Sensuous contemporary ballet meets the energy of musical theatre in four distinctive short works. Fool’s Paradise, The Two of Us, Us, An American in Paris: four works showing the remarkable
choreographic range of The Royal Ballet’s Artistic Associate, Christopher Wheeldon.
FOOL’S PARADISE
Luminescent and shimmering, Fool’s Paradise marked the first of Wheeldon’s many collaborations
with composer Joby Talbot. It was created in 2007 for Wheeldon’s own company, Morphoses, and
first performed in 2012 by The Royal Ballet.
THE TWO OF US
The wistful songs of Joni Mitchell set the scene for the UK premiere of The Two of Us, a duet of deep
intimacy and yearning. It was created in 2020 for the Fall for Dance Festival in New York, and had
American ballet dancers Sarah Mearns and David Hallberg in its original cast.
US (DUET)
Us is a tender duet danced by two men. It was created in 2017 for BalletBoyz and is set to Keaten
Henson’s music.
AN AMERICAN IN PARIS (BALLET)
The Royal Ballet celebrates Wheeldon’s extraordinary success in musical theatre by performing the
ballet scene from his Tony Award-winning musical An American in Paris. Set to Gershwin’s jazzy
melodies, the musical is inspired by the 1951 film of the same name starring Gene Kelly and Leslie
Caron. The musical went on to win four Tony awards. The full musical depicts a blossoming romance
between the American G.I. Jerry Mulligan and a French ballerina, Lise Dassin. The ballet excerpt was
Wheeldon’s take on one of the most memorable scenes from the film – an extended sequence in
which the two central characters dance through Paris.
The Bonington
