Year Course Programme History of Performance

Transcription

1 New Course Year Course Programme History of Performance Fridays, 22 September July 2018 (over 3 terms) (Each term includes optional gallery talks, commencing at and repeated at 15.30) Experience the History of Performance through the medium of Opera, Dance and Theatre on this new year course. In term one, designed to coincide with this autumn s major V&A exhibition, explore the cities and states in which opera was to make a major impact: their rulers and financiers, theatres and impresarios, artists and audiences as well as the major works associated with each city and the people who created them. In the course of this operatic Grand Tour, we make stopovers in Renaissance Italy, Louis XIV s Versailles, Handel s London, Mozart s Vienna, Verdi s Italy, Wagner s Germany, Gilded Age America, and beyond. The second term of the course will investigate theatre-dance from the ballet de cour of seventeenth century France through to the work of twenty first century choreographers including Matthew Bourne and Wayne McGregor making reference to the rich collections held by the V&A. With ballet as the primary focus, this term will investigate all aspects of dance production, including set and costume designs and music for dance, with sessions from practitioners and those who work behind the scenes. British Theatre takes centre stage in the final term which looks at the development of theatre in many aspects from Shakespeare to the modern day. With guest sessions from theatre practitioners and critics, gallery tours, and optional theatre visits, the aim of this term is to focus on performance within the theatrical space and explore the unique relationship between audience and performer across the ages. Course Director: Term 1: Opera is a social and cultural historian. Born in London, Daniel was educated at Cambridge and Cornell, was a Lecturer at the University of Sussex, and went on to work at the BBC where he produced a wide variety of radio projects on cultural and historical topics. Now a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Historical Research, his recent books include a study of the cultural impact of the Hitler Emigrés and The Gilded Stage: A Social History of Opera.

2 Term 2: Dance is Curator of Dance for the Victoria and Albert Museum, where she co-curated Diaghilev and the Golden Age of the Ballets Russes, and edited the accompanying book. Previously she was archivist for Rambert Dance Company and English National Ballet, and created the Contemporary Dance Trust Archive. Other exhibitions include Les Ballets 1933, Rambert Dance Company at 75, A Flash of Light: The Dance Photography of Chris Nash, and Hand in Glove, a performed exhibition of Lea Anderson s costumes. She has curated seasons of dance films, presented radio programmes, and contributed to numerous publications. She was awarded an MBE for services to the arts in the 2014 New Year s Honours. Term 3: Theatre is an independent theatre director and producer who specializes in creating new work with artists in developing countries. He is the Founding Director of the charity Developing Artists and a Fellow of St. Chad s College, Durham University. Giles has run theatre projects in Botswana, Cape Verde, Equatorial Guinea, Kenya, Kosovo, Palestine, Mexico, Thailand, and Zimbabwe. He also regularly lectures on the history of theatre on Cunard s Queen Mary 2 as it sails from New York to the UK. studied at University of London (BA), University of Reading (PGCE), and King s College, London, & RADA (MA). He has worked as an actor, director, and teacher, and was Workshop and Events Manager at the V&A Theatre Museum in London for 10 years. Malcolm works for Age Exchange Theatre Trust in Blackheath, writing, directing, and presenting theatre projects. He also directs Reminiscence Theatre Projects at E15 Theatre School and occasionally works for the Ambassador Theatre Group. He has taught at Rose Bruford College, Mountview Theatre School, The Actors Centre, and RADA. Guest Lecturers: Guests from the world of professional opera, dance and theatre will be taking part throughout the course. Some special guests can only be announced closer to the course start date, due to the nature of their schedules, which may result in adjustments to the programme below.

3 Autumn Term Programme & Dates: History of Performance Fridays, 22 September 8 Dec 2017 The History of Opera This course as in the V&A Exhibition it accompanies will look at the history of opera from the perspective of demand as well as supply, consumption as well as production. Explore cities and states in which opera was to make a major impact, their rulers and financiers, theatres and impresarios, artists and audiences as well as the works themselves and the people who created them. In the course of this operatic Grand Tour, we make stopovers in Renaissance Italy, Louis XIV s Versailles, Handel s London, Mozart s Vienna, Verdi s Italy, Wagner s Germany, Gilded Age America and beyond. In the twentieth century, opera survived the depredations of Stalin and Hitler and two world wars to become a truly global art form. The lectures will be richly illustrated, with both images and musical examples, and will touch on a range of compelling historical issues. How widely known would the operas of Handel or Mozart have been during their lifetimes? Why was Mozart poor but Verdi became rich? When and why did the prima donna get her fiery reputation? How did a supposedly elite art take root in such self-consciously egalitarian societies as the USA and Australia? Does opera have a future and what exactly do we mean by opera? 22 September The Birth of What We Call Opera Introduction Monteverdi, Orfeo and the Birth of Opera in the Italian Courts and in Venice L incoronazione di Poppea Richard Wistreich 29 September Opera Crosses the Alps Louis XIV, Lully and beyond Handel s London Rinaldo Suzanne Aspden

4 6 October Mozart and his World Mid eighteenth century Europe: the Travels and Travails of Young Wolfgang From Salzburg to Vienna Mozart s Vienna: from Figaro to Die Zauberflöte 13 October Revolution and Beyond French Revolution, Napoleon and After Katherine Hambridge Beethoven and Fidelio Katherine Hambridge Paris: Grand Opéra Sarah Hibberd 20 October Romanticism Meets Nationalism Italy (esp Naples) post-1815: Bel canto German Cultural Nationalism: from Weber to Wagner Tannhäuser in Paris, 1861 Flora Willson 27 October Wagner and Verdi Wagner after Tannhäuser Young Verdi: Nabucco and beyond Viva Verdi! Opera in post-risorgimento Italy 3 November Wider Worlds Opéra et l Opéra Comique Richard Langham Smith New York s Gilded Age The Wider Frontier 10 November Putting on the Show The Covent Garden story The ascendancy of Conductor and Director Putting on the show with Sally Burgess, Janis Kelly and Simon Rees 17 November Richard II German opera post-wagner: the emergence of Richard II Salome Kate Bailey Operatic production and design: Salome and Elektra in the twentieth century 24 November Puccini and his Worlds Verismo and the world of Puccini Close-up on Bohème, Tosca, Butterfly Later Puccini 1 December Opera Under the Dictators Hitler, Stalin and Mussolini Shostakovich: Lady Macbeth Rosamund Bartlett Total War and After 8 December Opera Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow Britten and beyond Opera Goes Global The Show Must Go On. Or will it? with John Allison, Iain Bell, Stephen Brown and David Pountney

5 Spring Term Programme & Dates: History of Performance Fridays, 12 January 23 March 2018 The Development of Ballet and Theatre Dance The second term of this Year Course will look at the development of ballet and theatre dance largely in the Western world. Richly illustrated, it will consider all aspects of dance production, design and music as well as movement, drawing attention to the wealth of material in the V&A s own collection. Alongside the backbone of historical developments, dance and theatre practitioners and scholars will offer an insight into how dance in the theatre is presented and how this most ephemeral of performing arts is recorded. 12 January Setting the Scene Introduction: overview of the development of dance in Western theatre From gods to peasants with a focus on La Fille mal gardée Dance and photography Presentation by choreographer, Chris Nash 19 January Romantic Ballet C19th Romantic Ballet August Bournonville ( ) La Sylphide, Napoli and Bournonville s legacy The Iconography of Dance Keith Cavers 26 January Spectacle and Empire: Dance in the late C19th Ballet in the late C19th focusing on the ballo grande and Excelsior Ballet in late C19th Britain A dancer s perspective on spaces for dance and the audience Susie Crow 2 February The changing dance scene Dance in the early C20th: Loie Fuller ( ), Isadora Duncan ( ) and Ruth St.Denis ( ) Anna Pavlova ( ) Designing for Dance

6 9 February Ballets Russes Ballets Russes Part I Ballets Russes Part II Conducting for Ballet presentation Gavin Sutherland and 16 February The birth of dance in Britain The birth of C20th British Ballet Focus on the choreography of Frederick Ashton A Dancer s career Brenda Last OBE 23 February The twentieth century dance scene in USA Focus on the choreography of George Balanchine The rise of Modern Dance in the USA Creating costumes for dance Cathy Hill 9 March New developments in Later C20th Ballet in Britain since The rise of Modern dance in Britain Dance on screen 16 March The world of Marius Petipa and his influence Nadine Meisner on Marius Petipa, great choreographer in Russia Nadine Meisner Reworking the classics Music for the ballet 23 March The Scene Today Choreography Now! Collecting dance in the V&A Discussion with a choreographer TBC 2 March The rise of dance in Britain Dramatic ballets: the choreography of Anthony Tudor, Roland Petit, John Cranko and Peter Darrell Presentation on Kenneth MacMillan Helena Hammond Jerome Robbins and Glen Tetley: Moving between genres The V&A reserves the right to alter the programme at short notice if circumstances make it necessary. All lectures are subject to change.

7 Summer Term Programme & Dates: History of Performance Fridays, 20 April 6 July 2018 A History of British Theatre Who went? Where did they go? What did they see? The story of British Theatre is a volatile, glamourous and controversial history. It responded to and was part of the society around it as it changed. The course will look at the development of theatre in many aspects from Shakespeare to the modern day. We will cover the actors, the writers and the directors. We will look at the development of the playhouses and the audiences who sat in them. We will also include how the theories of acting and performance evolved over the years. We will look at the legitimate and popular theatre and follow the theatres fight against censorship over 250 years. The aim of the course is to focus on performance within the theatrical space and explore the unique relationship between an audience and performer across the ages. Lectures will be illustrated with PowerPoint presentation and archive film, including the V&A Archive of Live Performance. At appropriate points we will bring in practitioners or critics who can help illuminate the story with personal reminiscences or insights into the work of the theatre. There will also be optional theatre visits and gallery tours relevant to the course. 20 April eeks, Priests and the Coming of the Playhouse What is Performance Greeks Medieval Theatre 27 April Shakespeare & the Jacobeans Coming of the Playhouse Marlowe Shakespeare 4 May Restoration and Beyond Shakespeare in Performance Jacobeans and Closure of Theatres Restoration Theatre 11 May Garrick and Melodrama to New Theories of Performance Garrick th Century Melodrama and Stanislavski

8 18 May Winds of Change Chekhov, Ibsen And Brecht Chekhov Ibsen Brecht 25 May Style & Wit Oscar Wilde, Coward, Rattigan Wilde Coward and Rattigan 1 June The 1960s / Joe Orton / End of Censorship The 1960s and Guest Kenneth Cranham Joe Orton The Fight against Censorship 8 June Popular Theatre Music Hall and Variety Music Hall Variety Theatre TBC and Guest Barry Cryer 15 June Musical Theatre Novello and Coward and British Musicals American Musicals TBC and Guest Janie Dee 22 June Post War Osborne / Wesker/ Pinter / Beckett New realism Royal Court Osborne and Wesker Stratford East Pinter and Beckett and 29 June The National Theatre & The Rsc & Beyond Creating a National Theatre from Lilian Baylis TBC The National Theatre and Guest James Hayes What the Director Does 6 July The Road to Today Directors and Writers A Brief History of Acting Styles Course Round Up Q&A TBC Guest Critic TBC All lectures delivered by and with guests Guest List: Guests from professional theatre will occasionally be invited to sessions. Due to the nature of professional work it is very hard to commit to days long in advance. We will announce theatre guests during the programme. This may mean slight adjustments to the order above. The V&A reserves the right to alter the programme at short notice if circumstances make it necessary. If you are booking for a particular day please confirm the programme of the day with the V&A booking office a few days in advance.

9 Course Fees 2150 per year, 1935 over 60s, 1600 concessions 910 per term, 819 over 60s, 640 concessions 80 per day, 72 over 60s, 57 concessions External visits may incur additional costs. This Year Course does not have a Certificate Option. Booking and Further Information How to Book Book online at or call Please note term tickets will be released 4 weeks before the start of each term and day tickets will be released 2 weeks before the start of each term. Please note the full fee applies to V&A Members, patrons, and students. This year we have introduced an over 60s discount for all courses. Concessions are also available for ES40 holders and registered disabled people. A carer may accompany a registered disabled course student for free, please inform staff when booking. A limited number of Early Booker Discounts will be available for each course. This entitles you to 20% off year courses. They will be allocated on a first come first served basis and cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer. Call to claim this offer. Refunds will only be given in cases of extenuating circumstances, such as illness or other personal difficulty, and are not guaranteed. A refund must be applied for no less than 14 days after an event and if it is approved, 90% of the price of the ticket will be refunded. 10% is retained for ad ministration costs.