International Dance Day

Late at night in a dark forest, Hilarion mourns at Giselle's grave but is frightened away by the impending arrival of the Wilis. As midnight strikes, Myrtha (Natalia Pasiut), their merciless queen, leads their nightly dance ritual before rousing Giselle's spirit from her grave.

The Willis sentence Albrecht (Vladimir Yaroshenko) to dance until he dies. He pleads with Myrtha for mercy, but she coldly refuses. Giselle (Chinara Alizade) begs for his life to be spared but is forced to make him dance with her until he collapses from exhaustion.

Characters from Haitian folklore come to life telling their story of ritual, ceremony and celebration. All wait to be overcome by the female spirit Erzuli. Who will be chosen? Internationally-acclaimed Haitian choreographer Jeanguy Saintus reimagines Stravinsky's Rite of Spring in Opera North’s first ever collaboration with the contemporary dance ensemble Phoenix Dance Theatre. Set to Stravinsky’s ground-breaking score, Saintus’ fresh interpretation subverts the original narrative’s notion of female sacrifice and approaches the work through his own roots, creating a shared vodou experience with the dancers.

The prima ballerina of the ballet company of the National Opera of Ukraine, Iuliia Moskalenko, who portrays the leading role of Clara in The Nutcracker, also slips into the role of the Sugar Plum Fairy here. A tour de force for any dancer.

This waltz takes place in Act I, the day of Aurora’s 16th birthday. It became very popular because long excerpts from Tchaikovsky's score - like ‘Once upon a dream…’- were included in the Walt Disney cartoon version produced in 1959.

The Blue Bird Pas de deux in Act III is danced at the time of the Prince and the Princess wedding. The characters come from a fairy tale by Madame d'Aulnoy : a love story between Princess Florine and King Charmant transformed into a blue bird.

This excerpt is the Grand Adage à la Rose. In this technically difficult Pas de cinq, Aurore meets suitors and dances with them; each of them offering her a rose.

The furies having taken pity on Orfeo and eventually allowing him to pass, he finds himself in the Elysian Fields, a paradise where he believes everyone is in peace except himself, bereft of his beloved Euridice.

At the banks of the river Styx, Orpheus (Samuel Boden) attempts to persuade Charon to allow him to pass into the underworld and find his wife Euridice.