Cathy Marston | Choreographer Artistic Director

2001-2005

2005

Ghosts

Premiere: Linbury Theatre, Royal Opera House, London. September 2005

Commissioned by the Royal Opera House and based on Ibsen’s play.

Music: Dave Maric – specially commissioned for harp, cello, marimba, bass clarinet and viola.

Set and Costumes: Jon Bausor

Light: Simon Bennison

Cast: 7

Length: 65mins

“There is perfect logic to reframe (Ghosts) in dance…her re-structuring is deft…her choreography is wonderfully illustrative of character… she has let the drama bleed through the dance.”
Telegraph 2005

Orpheus and Persephone

Premiere: Ballett Basel, Theater Basel, Switzerland. May 2005

Music: Peteris Vasks – 4th String Quartet

Set: Heindrich Nagel

Costumes: Heidi de Raad

Cast: 9

Length: 30mins

Viatore

Premiere: Images of Dance, UK tour 2005.

Music: Peteris Vasks – Viatore

Costumes: Jean-Marc Puissant

Cast: 12

Length: 13mins approx

2004

Venetian Requiem

Premiere: The Royal Ballet, Linbury Theatre, Royal Opera House, London. 2004

Music: Judith Bingham - Specially commissioned for Saxophone and Counter-tenor

Costumes: Jon Bausor

Cast: 2 (Edward Watson and Lauren Cuthbertson)

Length: 8 mins

“For pure quality, Cathy Marston’s duet, Venetian Requiem had no competition. Subtitled Death by Water, Marston’s subtle and sophisticated dance language to a commissioned score by Judith Bingham for saxophone and countertenor, wove a web of watery grief. Choreographing the elements is a gift from God. Diaghilev would be mad about it.”
Sunday Express 2005

Dividing Silence

Premiere: Northern Ballet Theatre, Grand Theatre Leeds. May 2004

Music: Martinu – Double Concerto

Set and Costumes: Jean-Marc Puissant

Cast: 12

Length: 25 mins approx

“She is one of the hottest young choreographers around... now Marston has come up with an important new abstract work for Northern Ballet Theatre. An epic of pure dance and an exultant kaleidoscope of moves, Dividing Silence is a finely crafted piece for six couples that shows Marston's gift for sculpting the human form into incredible shapes.”
The Guardian 2004

To view a video of the complete work please contact Cathy Marston to request a private link.

Dichterliebe

Premiere: The Ensemble Group, Scottish Tour 2004.

Music: Robert Schumann – Dichterliebe

Cast: 8

Length: 28mins

“Cathy Marston’s exquisite Dichterliebe, set to Schumann’s song cycle of the same name, had a light, almost pastoral feel. Following the various stages of a poet’s life, as he and his partner move through the ups and downs of romance, the work had real depth of feeling.”
The Scotsman, 2004

before the tempest…after the storm

Premiere: Linbury Theatre, Royal Opera House, London. 2004

Two duets that form a prequel and sequel to Shakespeare’s Tempest - Caliban and Sycorax, Prospero and Ariel. Commissioned by the Royal Opera House and filmed by the BBC.

Music: Jules Maxwell – specially commissioned.

Set and Costumes: Jon Bausor

Light: Simon Bennison

Cast: 4

Length: 30mins

“Marston rises to the challenges… (she) has come up with a little poetic gem… Rich in pain and tenderness, expressed in imaginative shapes and movements.”
Dance Europe 2004

Asyla

Premiere: Linbury Theatre, Royal Opera House, London. 2004

Commissioned by the Royal Opera House.

Music: Thomas Ades – Asyla

Set and Costumes: Jon Bausor

Light: Simon Bennison

Cast: 5

2003

Broken Fiction

Premiere: Linbury Theatre, Royal Opera House. November 2003.

Commissioned by the Royal Opera House.

Music: Dave Maric – Broken Fiction

Set and Costumes: Anthony Lamble

Light: Simon Bennison

Cast: 2 (Cindy Jourdain and Johannes Stepanek)

“What bliss it is to see new choreography that not only fulfils your expectations but surpasses them… not only does she use fine technicians but she has an instinct for and an understanding of the craft and – the cherry on the top – she has ideas.”
Dance Europe 2003

Non Exeunt

Premiere: George Piper Dances (aka Ballet Boyz) Sadlers Wells, London. 2003

Ophelia and Lady Macbeth meet…

Music: John Cage

Design: Jon Bausor

Cast: 2

Length: 13mins

Summer Twinnings

Premiere: Royal Ballet School, Royal Opera House, London. 2003

Music: Prokofiev – A Summer Day

Costumes: Johannes Stepanek

Cast: 8

Length: 18mins

“Marston’s Summer Twinings, set to Prokofiev’s breezy A Summer’s Day, also incorporates personal trademarks. Most notable is her kaleidoscopic manner of exploring facets of a relationship.”
The Times, 2003

Stateless

Premiere: Linbury Theatre, Royal Opera House, London. 2003.

Commissioned by the Royal Opera House

Music: Rachmaninoff – Variations on a theme of Chopin

Set and Costumes: Jon Bausor

Light: Simon Bennison

Cast: 6

Length: 27mins

“Marston displays a fine eye for the details of the limbo these dancers inhabit - as their limbs shiver with apprehension, as they blindly cling to each other, as they sicken and fall. Throughout the artful orchestration of their dancing, she maintains the illusion that these are people who have been thrown together, and wrenched apart, by the forces of history.”
The Guardian, 2003

Sophie

Premiere: Linbury Theatre, Royal Opera House, London. 2003.

Commissioned by the Royal Opera House and inspired by William Styron’s novel, Sophie’s Choice.

Music: Jules Maxwell – specially commissioned.

Set and Costumes: Jon Bausor

Video: Terry Braun

Light: Simon Bennison

Cast: 2 (Antonia Francheski and Karl Sullivan)

Length: 35mins

“Instead, her half-hour duet serves up impressions of Sophie, fleshed out through images that slip and slide across the original material. Marston delves into the cracks of the character as if she were shining a torch into shadowy corners (…) as close to glimpsing someone’s soul as movement can get.”
The Times, January 2004

2002

Between Shadows

Premiere: Royal Ballet dancers, Clore Studio Upstairs, Royal Opera House, 2002

Music: Philip Chambon – specially commissioned

Costumes: Elizabeth McGorian

Light: Simon Bennison

Cast: 7

Length: 30mins approx

Facing Viv

Premiere: English National Ballet, UK tour. 2002

Inspired by the relationship of TS Elliot and his first wife, Vivien.

Music: John Adams, Gnarly Buttons

Set and Costumes: Anthony Lamble

Cast: 6

Length: 20mins approx

“Marston is a fast rising star of British choreography. (Her) choreography is characterised by the deployment of the whole body to express an idea; she uses the neck, abdominals and back the way most choreographers use arms and legs. Marston’s debut for English National Ballet is an emotional holocaust, which deserves a larger stage and wider audience.”
Dance International 2002

Pride and Prejudice – First Impressions

Premiere: Ballet Central, UK tour 2002.

Music: Carl Davis – specially commissioned

Costumes: Kate Ford

Cast: 13

Length: 13mins

Unstrung Tension

Premiere: Royal Ballet dancers, Clore Studio Upstairs, Royal Opera House, 2002

Music: Carl Vine – Inner World

Cast: 5

Length: 12mins

“…Ambitious in scale, it proved she has fine-tuned her skills to mature perfection…The movement shapes had the rare virtue of interesting the mind and eye.”
The Independent, 2002

2001

Three Words Unspoken

Premiere: Royal Ballet, Clore Studio Upstairs, Royal Opera House, London, 2001

Music: Constant Lambert

Cast: 2 (Tamara Roja and Brian Maloney)

Length: 12mins

Adrenalin Blush

Premiere: Northern Youth Dance Company. UK tour. 2001

Music: John Williams

Cast: 6

Length: 15mins

The Ballet Shoes

Premiere: London Children’s Ballet. Peacock Theatre, London. May 2001

Based on the novel by Noel Streitfield.

Music: Raymond Warren – specially commissioned

Costumes: Kate Ford

Cast: 50 (8-14 year olds)

Length: 90min (2 acts)

“Cathy Marston's first full-length evening piece and rather superb I thought. Bravos all round.”
Ballet.co.uk (Bruce Marriot), May 2001

Traces

Premiere: Royal Ballet dancers, Clore Studio Upstairs, Royal Opera House, February 2001.

Music: Yann Tierson

Costumes: Ben Meyer

Light: Simon Bennison

Cast: 9 (variable)

Length: 30mins approx

“Marston’s Traces was pure heaven from start to finish. Each moment of unrequited love, confusion, friendship, subtle humour and tension exquisitely evolved in a superb display of fluid, dynamic choreography.”
Dance Europe, 2001

Rosemary for Remembrance

Premiere: Images of Dance, UK tour, 2001

Music: Faure – 1st violin sonata

Cast: 20

Length: 17mins

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