Details

Kings 2 Ends, created for Scottish Ballet, is a collision of the two very different energies found in the juxtaposed soundtrack of Mozart s Violin Concerto No 1 and Steve Reich s Double Sextet. Double Sextet is urgent, demanding and stripped back - it makes the pulse quicken as the dancers demonstrate their sheer physicality and athleticism, their movements powerful and precise, while the Mozart piece is drawn in beautiful lines with a strong sense of romance and playfulness. "I ve chosen two pieces of music that are very different in the time period and approach of their moods," says Jorma. "Reich is very mathematical. It s almost cold: it s like a big city, a pulse that keeps on driving on. And the Mozart is much more colourful and humorous and full of human richness: in a way, it s the opposite to Steve Reich." Both lyrical and playful, Elo s vibrant choreography, full of unexpected angles and sassy subversions, invites the audience to simply immerse themselves in the piece and to discover their own personal meaning. A series of vintage-styled vignettes, Pennies from Heaven takes its cue from the music and cinema of the 1930s and borrows its title from Dennis Potter s acclaimed television drama Pennies from Heaven. The work is a charming interpretation of a range of popular songs from the period including March Winds and April Showers as well as, of course, Pennies from Heaven, and the dancers, cast as a cross-section of 30s society including a hotel bell-hop and a cinema cigarette girl, tell a variety of love stories set to the songs bittersweet lyrics in a piece that Artistic Director Ashley Page created as "an end of evening piece...something that would send everybody out happy, and tapping their toes." And the piece brings a particular vintage glamour to the evening, with each of the costumes in Pennies from Heaven designed by Antony McDonald constructed to recreate that classic 1930s look using materials specially chosen to evoke the period - there s even a long green dress which was specially dyed to match the colour of Keira Knightley s similarly-styled gown in the 1930s-set film Atonement. Scottish Ballet website.

Creatives/Company

Company: Scottish Ballet
Choreographer(s): Jorma Elo (Kings 2 Ends), Ashley Page (Pennies from Heaven)
Music(s): Steve Reich (Kings 2 Ends), Mozart (Kings 2 Ends)
Costume: Antony McDonald (Pennies from Heaven)