A Ballet on the music of Edward Elgar and Gustav Holst
Premiere on October 14th 2023 at the Vanemuine Theatre Grand Building
Composers: Gustav Holst (arranged by Tauno Aints), Edward Elgar
Director and Choreographer: Jevgeni Grib
Musical Director and Conductor: Risto Joost
Conductor: Aleksandr Brazhnyk
Dramaturge and Librettist: Siret Campbell
Set Designer: Kristjan Suits
Costume Designer: Liisi Eesmaa
Lighting Designer: Priidu Adlas (Estonian Drama Theatre)
Director’s Assistant: Marta Navasardyan (Estonian National Opera)
Repetitors: Rufina Noor, Fabrice Gibert, Matthew James Jordan
Aale: Raminta Rudžionytė-Jordan, Caroline Maquignon
Hendrik: Gus Upchurch, Bradley Howell
Mother: Maria Engel
Father: Alexander Germain Drew, William Halton
Sandmann: Alain Divoux, Gerardo Avelar
Sanna, Aale’s friend: Selma Strandberg
Oliver, Aale’s friend: William Halton, Benjamin Newman
Vocal Soloist Maria Listra, Pauline Vähi, Grete Oolberg
Vanemuine Ballet Company and Symphony Orchestra
The audience of the Vanemuine Theatre knows Jevgeni Grib for his mythology-inspired short ballet Metamorphoses. In Ash White, Grib once again delves into deep and enthralling topics such as life, death and yearning for the unattainable. This production in cooperation with dramaturge and librettist Siret Campbell is inspired by the short story The Sandman (Der Sandmann) written by E. T. A. Hoffmann in 1815.
Protagonist Aale’s father died in a fire when she was a child. Years later, when her boyfriend dies the same way, loneliness and horrific memories draw Aale further and further from the external world. The events unravel in an enchanting black-and-white place where the world of the living and the world beyond intertwine. One cannot be sure where reality ends and imagination starts. The audience is confronted with the question: is it possible to let go of fears? Or will our childhood memories haunt us even as adults?