Award-Winning Northern Ballet Presents A World-Class Programme Of Dance In Wolverhampton

Michela Paolacci in Northern Ballet's Madame Butterfly. Photo Merlin Hendy

Get swept away by unrivalled storytelling, dance and live music as Northern Ballet performs Madame Butterfly with Perpetuum Mobile at Wolverhampton Grand Theatre from 2–3 June.

Recently awarded Best Company at the European Taglioni Ballet Awards, Northern Ballet specialise in creating and performing classical story ballets. This programme will bring world-class ballet to the doorstep of audiences in Wolverhampton, offering the chance to enjoy two of the company’s popular productions in one evening. 

Madame Butterfly is choreographed by Artistic Director David Nixon OBE and is one of Northern Ballet’s most popular full-length productions. In this heartbreakingly tragic ballet, audiences will be transported to Japan where the doomed love affair between American Naval Lieutenant, Pinkerton, and his young Japanese bride, Butterfly, begins. Madly in love and prepared to sacrifice everything, Butterfly’s world falls apart when she is betrayed and forced into a dramatic climax. Recreated especially for the new tour,Madame Butterfly is a two-act ballet featuring all new sets and is performed to the famous Puccini score played live by Northern Ballet Sinfonia.

The programme also features Perpetuum Mobile, choreographed by Christopher Hampson, Artistic Director of Scottish Ballet. Performed to Bach’s Violin Concerto in E Major, the 17-minute long Perpetuum Mobile provides an excellent introduction to the technical and athletic talents of Northern Ballet’s dancers. The piece showcases the incredible strength and prowess of the Company to leave audiences breathless.

David Nixon said: 
‘Perpetuum Mobile is a beautiful neo-classical work and Madame Butterfly a wonderful dramatic narrative piece; so this programme is a perfect introduction of the two faces of Northern Ballet. Our Company has incredibly talented dancers and these two works will provide the opportunity for audiences to see the dancers performing at their most physical as well as demonstrating their abilities as dance-actors of the highest standard.

Introducing this new strand of touring is designed to enrich the dance offering within the region, challenging the perceptions of which stories can be told through ballet and providing audiences with something different than Swan Lake or The Nutcracker.’

On Wednesday 3 June at 12:30pm & 2:15pm, Northern Ballet will also present a 40 minute children’s ballet Elves And The Shoemaker at the Grand Theatre, perfect for introducing younger theatregoers to the art form.

Tickets for Northern Ballet’s Madame Butterfly with Perpetuum Mobile and Elves And The Shoemaker can be booked online at grandtheatre.co.uk or by calling the box office on 01902 429 212.