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Chroma (ballet)

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Chroma
ChoreographerWayne McGregor
MusicJoby Talbot
Jack White
Premiere17 November 2006 (2006-11-17)
Royal Opera House
Original ballet companyThe Royal Ballet
DesignJohn Pawson (sets)
Moritz Junge (costumes)
GenreContemporary ballet

Chroma is a one-act contemporary ballet created by Wayne McGregor for the Royal Ballet. The work received its premiere at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, on 17 November 2006. The ballet is performed to a combination of original music by Joby Talbot and arrangements of music by Jack White of the White Stripes, with orchestrations by Christopher Austin. The ballet was a great success, winning a number of awards, including the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Dance Production, and led to The Royal Ballet appointing McGregor as resident choreographer.

Production

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External videos
video icon Wayne McGregor's Chroma – The Hardest Button to Button (The Royal Ballet), YouTube video

Chroma marks the second time Wayne McGregor choreographed for the Royal Opera House main stage, having previously created works for the Royal Opera House's Linbury Studio Theatre.[1][2] According to McGregor, it was created within three weeks, with four to five hours of rehearsals each day.[3] The ballet is performed by ten dancers; some of the original cast members went on to be McGregor's frequent collaborators, such as Edward Watson, Steven McRae and Eric Underwood. The original cast also featured several Royal Ballet lead dancers, some of whom were working with McGregor for the first time. The female dancers are completely off pointe.[2]

The music includes four pieces by British composer Joby Talbot, as well as Talbot's rearrangement of three songs by Jack White of the American rock band White Stripes, including "Aluminum", "The Hardest Button to Button", and "Blue Orchid".[1][4] The set was designed by British architect John Pawson, who was known for his minimalist style. Pawson was brought in after he was approached by McGregor to create "amazing plain canvases in which anything can happen". Chroma was the first time Pawson designed for a stage.[1][5]

The choreography, design, and music received critical acclaim, with The Times noting: "McGregor’s Chroma is ravishing on all fronts", and The Guardian writing that the ballet's "tension between chaos and minimalism is extreme".[6][7] The success of Chroma led to McGregor's appointment as resident choreographer of the Royal Ballet, a position that was previously held by Frederick Ashton and Kenneth MacMillan, thus making him the first contemporary artist and the only one without any ballet training to hold the post.[8]

The Royal Ballet has since revived Chroma and it has been performed on tour. Other ballet companies that have danced the piece include the National Ballet of Canada (2010), San Francisco Ballet (2011), Bolshoi Ballet (2011), and The Australian Ballet (2014).[1] In 2013, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater became the first modern dance troupe to perform Chroma.[9] In 2016, on the 10th anniversary of the premiere, the Royal Ballet performed Chroma alongside five dancers from the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, including Jacqueline Green, Jamar Roberts and Rachael McLaren.[10][11]

Casts

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Videography

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In 2011, Opus Arte released a DVD of a performance of Chroma by The Royal Ballet, along with McGregor's Infra and Limen.[13]

In 2015, a performance by Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater at Lincoln Center, along with three other pieces, was filmed as a part of Lincoln Center at the Movies: Great American Dance, which was screened in various cinemas and was released in a DVD. The Lincoln Center released the video online in light of the impact of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic on the performing arts.[19][20]

Awards and nominations

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Year Award Work Result Ref.
2007 Critics' Circle National Dance Awards – Best Choreography (Classical) Chroma Won [21]
Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Dance Production Chroma Won [22]
Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dance Wayne McGregor Nominated [22]
Steven McRae[n 1] Nominated [22]
South Bank Show Awards – Dance Chroma Won [23]

Notes

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  1. ^ Steven McRae was nominated for both Chroma and Homage to the Queen

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "A Chroma primer". The Australian Ballet. 27 March 2014.
  2. ^ a b "Wayne McGregor". The Ballet Bag. 2 November 2009.
  3. ^ "Wayne McGregor". Ballet Association. 28 June 2007.
  4. ^ "Chroma (2007)". Wise Music Classical. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  5. ^ Olivero, Simone. "Chroma: Inside the Ballet". National Ballet of Canada. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  6. ^ Craine, Debra (21 November 2006). "Royal Ballet". The Times.
  7. ^ Mackrell, Judith (20 November 2006). "Royal Ballet triple bill". The Guardian.
  8. ^ Snow, Georgia (9 February 2017). "Wayne McGregor: 'People will tell you there are rules, but there aren't any'". The Stage.
  9. ^ Burke, Siobhan (3 December 2013). "Proving That Ailey Never Stands Still". New York Times.
  10. ^ Parry, Jann (13 November 2016). "Royal Ballet – Wayne McGregor bill: Chroma, Multiverse, Carbon Life – London". DanceTabs.
  11. ^ Mackrell, Judith (11 November 2016). "Wayne McGregor mixed bill review – dances at the end of the world". The Guardian.
  12. ^ "Chroma – 17 November 2006 Evening 7.30pm". Royal Opera House Collections Online.
  13. ^ a b "McGregor, W.: Chroma / Infra / Limen [Ballets] (Royal Ballet, 2006–2009) (NTSC)". Retrieved 15 June 2020.
  14. ^ Citron, Paula (25 November 2010). "Stunning Chroma brings down the house". The Globe and Mail.
  15. ^ Ulrich, Allan (8 April 2011). "S.F. Ballet review: Wayne McGregor's 'Chroma'". San Francisco San Francisco Chronicle.
  16. ^ "Chroma". archive.bolshoi.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  17. ^ Haby, Gracia. "Playlist". Fjord Review.
  18. ^ "The Royal Ballet – Wayne McGregor Mixed Bill – Chroma; Multiverse; Carbon Life". Classical Source.
  19. ^ "Chroma, Grace, Takademe, Revelations (2015)". Lincoln Center at Home. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  20. ^ "Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater – Chroma / Grace / Takademe / Revelations (NTSC)". Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  21. ^ "2007 Awards". Critics' Circle National Dance Awards. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
  22. ^ a b c "Official London Theatre Guide – Olivier Winners 2007". 23 April 2008. Archived from the original on 11 February 2010. Retrieved 7 November 2009.
  23. ^ "South Bank awards honour The Who". BBC News. 23 January 2007. Retrieved 30 April 2010.
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