Stars of the Royal Ballet and London’s West End bring dance performance to Rye

Stars of the Royal Ballet and London’s West End will join together with choreographer and director Lynne Page to bring a unique production titled Wingspan to Rye.
WingspanWingspan
Wingspan

Spurred on by the absence of any live theatre, Lynne has put together a cast of performers who have not performed in front of a live audience since March.

The show will be held at Bridge Point, a new creative arts complex in Rye. The performance space at Bridge Point is part of an immersive regeneration project being undertaken by Martello Developments, whose mission is to “create a vibrant campus for artists from many disciplines, drawing inspiration from this historic town’s cultural heritage”.

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Lynne has taken a “by any means necessary approach” to create the new production and has spent the past five weeks “jumping through health and safety hoops” and making sure she can make an evening of work that is safe for the artists and the audience.

Spokeswoman Hannah Deeble said: “Lynne has created new work specifically for these performances, not only creating new choreography for these exceptional artists, but has also creatively choreographed the audience experience to be not just compliant with COVID-19 regulations, but to make adherence to these rules fun, strange and just a little bit theatrical. “The audience (socially distancing allows for 130 per performance) will wear super stylish transparent visors, will sit one metre+ at strategically-placed cabaret tables, rows two metres apart, will have staggered entry times and be escorted to their seats by very entertaining physically-distancing wardens. The result will be an intimate evening of exceptional quality in a safe and exciting new space.

“The evening will feature four members of The Royal Ballet in new pieces Lynne is creating for this event. They will dance live to members of the Royal Opera House orchestra and other top-class players – Shostakovich to Debussy via Elbow and all the way back to Ravel.”

They will be joined by two professional dancers Gareth Mole and Julie Ann Minaai.

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Katie Brayben, Olivier award-winning star of The Carole King Musical and King Charles III in the West End, will also be performing.

“Most importantly it will be a live theatre experience, hopefully installing confidence in audiences, so they return to the performance arena and enjoy that extraordinary thing we call theatre.”

Saturday, September 26, 2.30pm matinee: £120 per table (up to two people per table ie £60 each); 7.30pm evening gala: £200 per table (up to two people per table ie £100 each)

Includes refreshments and a post-performance meeting (compliant with social distancing rules) with the performers, artists, musicians and Lynne Page herself.

Sunday, September 27, 2.30pm matinee: £120 per table (up to two people per table ie £60 ea)

Running time: 60 minutes, no interval

Location: Bridgepoint, Rock Channel, Rye, East Sussex, TN31 7DG

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