A new ballet based on a trilogy of novels by Margaret Atwood is coming soon.
The ballet is being created by Royal Ballet choreographer Wayne McGregor, known in nerdy circles as movement director of some of the Harry Potter franchise, and the Fantastic Beasts movie.
MADDADDAM will be a collaboration between the Royal Ballet and the National Ballet of Canada, premiering in Toronto in November before leaving for London in 2022.
McGregor is choreographing a three-act work based on Atwood’s post-apocalyptic series; Oryx and Crake, The Year of the Flood and MaddAddam.
It will work through themes of extinction and invention, and also feature The Handmaid’s Tale writer’s non-fiction work and politics.
Wayne McGregor
The new score was created by Max Richter, and is brought to life by the rest of the creative team from McGregor’s Woolf Works (based on the writings of Virginia Woolf.) The team also comprises lighting designer Lucy Carter, set designer We Not I, filmmaker Ravi Deepres and dramaturg Uzma Hameed.
Kevin O’Hare, director of the Royal Ballet, said: “Wayne’s genius in bringing together some of the most exciting creative forced in art today reveals itself again with this latest venture.
“Collaborating with Margaret Atwood, author of some of the most haunting and potent writing in contemporary literature, is a wonderful prospect for our next co-production with the National Ballet of Canada. It’s a dazzling opportunity for dancers from both of our companies to relish.”
Watch out for more news for the Nov 2020 ballet.
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