PHOTO CALL INVITATION TO LAUNCH INVITATION TO THE BALLET
A COLLABORATION BETWEEN
ROYAL OPERA HOUSE AND THE LOWRY
Tuesday 8 June 2010
10.15am for 10.30am
ROYAL OPERA HOUSE
MAIN ENTRANCE WC2E 9DD
To photograph Royal Ballet Principal Mara Galeazzi
with the re-creation of Margot Fonteyn’s actual dressing room to announce the major new exhibition from
Royal Opera House Collections and The Lowry
Invitation to the Ballet:
Ninette de Valois and the story of The Royal Ballet
Join Royal Ballet Director Monica Mason DBE, Royal Opera House exhibition curator Cristina Franchi and The Lowry’s Head of Visual Arts & Engagement, Michael Simpson, at the Royal Opera House, London for the launch of this new retrospective exhibition, Invitation to the Ballet: Ninette de Valois and the story of The Royal Ballet. Margot Fonteyn’s dressing room will be pieced together featuring her dressing table, personal letters and costumes all carefully preserved and rarely seen by the public. The exhibition tells the remarkable story of The Royal Ballet from its foundations in the late 1920s to the present day. It is the first exhibition to pay tribute to the Company’s founder, Ninette de Valois, and is the most comprehensive exhibition on The Royal Ballet to be staged outside London.
This unique exhibition, a collaboration with The Lowry, Salford, will also illustrate LS Lowry’s involvement with ballet in Britain and how his appreciation of art, music and dance affected his work. A highlight of The Lowry’s tenth anniversary year, the exhibition will include some unseen Lowry drawings which are thought to have been influenced by his love of ballet.
Notes to Editors:
The exhibition will be opened by Dame Monica Mason DBE, Director of The Royal Ballet and Julia Fawcett, The Lowry’s Chief Executive at a private view on 21 October at The Lowry Galleries, Salford and will run until 6 March 2011. A section of the exhibition focussing on Ninette de Valois can then be seen at the Royal Opera House from 1 April to 1 August 2011. Further sections of the exhibition focussing on Frederick Ashton can also be seen from June to October 2011 in Ipswich in the Town Hall Galleries, the Jerwood DanceHouse and Christchurch Mansions.
The exhibition is drawn almost exclusively from the extensive Collections of the Royal Opera House with additional key items being loaned by private collectors and public institutions. The Lowry Estate is supporting the exhibition with new loans and material relating to Lowry’s interest in ballet.
The Lowry is delighted to present Invitation to the Ballet with the generous support of Arts Council England Sustain fund.
A full Introduction and Brief Gallery by Gallery Guide by ROH Curator, Cristina Franchi are available on request.
Posted on Friday, 04 June 2010 under Galleries Press