Carlos Acosta on Don Quixote ahead of The Royal Ballet s summer 2015 US Tour

With Don Quixote heading to the USA for The Royal Ballet s summer tour, Carlos Acosta reflects on his first work for the Company. Find out more at http://www.roh.org.uk/news/the-royal-ballet-to-tour-the-usa-in-june-2015 The Royal Ballet will tour to the USA in June 2015 with a celebration of the breadth of the Company’s heritage and contemporary repertory, and the virtuosity and theatricality of its world-class dancers. The Company will perform in Washington D.C., Chicago and New York over the course of three weeks. We’re particularly thrilled to be returning to the USA and delighted to be presenting Carlos Acosta’s production of Don Quixote created especially for the Company last Season , said Director of The Royal Ballet, Kevin O Hare. We’re also performing works by three of today’s leading choreographers who are all resident with us at Covent Garden – Wayne McGregor, Christopher Wheeldon and Liam Scarlett – as well as classics from the Company’s two great 20th-century choreographers, Frederick Ashton and Kenneth MacMillan. Royal Ballet Principal Guest Artist Carlos Acosta’s critically-acclaimed production of Don Quixote will receive its American premiere at the Kennedy Center, Washington D.C., 9–14 June. The ballet will also be performed at the Auditorium Theatre, Chicago, 18–21 June. In New York, The Royal Ballet will perform at the David H. Koch Theater 23–8 June. A fundraising Gala Performance in aid of The Royal Ballet and the Joyce Theater opens the week of performances on Tuesday 23 June and will feature Frederick Ashton’s classic ballet The Dream, which was created in 1964 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s birth. The tour coincides with the 50th anniversary of the first performance of The Dream in the USA. The New York residency also includes two programmes celebrating the work of British choreographers closely associated with The Royal Ballet. Programme One features Kenneth MacMillan’s powerful Song of the Earth, which was created in 1965. Set to Gustav Mahler’s great song cycle, the ballet explores the fragility of human life and features six episodes that are atmospheric rather than literal interpretations of the text. Song of the Earth will be performed with Frederick Ashton’s The Dream 24–6 June. Programme Two is a mixed bill comprising Infra by Royal Ballet Resident Choreographer Wayne McGregor, The Age of Anxiety by Royal Ballet Artist in Residence Liam Scarlett and highlights from The Royal Ballet’s repertory, including the central pas de deux from Royal Ballet Artistic Associate Christopher Wheeldon’s award-winning Aeturnum.