programme is set - discover the incredible choreography and artists that await our audiences, each night from the 27th - 30th July.
PARIS OPERA BALLET
& Friends
PREMIÈRE
DELIBES SUITE
Choreography: José Martinez, Music: Richard Bonynge
Performed by: Luna Peigné and Pablo Legasa
TOUJOURS
Choreography: Mara Galeazzi, Music: Domenico Clapasson
Performed by: Mara Galeazzi and Jason Kittelberger
DON QUIXOTE
Pas de deux
Choreography: Rudolf Nureyev, Music: Ludwig Minkus
Performed by: Valentine Colasante and Guillaume Diop
FANNY ELSSLER
Pas de deux
Choreography: Pierre Lacotte, Music: Jean-Madeleine Schneitzhoeffer
Performed by: Ksenia Ovsyanick and Dinu Tamazlacaru
DEUXIÈME
ROMEO AND JULIET
Balcony Pas de deux
Choreography: Rudolf Nureyev, Music: Sergei Prokofiev
Performed by: Luna Peigné and Guillaume Diop
WITHIN THE GOLDEN HOUR
Choreography: Christopher Wheeldon, Music: Ezio Bosso
Performed by: Francesca Hayward and Marco Masciari
LA PORTE
Choreography: Maurice Béjart, Music: Pierre Henry
Performed by: Ksenia Ovsyanick
SWAN LAKE
White Swan Pas de deux
Choreography: Rudolf Nureyev, Music: Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Performed by: Myriam Ould-Braham and Mickaël Lafon
TROISIÉME
NUITS S’ACHÉVE
Choreography: Benjamin Milliepied, Music: Daniel Barenboim
Performed by: Myriam Ould-Braham and Mickaël Lafon
MORGEN
Choreography: Wayne McGregor, Music: Richard Strauss
Performed by: Francesca Hayward and Marco Masciari
LES BOURGEOIS
Choreography: Ben Van Cauwenbergh, Music: Jacques Brel
Performed by: Dinu Tamazlacaru
RENAISSANCE
Choreography: Sébastian Bertaud, Music: Felix Mendelssohn
Performed by: Valentine Colasante and Pablo Legasa
Wonderful Hatch House
Want to know more about our Hatch House ballet performances? Watch this taster video.
Ever wondered what our Hatch House performances look and feel like?
Check out our little taster video below to soak up some of the excitement.
Video message from Valentine Colasante
Discover what Étoile, Valentine Colasante - from the Paris Opéra Ballet will be dancing at Hatch House 2023 in her latest video message.
We cannot wait to watch Étoile of the Paris Opéra Ballet, Valentine Colasante perform at Hatch House, between the 27th and the 30th July 2023.
Watch her video below to discover what she will be dancing and with whom.
Interview with Mara Galeazzi
Read our interview with renowned artist, choreographer and actress Mara Galeazzi and discover why her new piece, soon to premiere at Hatch House 2023, means so much to her.
Italian actress and dancer Mara Galeazzi, a former Principal Dancer of The Royal Ballet, returned to the Company as a Guest Principal in 2014/15.
Since retiring she has returned to The Royal Ballet to create the role of the Mother (Ludovic Ondivela's Cassandra) and "Woolf Works” of Wayne McGregor.
As well as dancing with The Royal Ballet, Mara has guested with the Stuttgart Ballet Company. the Munich Company, the Scottish Ballet, the Rome Opera Ballet and Carlos Acosta, Irek Mukhamedov, Tetsuya Kumakawa and Company Wayne McGregor.
How long you have been working with the Covent Garden Dance Company?
I started working with the Company in 2014 and performed for 6 years.
What has been your favourite moment whilst performing for CGDC?
The atmosphere, performing in a beautiful venue and theatre and most of all with lovely people.
What are you looking forward to most this year?
I’m looking forward to coming back especially after 4 years and the pandemic. Looking forward to dance again on the Hatch House stage and to see the wonderful Somerset.
What will you be dancing?
I’ll be dancing my new choreography which it is kindly supported by the Dicky Buckle Fund. I’ll be dancing with Jason Kittelberger.
What inspired you to create this piece?
Originally we started the piece in 2020, but then because of Covid we couldn’t continue. So we will finish the piece in July. It will be fresh and with more inspirational memories.
“I want to dedicate the piece to my dear father who passed away from Covid just after I started the creation.”