- March 2022
A powerful fairy. An evil enchantress. A prince who longs for love. And a beautiful princess trapped in endless slumber...
Featuring Tchaikovsky's timeless music and the dancers of the Cambridge University Ballet Club, this ballet brings the classic fairytale of Sleeping Beauty to life. When an evil fairy curses Aurora to die on her sixteenth birthday, the good Lilac Fairy does everything in her power to save the princess, changing the sentence of death to one of slumber, an endless sleep that can only be broken with true love's kiss.
- February 2020
Cambridge University Ballet Club presents its annual Lent Show 2020.
Overview
This exciting show will feature not one, not two, but three ballets in a triple bill! The programme will be fast-paced and plot-driven, and provide lots and lots of opportunities for the club members of all
experience levels to shine in various different ballet roles. The ballets are all connected by the theme of 'dreams', and all are presented as unabridged ballets just with about two hour of total running time. The performance will take place again at West Road Concert Hall, with three shows on 28 and 29 February 2020. This is an original production in terms of story adaptation, choreography, and theatrical aspects. With each story, the ballet club aims to deliver completely different atmospheres and vibes. Even though the main focus is on the classical ballet, the choreography is also inspired by various other dance styles - neoclassical, contemporary, Indian dance, and more.
Plot
The first piece on our programme will be The Sorcerer’s Apprentice music composed by Dukas. In this ten-minute story, we meet a young apprentice of magic who attempts to automate their task of filling a basin of water while their master the Sorcerer is away, to nearly disastrous effect. The broom that the apprentice enchanted to carry buckets of water proves to be unstoppable, and before long a whole army of brooms marches across the stage spilling water everywhere!
For our second piece, we will be presenting to our wider audience - Scheherazade, an original ballet produced by the club that successfully debuted as an ADC Late Show last year. This ballet is set to Rimsky-Korsakov’s symphonic interpretation of the Persian Folktale - One Thousand and One Nights. It tells the story of Scheherazade, a courageous young woman determined to end the murderous regime of a jealous Sultan by becoming his bride. She does so by telling stories, including those of Sinbad the Sailor and the Roc Birds, Alaeddin and the Wonderful Lamp, and Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. After one thousand and one nights, Scheherazade runs out of the tales that have been keeping her alive, and the Sultan orders her to be executed at dawn. But as the Sultan sleeps, he dreams Scheherazade and the tales she told, and as he is haunted by the stories' characters, he begins to piece together the metaphor of his own life that she had woven into them. Shahryar awakens to see Scheherazade standing before him, heartbroken, and he embraces her tenderly, promising to spare her life and to love her forever as his Queen.
The third and featured piece on our programme will be A Midsummer Night's Dream. Set to Mendelssohn's famous incidental music, this ballet tells a story of fairy mischief and pranks, adapted from the Shakespeare play of the same name. The Fairy King Oberon schemes to get back at his wife Titania for refusing to gift him a changeling child by making her fall in love with a man enchanted to look like a Donkey. Meanwhile, the mischevious Puck meddles in the affairs of two mortal couples, who in the end all marry happily.
- December 2019
Cambridge University Ballet Club presents this original production of ballet show to appear on ADC theatre stage in December.
Overview
The story of Scheherazade is a frame story used as a device to present a collection of folk tales with origins in ancient and medieval Arabic, Persian, Indian, Greek, Jewish and Turkish folklore and literature, known collectively as ‘One Thousand and One Nights’ or ‘Arabian Nights’. Unlike most ballets, the narrative of Scheherazade is driven by female characters and their desires and choices. Its empowering story of a woman risking her life to liberate others from oppression will resonate with modern audiences, with particularly potency in the current political climate, serving as a reminder of the humanity, struggles, and dreams shared between diverse cultures.While many story ballets faithfully recreate traditional programmes, Scheherazade as a ballet has never been standardised. Our production is an original creation in terms of both story adaptation and choreography, set to Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s romantic score. Featuring soaring violin solos, playful clarinet melodies, and rumbling brass-forward themes, the piece is invigorating and heart-breaking, moving the body to dance and the soul to triumph with the heroine.
Synopsis
This ballet is set to Rimsky-Korsakov’s symphonic interpretation of the Arabic Folktale One Thousand and One Nights. In the dramatic opening, the Sultan Shahriyar discovers his Queen cheating on him. Furious, he commands that she be executed. He vows to each night take a new bride, and each morning behead her, so he can never again be betrayed. After several years, Scheherazade, a courageous young woman determined to end this terrifying regime, becomes the Sultan’s bride. On their wedding night, Scheherazade tells the tale of Sinbad the Sailor and his harrowing encounter with the vicious Roc seabirds, but dawn breaks before she reaches the conclusion. Shahriyar, captivated, decides to spare her one more day to hear the ending. The following evening, Scheherazade finishes that tale but begins another, and in this way postpones her execution indefinitely, taking the audience along for the stories of Alaeddin and the Wonderful Lamp and Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. After one thousand and one nights, Scheherazade declares that she knows no more tales. Shahriyayr, angry with himself for the vow he made over five years before, and with Scheherazade for putting him in a position now where he is challenged to uphold it, tells the guards to prepare her to be executed at dawn. But as the Sultan sleeps, he dreams Scheherazade and the tales she told, and begins to piece together the metaphor of his own life that she had woven into them. Shahriyayr awakens to see Scheherazade standing before him, heartbroken, and he embraces her tenderly, promising to spare her life and to love her forever as his Queen.
- March 2019
The Cambridge University Ballet Club presents their annual Lent Term show 'Don Quixote'. Set to the music of Ludwig Minkus and based on Miguel de Cervantes' famous novel 'Don Quixote de la Mancha', the ballet follows the journey of the ingenious nobleman 'Don Quixote' in his quest to achieve great feats and bring glory to his name.
- March 2018
One of the most popular ballets of all time, Swan Lake tells the story of the beautiful princess Odette who is turned into a swan by the evil sorcerer Rothbart’s wicked curse, so strong it can only be broken by the power of true love. Over 100 dancers from the Cambridge University Ballet Club are coming together to choreograph and perform this four-part ballet. Join us from 2nd-3rd March 2018 at West Road Concert Hall to share in what will be an unforgettable experience.
- February 2017
