Sir Paul McCartney to write score for New York City Ballet
By ANIFriday, February 25, 2011
LONDON - English musician Sir Paul McCartney is set to write his first original orchestral score for a ballet performance.
The former Beatle is teaming-up with the New York City Ballet company (NYCB) on Ocean’s Kingdom.
“I am always interested in new directions that I haven’t worked in before, so I became very excited about the idea,” the BBC quoted McCartney as saying.
The production’s world premiere will take place on 22 September.
More performances will be announced later.
In an interview with The New York Times, the 68-year-old said the show was a love story based in two fantastic worlds - the “pure” ocean kingdom, and the earth kingdom with its “sort of baddies”.
He explained that when earth meets water, love happens, and “you’ll have to see whether the couple make it”.
“The sheer athleticism is the most astounding thing. It’s like a meeting of the Olympic games and art, and I find that fascinating and challenging for me, to see what can be done,” the musician said.
McCartney was asked to consider the collaboration after meeting NYCB’s ballet master-in-chief Peter Martins at the School of American Ballet’s Winter Gala last year.
“Like the rest of my generation, I grew up being a huge fan of The Beatles so I was thrilled to meet him,” said Martins.
“After I got to know him a bit, and knowing of his great love of composing classical music, I asked if he might be interested in doing something for New York City Ballet, and I am ecstatic that he has agreed to write a score for us,” he added.
The 50-minute production will consist of more than 40 dancers. (ANI)
