PÁJARO DE FUEGO

Saturday 20 March / 8:00 pm

100 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)

Adults

Twice named Best Independent Company at the National Dance Awards, London City Ballet presents a programme bringing together works that celebrate both the legacy of dance and its contemporary evolution.

The programme opens with Mephisto Waltz, by Ashley Page, an explosion of classical virtuosity set to the music of Johann Strauss II. It is followed by Quiet City, by Jerome Robbins, an atmospheric and evocative piece set to the score by Aaron Copland, revived by Christopher Marney almost four decades after its last performance through a painstaking process of research and reconstruction.

Next comes Concerto – Segundo movimiento, by Kenneth MacMillan, an intimate tribute to the figure of the ballerina, exploring the concentration and vulnerability that precede stepping onto the stage. The show closes with El pájaro de fuego, the powerful and singular Gothic reinterpretation of Stravinsky’s classic created by Glen Tetley. Revived by London City Ballet on the centenary of the choreographer’s birth, this version tells a story of rebellion, identity and freedom.

A programme that connects some of the most influential voices in twentieth-century dance with today’s artists, celebrating choreographic heritage and giving it new life for new generations of audiences.

PROGRAMME AND CREATIVE TEAM

MEPHISTO WALTZ

• Choreography: Ashley Page
• Duration: 10 min
• Music: Johann Strauss II (Mephistos Höllenrufe – Waltz, Op. 101)
• Premiere: 2021, Royal Ballet School / 2026, London City Ballet
• Revival: Ricardo Cervera
• Costumes: Jon Morrell
• Lighting: Andrew Ellis

About the work:
In this celebration of classical form, Mephisto Waltz bursts with energy to introduce each member of London City Ballet in a display of technical virtuosity at a dizzying pace.

QUIET CITY

• Choreography: Jerome Robbins
• Duration: 10 min
• Music: Quiet City, by Aaron Copland
• Premiere: 1986, New York City Ballet / Revived by London City Ballet, 2025
• Revival: Robert LaFosse
• Costumes: Barbara Matera
• Lighting: Andrew Ellis, based on the original lighting by Jennifer Tipton
• Note: Performed with the permission of The Robbins Rights Trust, through a special agreement with Music Theatre International (MTI)

About the work:
The score of Quiet City (1940) by Aaron Copland evokes the nighttime atmosphere of mid-twentieth-century New York and provides the soundscape for Robbins’s eponymous work, created in 1986. Amid urban stillness, three enigmatic forces emerge and light up a bleak urban landscape, where passers-by watch and wait for the arrival of a soul about to set out on a new path.

Jerome Robbins created Quiet City in memory of dancer Joseph Duell (1956–1986).

CONCERTO – Second Movement (1966)

Created for the Deutsche Oper Berlin

• Choreography: Kenneth MacMillan
• Composer: Dmitri Shostakovich
• Music: Piano Concerto Nº 2
• Revival: Samara Downs
• Duration: 8 min

About the work:
Inspired by MacMillan’s muse and lead dancer Lynn Seymour, the work is an ode to the figure of the ballerina: a duet that evokes the intimate ritual of warming up at the barre and the preparation before stepping on stage. An exploration of the discipline, concentration and vulnerability that precede performance.

EL PÁJARO DE FUEGO

• Choreography: Glen Tetley
• Duration: 40 min
• Music: Igor Stravinsky
• Premiere: 1981, Royal Danish Ballet / 2026, London City Ballet, Opéra de Vichy
• Revival: Christopher Marney
• Costume and set design: John Macfarlane
• Lighting: David Finn
• Projections: Finn Ross
• Note: Performed with thanks to the Glen Tetley Legacy. Firebird is a collaboration with the Opéra de Vichy and York Theatre Royal

About the work:
In the centenary year of the birth of American choreographer Glen Tetley, we celebrate and pay tribute to his legacy with the revival of his singular Gothic version of The Firebird. Created originally for the Royal Danish Ballet, this powerful reinterpretation of the myth tells the story of a young woman who rebels against the constraints imposed by a controlling family: a woman who dares to leave the nest, embrace what makes her different, and open the way to freedom for those around her.

For this new revival, John Macfarlane, the production’s original designer and an Olivier Award winner, returns to his own designs to revisit and adapt them especially for London City Ballet.

London City Ballet

Twice named Best Independent Company at the National Dance Awards, in 2025 and 2026, London City Ballet, under the artistic direction of Christopher Marney, is today one of the most dynamic companies on the British choreographic scene, running a project that combines choreographic innovation with deep respect for its artistic heritage.

Its repertoire brings together works by some of the most influential figures in twentieth- and twenty-first-century British and American dance, with landmark pieces by Kenneth MacMillan, Ashley Page, Jerome Robbins, George Balanchine and Glen Tetley. At the same time, the company works with emerging choreographers on original pieces, reaffirming its commitment to contemporary creation and to supporting new generations of artists. This dual focus pays tribute to its roots while looking firmly towards the future.

Since its relaunch in 2023, London City Ballet has resumed an intense international schedule. Its inaugural tour, Resurgence, toured venues across Europe, Asia and the United States in 2024, reconnecting with its historic audience while reaching new ones. This momentum rests on an agile, adaptable approach to touring, with stage formats designed to bring dance to a broad, diverse public, favouring a closer, more intimate experience and responding to current standards of accessibility and sustainability.

London City Ballet thus marks a new chapter for a historic company on the British dance scene, originally linked to Sadler’s Wells Theatre and long supported by its historic patron, Princess Diana.