Quantum Leaps introductory notes

An overview of autumn's three one-act ballets: Powder | E=mc2 | The Centre and its Opposite

Over a year ago Company Director David Bintley was speaking with Australian composer Matthew Hindson about the possibility of working together on a ballet. When looking at possible themes for a collaboration, the two discovered a shared interest in physics and the cosmos.

Bintley had recently read David Bodanis's book 'E=mc²: A Biography of the World's Most Famous Equation', and was taken with its simple explanations of the complex ideas behind Einstein's theorem. He began to explore the ways in which some of the surrounding ideas of speed and mass and density could be explored through dance, and so were laid the seeds of this autumn's new work.

It is these scientific themes that prompted the name of the bill, Quantum Leaps, but it could equally have been given an antipodean title. In addition to Hindson's score for E=mc², the other two works, Powder and The Centre and its Opposite, have each been choreographed by Australian artists - Stanton Welch and Garry Stewart repectively.

Stanton Welch's ballet, Powder, imagines that the muses that inspired Mozart to write his sublime clarinet concerto, - to which the piece is danced - come to life each time the music is played. Seven females represent the solo wind instrument, while seven males respond, backed by the rest of the orchestra.

The Centre and its Opposite, the third of the three pieces, is perhaps the most challenging. Also taking energy from its score, the piece attempts to invertthe focal point of the performance space: rather than the artists taking turns to come forward and dance for the audience, they are simultaneously pitted against one another, vying for attention from different parts of the stage. With striking lighting designs already seen on the recent Company tour of the South East, the piece will for the first time be complimented by new sets, which are being created this summer.

David Bintley recently described Stewart's piece as being 'probably the most extreme piece that we have ever done'. However he also points out that it was influenced by the Birmingham Royal Ballet dancers on whom it was created, and so like the other pieces in the programme it still has its roots in classical ballet.

Want to know more?

Click here to join a discussion about Powder at ballet.co.uk.

Click here to read an interview with David Bintley in which he discusses E=mc² further.

Click here to visit the website of David Bodanis, author of 'E=mc2: A Biography of the World's Most Famous Equation'.

Click below to watch part of David Bintley's E=mc² video diary, charting progress on the new piece. You can view other parts of the diary by clicking here.



Click below to watch a video interview with The Centre and its Opposite creator Garry Stewart:



Trouble watching the video clip? Click here to watch it on the third-party video hosting site, vimeo.com