Brighton Magazine

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Selected Brighton Magazine Article

Tuesday 14 May 2024

Charleston Commissions Reimagined Dance Performance To Premiere @ This Month's Charleston Festival

Charleston, in Sussex, will host a new dance commission, which is set to premiere at Charleston Festival on Tuesday 21st May, as part of Music + Word: The Rite of Spring and The Afternoon of a Faun, a multi-artform event celebrating the modernist music of Claude Debussy and Igor Stravinsky.
Credit Andrej Uspensk

Bringing together leading artists across music, dance and fashion for the first time, this ambitious reimagining of Vaslav Nijinsky's iconic Ballets Russes performance will feature new choreography for 'the faun' by Russell Maliphant, performed live by The Royal Ballet principal dancer Reece Clarke. 

The nine-minute solo dance performance will feature bespoke costuming by Kim Jones, Artistic Director of Dior Men. 

It will form the centrepiece of a live performance by celebrated pianists Melvyn Tan and Churen Li, accompanied by dramatic readings by actor David Morrissey.

The Bloomsbury group, who once resided at Charleston, were at the heart of a period of radical change in art and music taking place across Europe.

Russell Maliphant, Director and Choreographer of Russell Maliphant Dance Company, said: 

"Both the Bloomsbury Group and Ballet Russes created fantastically fertile periods for the arts which have inspired generations ever since - including me - and I'm excited to have the opportunity to offer a new work for the Charleston Festival this year, with the very talented principal dancer Reece Clarke. 

"Having created a piece inspired by the dancer Nijinsky ("Afterlight") back in 2009 it"s a privilege to have an opportunity to work on another Nijinsky link by way of 'Afternoon of a Faun' and to seek inspiration again from these landmark movements. 

"It's an added honour to have costumes created by Kim Jones for Dior and to re-imagine and collaborate for this occasion."

Each year, Charleston commissions and curates a series of original productions as part of its annual ten-day festival of art and ideas.

by: Mike Cobley



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