An unusual combination of carols and ballet aims to recreate the wintery feel of a white Christmas most Indians are not familiar with
Representation Pic
One doesn’t usually associate Christmas with ballet, or vice versa. Besides, in India, Christmas is filled with joy, laughter and the spirit of giving, but definitely not light, chilly snowflakes raining down on you. A Classical Christmas, an upcoming concert at the Royal Opera House aims to shatter all your preconceived notions, with a novel take on the festival.
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The concert is the coming-together of two worlds: choir music and ballet, both interspersed with each other. The carols will be sung by the Harmony Chorus, which features 32 students from Bengaluru-based Harmony- The Music School. Meanwhile, ballerinas from the National Youth Ballet Company will twirl to the melodies sung by the children’s choir.
The carols will be sung by the Harmony Chorus, and the ballerinas from the National Youth Ballet Company will twirl to the melodies
“I don’t remember a cold Christmas anymore; my aim, therefore, is to re-create the Christmas in London I’ve grown up with,” says Yana Lewis, founder of the National Youth Ballet Company and the Lewis Foundation of Classical Ballet. Lewis, who originally hails from the UK, says that she’s grown up with the idea of a magical white Christmas, replete with snowflakes and chilly nights. Ever since settling in India nearly 25 years ago, however, she’s had to accept the idea of a warm Christmas.
The Harmony Chorus founder Sandra Oberoi says that it is not so much a musical or a fusion as much as it is a collaboration. “I was keen on introducing the choir, and Indian audiences, to something different, something they hadn’t heard or seen before,” she says. “This is possibly the first time a children’s choir is performing Britten’s entire Ceremony of Carols in India.” Lewis and Oberoi, who are close friends, decided that a ballet set to classical Christmas carols was apt to showcase the spirit of Christmas.
Yana Lewis, Sandra Oberoi and Tiana and Tiara
The Ceremony of Carols is a collection of 11 short pieces that Britten is said to have written on a ship in 1942-43, while travelling from the United States to England. “This composition, written for treble voices, has a feel of rounds and canons (structured musical pieces composed of repetitive elements) for children to ‘play’ with,” Oberoi notes. “Several sections with thrilling rhythms and exquisite harmonies bring together the lyrics written in Old English and Middle English.”
Other pieces include Rutter’s Shepherd’s Pipe Carol, which tells the story of a shepherd boy on his way to meet Jesus, and Candlelight Carol, which “focuses on the aura of Mary and Jesus, and the relationship and love of a mother for her baby,” as Oberoi puts it.
For Oberoi, it is also a proud mommy moment, as her two daughters, Tiara, 20, and Tiana, 18, are also performing solo acts and duets at the concert. Tiara, who currently studies at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London, says, “It’s a blessing to have grown up around music from a young age. It’s always a treat performing with my younger sister; it’s a case of iron sharpens iron. I learn a lot performing with her.” Tiana, who’s a first-year student at the Royal College of Music in London, has been singing since she was three. “Music,” she says, “is my life. I breathe and live music.”
Lewis adds that she was surprised to see little girls in India associate ballet with Barbie—their first introduction to the dance form. For her, however, Christmas ballet is synonymous with Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker, which is set during the season. The ballet for the Ceremony of Carols features original elements and movements from The Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, and Nutcracker—delicate sugar-plum fairies dancing across a snowy white winter wonderland.
WHAT: A Classical Christmas: An Evening of Carols and Ballet
WHEN: December 20, 7 PM
WHERE: Royal Opera House Mumbai, Girgaum
PRICE: Rs 300
TO BOOK: insider.in
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TO BOOK: insider.in
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