Thursday 19 October 7:30pm
Five Years of Ballet Folk: A Double Bill
The Swan of Salen with The Willow Trio Harps
The Tears of Jenny Greenteeth with The Ciderhouse Rebellion and Jessie Summerhayes
Ballet Folk was founded by Deborah Norris in 2019. The company explores the rich tradition of storytelling, combining contemporary ballet and folk music to create theatrical works for both indoor theatre and outdoor festivals/stages whilst collaborating with artists from across the folk community.
Making Ballet accessible for all audiences is central to the company’s ethos and the ‘folk ballets’ are created for all audiences and literally take folk to the ballet! Since 2019 we have collaborated with celebrated folk artists, Lucy Ward, Anna Esselmont, Kitty MacFarlane, The Ciderhouse Rebellion, The Will Trio Harps, Martin Simpson, and Eliza Marshall to create a range of award winning live and digital productions and outreach projects both in the UK and internationally.
The Swan of Salen
The Swan of Salen is a folk ballet film created in collaboration with The Willow Trio Harps and Thistle Ridge Films. An adaptation of Tchaikovsky’s iconic Swan Lake, retold through the lens of the Gaelic tale of Eala Shàilein, blending traditional music from the Loch Sunart area with the classical score. The performance features a film of the ballet, projected behind the three harpists performing a live-synced score.
The album of the score has received airtime from numerous stations including; BBC Radio Ulster, BBC Radio Skye and Classics unwrapped with reviews in the Oban Times, the Sunday Post where it’s been described as a ‘truly exquisite debut album.’
The Tears of Jenny Greenteeth
The Folk Ballet, The Tears of Jenny Greenteeth shares a tale from a time younger than ours, where love and forgiveness overcome fear, sadness and greed. A tale where nature triumphs over the poison of industry.
An adaptation of the traditional folk tale Jenny Greenteeth, is written and narrated by poet Jessie Summerhayes. Jessie shares the stage with masters of improvisation – musicians Adam Summerhayes (fiddle) and Murray Grainger (accordion) – and three dancers, Melissa Braithwaite (Jenny Greenbough), Anna Smith (Bryony Greenbough)and Harry Wilson (Logan Greenbough) who play the main characters of the story. Along with magical hand carved wooden puppets created by designer, Jez Ward, the six artists interact throughout, transporting the audience to the valley of Greenwater in order to witness the unfolding of a dark yet triumphant story.
Tickets: £10 / £8 concessions / Free for EHU students
Duration: 2 hr 5 mins approx. including interval