Akram Khan's Giselle to premiere in Manchester
English National Ballet has announced that its new production of Giselle by Akram Khan will open at Manchester's Palace Theatre – with a score by Ben Frost
English National Ballet today revealed that its new production of Giselle by choreographer Akram Khan will be a co-production with Manchester International Festival and Sadler's Wells – and will open at the Palace Theatre, Manchester.
Iceland-based composer Ben Frost, known for his electronic/classical soundscapes and ferocious live shows, will create an adaptation of the original score as well as original music for the production, which will also boast set design and costumes by Tim Yip, whose art direction won Ang Lee's film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon an Academy Award in 2001.
Frost has worked with Khan before, co-composing the original score for Akram Khan Company's 2013 production iTMOi (in the mind of igor) with Nitin Sawhney and Jocelyn Pook – but for Giselle he takes the lone composition credit.
“We are delighted to be presenting the world premiere of Giselle in Manchester as an example of the sort of collaboration we can expect to find at The Factory,” said John McGrath, artistic director of Manchester International Festival, referring to the major new arts venue planned to open in 2019 as a permanent home for MIF.
“This collaboration continues to highlight the core vision of Manchester International Festival – that of an artist led Festival, working with world-renowned organisations to create original, new work.” Indeed, the news of Frost's involvement carries echoes of Tree of Codes, one of Manchester International Festival's 2015 commissions, which saw Jamie xx compose an original score for Wayne McGregor's ballet.
“I am eager to start the creation of Giselle for English National Ballet,” Khan commented. “It is a beautiful and iconic piece, and I am looking forward to ringing my own take, together with my collaborators and the wonderful English National Ballet dancers.”
Giselle will have its world premiere at the Palace Theatre, Manchester, on 27 September 2016 and run until 1 October 2016.
Tickets go on general sale on Thursday 12 November (priority booking Wed 11 Nov, 10am).