Event: Winter Season - Royal New Zealand Ballet | Isaac Theatre Royal

Presented by: Royal New Zealand Ballet

The winter brings three works celebrating the heritage of the Royal NZ Ballet & the contributions of outstanding artists from our past, present & future.

The centrepiece of the evening is the New Zealand premiere of Birthday Offering, created by Sir Frederick Ashton for 14 legendary dancers, led by Dame Margot Fonteyn, to mark The Royal Ballet’s 25th birthday in 1956.

We present Birthday Offering as a centenary tribute to Rowena Jackson, & as part of Ashton Worldwide 2024 – 8, a global celebration of the art of Frederick Ashton.

Two works made for the RNZB complete the programme: Sarah Foster-Sproull’s Ultra Folly (2020) & Andrea Schermoly’s Stand to Reason, created for the women of the Royal New Zealand Ballet in 2018 to mark the 125th anniversary of women’s suffrage in New Zealand

BIRTHDAY OFFERING

The centrepiece of the evening is the New Zealand premiere of Birthday Offering – created by Sir Frederick Ashton for The Royal Ballet’s 25th birthday, and the finest dancers of their generation, then all performing at Covent Garden, in 1956.

Southland-born Rowena Jackson (1926 – 2024) and her husband of 63 years, Philip Chatfield (1927 – 2021) were part of the original cast, which also included Wellington-born Alexander Grant (1925 – 2011) and Bryan Ashbridge (1924 – 1995). All went on to make significant contributions to the development of ballet in New Zealand, and especially to the Royal New Zealand Ballet: they were trailblazers, teachers, directors and beloved friends.

We are honoured to present Birthday Offering for the first time in New Zealand, especially as a centenary tribute to Rowena Jackson and as part of Ashton Worldwide 2024 – 8, a global celebration of the art of Frederick Ashton.

“Ashton for me is pure musicality. The contrast between the speedy footwork and the softness of the upper body challenges and rewards equally. As a female dancer I love how his ballets make you feel feminine, the curves of his movement almost celebrating the natural beauty of a woman’s body.”
– Laura Morera, former Principal, The Royal Ballet, stager for Birthday Offering

ULTRA FOLLY

Ultra Folly was created in 2020, the rhythmic drive and vigour of its score, the lively La Folia variations performed by renowned early music ensemble Hesperion XXI and their founder Jordi Savall, inspiring highly physical and intricate choreography that not only celebrates the pleasure of moving to music with friends, but the joy of human touch and connection.

“I am drawn to La Folia for its inherent emotionality, its depths, its joys and its sorrows. I have been listening to La Folia for years, waiting for the right moment to explore its melodic nuances and rhythmic complexities through dance.”
Sarah Foster-Sproull, 2020

STAND TO REASON

Since its creation in 2018, Stand to Reason has become a talisman and a taonga for the women of the Royal New Zealand Ballet. The work builds on the power and unity of a highly-trained corps de ballet, as the dancers channel the courage and conviction of the women who won the vote, in choreography that is by turns athletic, cathartic, defiant and tender.

‘Ten Reasons Why The Women Of New Zealand Should Vote’, published in 1888, serves both as inspiration and a sobering reminder that democracy is hard-won and never to be taken for granted.

“Whilst researching New Zealand’s suffrage movement, I was most intrigued with a pamphlet that circulated via the activists of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union that stated ten clear reasons as to why women should vote. They are thought provoking as some of these reasons, albeit forthright, seem horribly archaic and arbitrary. The fact that a women should have to draw such stark, written articulations and obvious comparisons of reasonings to convince men of their worth is saddening actually. Our humanity is just not assumed and that is still an issue today elsewhere.”
Andrea Schermoly, 2018

Times are approx. and subject to change at any time.

Box Office Opening Time: 90min before show start
Interval Length: 20min
- Choreography - Birthday Offering
  Frederick Ashton
- Music - Birthday Offering
  Glazunov arr: Robert Irving
- Guest Repetiteurs - Birthday Offering
  Laura Morera and Mark Kay
- Costume Design - Birthday Offering
  Kenneth Rowell
- Choreography - Ultra Folly
  Sarah Foster-Sproull
- Music - Ultra Folly
  Cabezon, Falconieri, various Anon
- Costume Design - Ultra Folly
  Donna Jefferis, RNZB
- Lighting Design - Ultra Folly
  Daniel Wilson
- Choreography - Stand to Reason
  Andrea Schermoly
- Music - Stand to Reason
  Beethoven, Marais, von Westhoff
- Costume Design - Stand to Reason
  Donna Jefferis and Esther Lofley, RNZB
- Lighting Design - Stand to Reason
  Andrew Lees
- Projection Design - Stand to Reason
  Will Funk
- Recommended Ages: 14+
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- Auckland, Kiri Te Kanawa Theatre, Aotea Centre
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- Christchurch, Isaac Theatre Royal
  31 July - 1 August 2026