Irish audiences can get a taster of ballerina and artistic director Monica Loughman’s new Irish ballet-in-progress, Chlainne Lír, this weekend, which offers a new twist on the Children of Lir legend.
The design is influenced by Jim Fitzpatrick, perhaps best known for his 1968 two-toned Che Guevara portrait. Fitzpatrick and Loughman first met in Russia when she was in the Perm State Ballet; it's Fitzpatrick's first ballet. The ballet excerpt is part of Masterpieces of World Opera and Ballet, a "best-of-the-best" format, new to Ireland but popular, especially with families, in Russia, where the Perm State Ballet traditionally starts a season with an opera and ballet celebration in the city's Opera House. It sees the debut of Melissa Hamilton from Belfast, a rising star of London's Royal Ballet, and also features operatic arias from Lucia di Lammermoor, La Traviata, Faust and Carmen. Masterpieces of World Opera and Ballet is at the National Concert Hall, Dublin tonight and tomorrow. See masterpieces.ie, nch.ieor tel: 01-417 0000
