Madame Butterfly opens her wings in Northern show

NORTHERN Ballet is performing the classic tragedy Madame Butterfly at Leeds Grand Theatre following performances in Beijing last year.

The Northern Ballet version was premiered at Leeds Grand in 2002 but has not been performed in the city since.

It is directed and choreographed by the company’s artistic director David Nixon, who said: “When creating Madame Butterfly, I wanted to incorporate an aesthetic of the traditional Japanese culture and music. I wanted to portray the dilemma of Butterfly who tries to change the perception of her culture, only to be betrayed by her newly adopted beliefs. Her freedom is only achieved by returning to her roots. Our re-orchestration of Puccini’s wonderful music, to which we have incorporated traditional Japanese music, has resulted in a fluid and dramatically powerful score for this ballet, which blends traditional Japanese dance styles with classical ballet.”

It is showing at Leeds Grand until March 10.

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In the autumn Madame Butterfly will be touring to the Sheffield Lyceum (September 18-22), Manchester Opera House (September 25-29) and Nottingham Theatre Royal (October 2-6).

The Leeds Grand box office is on 0844 8482701. Go to www.leedsgrandtheatre.com