Dancers of the Alberta Ballet in Jean Grand-Maître's production of Love Lies Bleeding. Debra Hornsby / Banff Center (photo from globeandmail.com)
Tonight marks the Edmonton opening of Love Lies Bleeding, which follows hot on the heels of the sold-out World Premiere in Calgary. The ballet is the latest work from Alberta Ballet‘s Artistic Director Jean Grand-Maitre, who most recently stunned audiences in Vancouver (and, quite literally, everywhere else) with his choreography for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Opening and Closing Ceremonies. The ballet was created in collaboration with Elton John and Bernie Taupin and features 14 of their most beloved songs.
The Alberta Ballet website describes the work as:
“…a contemporary semi-abstract ballet set to 14… [a] journey, through a series of theatrically dynamic tableaux, into the wild, dangerous and powerful world of pop music.
Set in a vast, dark and abandoned theatre littered with mementos, artefacts and the remembrances of its past glories, this ballet will poetically depict the dramatic landscapes of a monumental cycle of compositions which has deeply inspired billions of music lovers around the world.
Love Lies Bleeding will offer audiences an unadorned portrayal of the trials, the triumphs and the painful sacrifices made to attain and maintain the status of super stardom.”
Curve Communications had the delight of working with Jean and the wonderfully talented company this January when Alberta Ballet opened the Cultural Olympiad. Our marketing agency was recruited to provide PR and promotions for Joni Mitchell’s The Fiddle & The Drum. This show was Alberta Ballet’s first collaboration with a songwriter of such magnitude, celebrity and achievement, and did its part in paving the way for the creation of works such as Love Lies Bleeding.
There were a few team members here at Curve seriously contemplating a drive to Alberta to watch the ballet. Alas, both the Calgary and Edmonton runs sold out before we could! We have very high hopes, however, that the tremendous reception in Alberta combined with worldwide attention the work has been receiving will soon see Love Lies Bleeding begin to tour.
Until then you can join the Curve team in visualizing the work by reading Paula Citron’s fantastic review.
