MATRYOSHKA

FOR BIRMINGHAM ROYAL BALLET

Music: Dmitri Shostakovich
Choreography: Ruth Brill
Costume designs: Lily Smith
Rehearsal Assistant: James Barton
World premiere: January 2015, Symphony Hall, Birmingham.
May 2015, BRB Midscale tour – Shrewsbury, York, Durham

Matryoshka was created for An Evening of Music and Dance, a concert by the Royal Ballet Sinfonia and Birmingham Royal Ballet. Inspired by Shostakovich’s music, it consists of three contrasting sections of his Jazz Suite: the ‘Little Polka’ is flirty and fun, the famous ‘Waltz II’ evokes the grandeur of a ballroom, with a quirky undertone, and the ‘Finale’ provides an uplifting conclusion. Matryoshka are the traditional Russian nesting dolls, which symbolise the future generations of the family contained in the matriarch.