GRIT IN YOUR POINTES Cityscape talks dystopian future, dramatic backdrops and modern ballet with The Firebird choreographer Loughlan Prior.
IMAGE: GARTH BADGER
‘IT’S A DEPARTURE FROM TUTUS AND TIARAS.’ 102
CITYSCAPE.CO.NZ Winter 21
“This production of The Firebird takes Stravinsky’s original music and tells a different story with it,” says Loughlan Prior. “A story that is steeped in an environmental message, and more connected with the issues of today.” He calls it “ballet with grit”, and that’s definitely a double entendre. The choreography and the story certainly have grit, and the kicker is that this production is set in the decidedly gritty desert landscape of a dystopian wasteland. Well, we say dystopian, but it may be more of a not-so-distant future. “I’ve been working with set designer Tracy Grant Lord to create this world, and it really is a world that exists in the future, kind of a civilisation on the edge,” Loughlan says. “The choreography is raw and athletic, and there’s urgency to all the actions on stage. It’s a departure from tutus and tiaras.” Loughlan is also a talented film director, and is bringing this passion into play by incorporating film elements into The Firebird, with the help of animations from