Sweet Violets
Murder, sexuality and art are the potent themes of Liam Scarlett’s ballet, inspired by Walter Sickert’s paintings.
Photos
When to see it
Part of a mixed Programme, These works are performed together
Serenade / Sweet Violets / DGV
A mixed programme of exhilarating contrasts, from a dark Victorian melodrama to a celebration of hi-tech modernity.
Booking for 14 May 2014 - 26 May 2014 opens
- Booking opens 8 April 2014 at 10.00am for General Public.
- Booking opens 18 March 2014 at 10.00am for Friends of Covent Garden.
- Booking opens 28 February 2014 at 10.00am for Supporting Friends.
- Booking opens 26 February 2014 at 10.00am for Premium 1 Friends.
- Booking opens 25 February 2014 at 10.00am for Premium 2 Friends.
Introduction
Walter Sickert is fascinated by a series of sensational murders. When he draws on the killings as inspiration for his paintings, imagination and reality start to blur.
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Liam Scarlett on Walter Sickert and Jack the Ripper
The choreographer on the inspiration for his new short ballet, Sweet Violets.
Background
Sweet Violets, Liam Scarlett’s first narrative ballet, had its premiere at the Royal Opera House in 2012. It is based on artist Walter Sickert’s obsession with the Jack the Ripper killings and the murder of prostitute Emily Dimmock, which inspired his ‘Camden Town Murder’ paintings (1908) and Jack the Ripper’s Bedroom (1907). Sweet Violets is set to Sergey Rachmaninoff’s 1893 Trio élégiaque, which expressed the composer’s grief at the death of his friend and mentor Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky.
John MacFarlane’s designs conjure up the shadowy underworld of late-Victorian and Edwardian London: prostitutes’ shabby bedrooms, rundown artists’ studios and East End backstreets. Scarlett’s powerful choreography probingly explores the web of fact and fiction that surrounds the Jack the Ripper legend. The ballet raises questions about obsession, violence and artistic creativity.
Credits
| Choreography | Liam Scarlett |
| Music | Sergey Rachmaninoff |
| Designs | John Macfarlane |
| Lighting design | David Finn |
Related links
- en.wikipedia.org Wikipedia: The Camden Town Murder paintings
- www.roh.org.uk Liam Scarlett – Royal Ballet Artist-in-Residence
- www.guardian.co.uk Walter Sickert and the dance of death
