Momentum
London City Ballet

 Thursday, May 21, 7:30 p.m.
 €28, €30, €32
MUN Theatre

After being the resident company at Sadler's Wells and gaining international recognition, London City Ballet, under the direction of Christopher Marney, has returned to the stage after a thirty-year absence.

True to its prestigious legacy, the company brings together a virtuoso group of dancers who invite us to discover, in Momentum, the richness of neoclassical and contemporary ballet, combining tradition, innovation, and scenic excellence in every movement.

PROGRAM

Larina Waltz
Choreography: Ashley Page
Music: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Lighting: Andrew Ellis
Direction: Ricardo Cervera
Created in 1993 – Duration 8 min

Originally created for the Royal Ballet, Larina Waltz uses Tchaikovsky's joyful melodies to highlight the classical talent of the London City Ballet dancers. In a luminous waltz, the almost constant changes in rhythm lead to a spectacular finale.

Quiet Ballet
Choreography: Jerome Robbins
Music: Aaron Copland
Staging: Robert LaFosse
Costumes: Babara Matera
Lighting: Andrew Ellis based on Jennifer Tipton
Performed with permission from The Robbins Rights Trust through a special agreement with Music Theatre International (MTI)
Created in 1986 by the New York City Ballet – Revival in 2025
Duration: 10 min

Aaron Copland's score Quiet City (1940), which depicts New York City in a bygone era, comes to life thanks to three enigmatic forces that burst onto the scene to illuminate Robbins' 1986 work of the same name. Viewers observe, or wait for, the presence of a soul on a new journey. Quiet City was created in memory of dancer Joseph Duell (1956–86).

Soft Shore
Choreography: Florent Melac
Music: Ludwig van Beethoven – Moonlight Sonata, String Quartet No. 7
Costumes: Xavier Ronze
Created in 2025 – Duration 15 min

Soft Shore, by emerging choreographer Florent Melac, best known as Principal Dancer with the Paris Opera Ballet, is a new creation for the company. It showcases his unique, fluid, and musical style, combining inventive transitions and intimate lifts.

Pictures at an Exhibition
Choreography: Alexei Ratmansky
Music: Modest Mussorgsky
Costumes: Adeline Andre
Lighting: Mark Stanley
Projections: Wendall K. Harrington
Director: Amar Ramasar
Created in 2014 – Duration 34 min

Like Vasili Kandinski's constantly evolving watercolors that serve as a backdrop, Pictures at an Exhibition is an ensemble piece for 10 dancers that moves from the rawest and wildest emotions to the most solemn and profound.

THE COMPANY

London City Ballet is a touring company of international dancers. In addition to creating commissioned works by emerging and established choreographers, the company places particular emphasis on reviving heritage works from the classical canon that are no longer part of the mainstream repertoire.

The original company, founded by visionary Harold King, closed in 1996 after previously being resident company at Sadler’s Wells and internationally recognized as one of the world’s leading dance companies, with Diana, Princess of Wales, as its Royal Patron. It was sensitively reconstituted in 2023, after a 30-year hiatus, under the artistic direction of Christopher Marney.

In less than two years, the company has connected with a wide audience in Europe, Asia, and the United States. To date, the repertoire of ballets offered includes major figures from the international dance scene, including Kenneth MacMillan, George Balanchine, Liam Scarlett, Arielle Smith, and Alexei Ratmansky.

CHRISTOPHER MARNEY

He grew up watching the London City Ballet in the 1990s, a company that inspired Chris's career as a choreographer, teacher, and artistic director.

As a director, he has worked at the Joffrey Ballet Studio Company in Chicago and at the Central School of Ballet in London, where he has curated diverse programs featuring repertoire by choreographers such as George Balanchine, Kenneth MacMillan, Liam Scarlett, Frederick Ashton, Jasmin Vardimon, Matthew Bourne, and Annabelle Lopez Ochoa.

As a dancer, he has worked internationally for Balletboyz, Gothenburg Ballet, Ballet Biarritz, Bern Ballet, Michael Clark Company, and Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures, performing numerous leading roles around the world.

As a choreographer, he has created works for Ballet Black, English National Ballet’s Emerging Dancer, The Four Seasons for Joffrey Ballet Studio Company, Nutcracker at the British Museum, Eve at Sadler’s Wells, and Lady Macbeth at the New National Theatre in Tokyo.

His credits in London's West End include choreographing McQueen The Play at the Theatre Royal Haymarket and Tell Me on a Sunday at St. James's.

Chris is committed to reviving lesser-known but important works, bringing new perspectives to them and making them accessible through extensive touring.