BALLROOM OF JOYS & SORROWS Tours Watford, Greenwich & London, Now thru June 7

BALLROOM OF JOYS & SORROWS will be presented at the Watford Palace Theatre, Greenwich Dance Borough Hall and English Folk Dance & Song Society in London, beginning tonight, May 28 and running through June 7.

The show features director/choreographer Kate Flatt, composer/musical director Adriano Adewale, designer Hayley Grindle and lighting Designer Katharine Williams.

A Wise Woman, a Jester, a vibrant Dancing Couple, and a Ballad Singer inhabit a magical world. An auditorium is transformed into a ballroom, the music starts and the dance of life begins. Ballroom of Joys and Sorrows charts a journey, a journey of being alive, of discovery and growth, of transition from child to adult, of departure and reunion, of the pain and loss and of the celebration of union and love.

Drawing upon traditional English and Brazilian dance and music sources and featuring a cast of international performers and musicians as well as over fifty local people of all ages, Ballroom of Joys and Sorrows is a study of the continuing resonance of dance both as ritual and as a vital ingredient of social interaction. An experience is created in which dance is re-instated as a vital ingredient for our twenty first century lives.

Created by Watford Palace Creative Associate Kate Flatt, who is probably best known as the original choreographer for Les Miserables, and with specially composed live music mixing traditional English ballads and Brazilian styles by master percussionist Adriano Adewale, Ballroom of Joys and Sorrows is ultimately a celebration of life itself - A ballroom full of dancing with young and old, players, participants, audience and musicians united through dance and a shared sense of community.

Kate Flatt is an established choreographer who has worked nationally and internationally in a diverse range of settings. She was in the original creative team at the RSC for Les Miserables. Her theatre credits include Three Sisters, Dream Play, Pains of Youth at NT, T’is Pity She’s a Whore, Dr. Faustus, Skellig at Young Vic, and Hamlet at Old Vic; Merchant of Venice in Seoul South Korea. Opera work includes Turandot, Peter Grimes, Carmelites, Gloriana, Requiem, The Marriage of Figaro, Carmen and Don Giovanni. Film choreography includes, The Avengers, and Chaplin. Dance theatre choreography includes The Dancing Room for BBC2, Soul Play, and Songs from a Hotel Bedroom. In 2007 she was awarded a Rayne Choreographic Fellowship and is a Creative Associate of Watford Palace Theatre.

Adriano is a composer and master percussionist born in Sao Paulo Brazil and working in UK since 2000 where he formed his first UK band Sambura and released the album Cru. Adriano is part of the Antonio Forcione Quartet with whom he has performed all over the world. He has also shared the stage with Seu Jorge, Modeste Hughes, and Jools Holland. His album Sementes was released in 2007 and a further album is in preparation. Recent theatre work includes his solo show Sound Journey and Mojo with Theatre Rites.

The tour schedule is as follows.

Watford Palace Theatre is located at 20 Clarendon Road, Watford, WD17 1JZ.
Mon 28–Wed 30 May 7.30pm
Tickets £17.50 (concessions £15)
Box Office 01923 225671
www.watfordpalacetheatre.co.uk

Greenwich Dance Borough Hall is located at RoyAl Hill, London, SE10 8RE
Fri 1 – Sat 2 June, 7.45pm
Tickets: £15 full price, £12 concessions
Box Office: 020 8293 9741
www.greenwichdance.org.uk

English Folk Dance and Song Society is located at Cecil Sharpe House, 2 Regent’s Park Road,
London, NW1 7AY
Thu 7 June, 7.30pm,
Tickets: £15 (£12.50 for English Folk Dance and Song Society Members)
Box Office: 020 7485 2206
www.efdss.org

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