It’s our 15th anniversary at Hatch House…
Mara Galeazzi & Gabriele Corrado - Macmillan’s Balcony pas de deux, Romeo & Juliet at Hatch House in 2019.
15 years ago, a quick conversation took place in the 17th Century walled Dutch garden at Hatch House. It was between The Covent Garden Dance Company director Matt Brady and the owner of the gardens, Lady Holly Rumbold. The latter was being asked if she would mind if the former put a ballet on in her garden. The response was an emphatic:
‘Oh my gawd yes!’.
Three months later, the first show was presented to a bijou audience of 120 guests who had been rapidly contacted to try to ensure that the eccentric idea of presenting a ballet in a garden could be realised before the summer passed.
15 years on, Ballet Under The Stars has gone from strength to strength. The walled garden Harlequin Stage has played host to the biggest names in ballet and dance such as Carlos Acosta, Lauren Cuthbertson, Vadim Muntagirov, Valentine Colasante, Myriam Oud Brahm, Mara Galeazzi and too many more to mention in this single blog.
Lauren Cuthbertson & Matthew Golding - Christopher Wheeldon’s, After the Rain:
Hatch House 2018.
Photo credit - Alice Pennefather
For those of you who have not been, the 430 seat dinner theatre is created within the two tiered walled garden to form the dinner theatre. The walled garden is completely covered with a giant bespoke roof for the run of the 4 shows. Guests arrive generally around 5:30pm to enjoy a drink from the newly created Café Folle Speak Easy cocktail bar and a walk in the sunshine around the gardens. At 7pm everyone is seated at tables with their party to enjoy their first course of gourmet dining ahead of the first half hour section of performance. Each half hour of performance takes place after each course of dining. Each performance section has four short works within it with each work lasting around 5-8 mins.
This year, to celebrate the 15-year milestone, the company has in a way in part returned to their beginnings by inviting the stars of the future to perform alongside some of the more established names. This year we will be treated to performances by Royal Ballet rising super stars Viola Pantuso and Marco Masciari and they will be joined by newly appointed Birmingham Royal Ballet Principal Beatrice Palma and Max Maslan.
Viola Pantuso & Marco Masciari
Photo credit: @dancersdiary
The cast list does not end there; with performances by internationally renowned names such as Xander Parish and Ksenia Ovsyanick - who will be accompanied by Virtuoso Cellist Arne Christian Pelz - Hatch House 2024 makes this 15 year celebration a must see. The programme includes works from the greatest choreographers from around the world: Balanchine, Ashton, Petipa and many more.
Ksenia Ovsyanick & Timothy Dutson, Hatch House, 2022. Photo credit: Alice Pennefather
Hatch House 2024 is a feast for the senses for anyone and everyone, especially if you have never been to see ballet or dance. The combination of the performance and three course dining, in the deeply romantic walled garden is truly something unique and brilliant. If you can get a ticket….GET A TICKET!
Performance dates are: 25th/26th/27th/28th of July 2024
