Wayne McGregor’s acclaimed triptych Woolf Works returns to the Royal Opera House stage this spring. Receiving its premiere in 2015, Woolf Works was McGregor’s first full-length work for The Royal Ballet and subsequently won both the 2016 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Dance Production and the 2015 Critics’ Circle National Dance Award for Best Classical Choreography.
Woolf Works recreates the emotions, themes and fluid style of three of Virginia Woolf’s celebrated novels, Mrs Dalloway, Orlando, and The Waves, as well as elements of her autobiographical writings that echo aspects of her eventful life. With dramaturgy by Uzma Hameed, the ballet is presented as a series of multi-sensory collages, utilising designs from McGregor, Ciguë, and We Not I alongside lighting design by Lucy Carter, film design by Ravi Deepres, costumes by Moritz Junge and make-up design by Kabuki.
The performance is set to a specially commissioned score from Max Richter, who combines classical and electronic sounds together with spoken word to create an atmospheric soundscape for the work. This soundscape features a rare recording of Woolf reading her essay “On Craftmanship”, and a recording of actress Gillian Anderson reading Woolf’s haunting suicide note. Former Royal Ballet Principal dancer Alessandra Ferri returns to the Royal Opera House to reprise the role created on her, for which she won the 2016 Olivier award for Outstanding Achievement in Dance. This Season Principal dancers Natalia Osipova and Marianela Nuñez make their debuts in the role of Virginia Woolf.
