BalletBoyz Announce New Film RUMPELSTILZCHEN and the Return of DELUXE

The internationally acclaimed BalletBoyz has today announced their return to both screen and stage. In March they will return to live performance with Deluxe, a double bill fusing beautiful dance with original music and engaging film content, in the company's unique and unmistakable style. Ahead of that, this Christmas, they are set to present their third feature film, Rumpelstilzchen.

A Sky Original, it is directed and produced by International Emmy Award-winning BalletBoyz Artistic Directors Michael Nunn and William Trevitt with Richard Jones, with music composed by David Sawer and movement direction by Sarah Fahie. The spellbinding fable is brought to life anew for the screen with an all-star cast including Jane Horrocks in the title role, alongside Tanya Reynolds, John Marquez, Daniel Francis-Swaby, Edward Davis, and Bailey Pepper.

The music is composed by David Sawer. Rumpelstilzchen film will be released from 21 December in Curzon Cinemas and on Sky Arts and Freeview on 23 December. Deluxe will embark on a nationwide UK tour from March to May, including London's Sadler's Wells between 24 and 27 March. It is a co-production with Sadler's Wells. Press Night will be on 25 March 2022. Further tour dates to be announced.

Rumpelstilzchen

An engrossing and original fantasy film, the creative team of Rumpelstilzchen have brought the age-old Brothers Grimm tale to life in a playful, novel re-imagining for all ages. In the tradition of the stars of the silver screen and with a nod to the colourful, genre defining world of Powell and Pressburger, the actors communicate the story through movement and gestural narration. Featuring scenes that include a pool of tears, the transformation of straw into gold, a wild wedding reception and a spooky dance around a fireside, the one-of-a-kind film combines theatre, dance, and music, set to a score performed by the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group. It is a ballet without dancing, an opera without singing, a drama without speaking.

A Miller boasts to the King that his daughter can spin straw into gold. Three times the King demands she does so, promising marriage. If she fails, her life is forfeit. Three times she despairs until Rumpelstiltskin appears, spinning straw into gold in exchange for a gift. The third time the girl promises her first born child to Rumpelstiltskin, should she be queen. Years later, the new queen bears a child and Rumpelstiltskin arrives for his gift. He will only relent if within three days the queen can guess his name...

International Emmy, Rose d'Or, and Golden Prague Award winners BalletBoyz are renowned for their use of film and technology in their performance work and were the first ever dance company to release a full length feature film in 2016.

The full cast includes: Jane Horrocks, Tanya Reynolds (Sex Education), John Marquez (Doc Martin); Daniel Francis-Swaby (Small Axe); Edward Davis (Emma); Bailey Pepper (Doctor Who).

Deluxe

Deluxe was planned for 2020 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the groundbreaking all male ensemble, the production was one of the first pieces of work to be adapted in lockdown for broadcast, premiering online and later on BBC Four.

Deluxe sees Shanghai-based dancer and choreographer Xie Xin (TAO Dance Theatre, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui's Eastman) choreographing Ripple for BalletBoyz set to an original score by composer Jiang Shaofeng. Described by the choreographer as a memory like an ocean, the piece explores movement inspired by the memory of a person and energy that such memories possess.

Renowned as the choreographer behind immersive theatre trailblazers Punchdrunk, Maxine Doyle will present Bradley 4:18, as the second part of Deluxe, to live jazz music composed specially for the piece by Cassie Kinoshi, of the Mercury Prize-nominated SEED Ensemble. Doyle's piece was inspired by Kate Tempest's poems, in particular, Pictures on a Screen and it explores insomnia and modern western masculinity.

The current BalletBoyz Company includes: Dan Baines; Paris Fitzpatrick; Seirian Griffiths; Ben Knapper; Luigi Nardone; Alecsander Nilsson; Dom Rocca; Kai Tomioka.

Over the last 20 years BalletBoyz has made 38 pieces of original and innovative new work for the stage, won 13 international awards including an Olivier and National Dance Award, and collaborated with 25 choreographers, ranging from some of the world's finest and most established to emerging and unknown choreographers including Christopher Wheeldon, Akram Khan, Kristen McNally, Matthew Bourne and Liv Lorent to name a few. As well as an extensive body of work on stage, the company has had success on the screen with their first feature film Young Men (2016) winning the Golden Prague Arts Award and the Rose d'Or in the Arts Category.

BalletBoyz is a pioneering force in making dance accessible and continues to be celebrated across four continents by audiences and critics alike; the company has performed their work more than 400 times around the UK and in 13 countries across the world, with over 350,000 people having seen one of their productions over the last 20 years. Many people have also attended their regular dance workshops and classes for both children and adults, including specialised classes for people with learning disabilities and Parkinson's, held at their studios in Kingston.

To post a comment, you must register and login.