BBC announces Winter dance programming

The BBC today (Thursday 27 October) announced a new raft of dance programming for winter 2016.

Published: 27 October 2016
  • Darcey Bussell searches for the real Margot Fonteyn, for BBC One
  • BalletBoyz present the first ever full length feature film to be made by a dance company – Young Men – for BBC Two
  • BBC Two goes behind-the-scenes at the Royal Ballet’s renowned Christmas production, The Nutcracker
  • BBC Four marks Sir Peter Wright’s 90th birthday with a documentary featuring his first major television profile interview
  • Plus, BBC Young Dancer returns on BBC Two and BBC Four, providing a platform for dancers aged 16-21 in a search for the next generation of dance talent

Highlights include a Christmas special for BBC Two going behind-the-scenes at the Royal Ballet’s festive production, The Nutcracker; an exploration of the life, loves and career of Margot Fonteyn presented by Darcey Bussell for BBC One; and a programme marking the 90th birthday of a legend of British ballet, Sir Peter Wright, on BBC Four.

The internationally acclaimed, all-male BalletBoyz present the first ever full length feature film to be made by a dance company. A world premiere on BBC Two in November, Young Men follows a group of young soldiers as they experience the indiscriminate brutality of warfare.

Plus, following the success of BBC Young Dancer 2015’s inaugural competition, the search for the next generation of dance talent continues. Launching on BBC Four in March 2017, BBC Young Dancer 2017 will culminate in a Grand Final at Sadler’s Wells on 22 April 2017.

MC4

Darcey Bussell: Looking for Margot - BBC One

Margot Fonteyn has inspired generations of ballerinas. She was beautiful, brilliant, talented and never put a foot wrong on stage. Her late flowering partnering with Rudolf Nureyev created the most dazzling ballet partnership in history. And yet behind-the-scenes, as Darcey Bussell discovers, Margot’s life was marked by tragedy and disappointment. She barely knew her father, and was dominated by her well-meaning yet fiercely ambitious mother. She couldn’t find love, and never had children. And when she finally did marry, to a man she loved from afar for many years, he turned out to be very different than she expected: a hero to his people, but not always to his wife.

Darcey Bussell visits the Royal Opera House and the Royal Ballet, and travels from London to New York and Panama looking for Margot. She finds how Margot lost out in love, got drawn into a failed foreign revolution, danced on for far too long, and died alone and in poverty, miles from home. Along the way Darcey speaks to many people who have not spoken out before about Margot. In the end, Darcey learns by following her heart, Margot did find a kind of happiness, even though it came at such a high price.

Producer/Director: Marion Milne
Executive Producer: Ross Wilson for Matchlight
Commissioning Editor, BBC: Emma Cahusac

The Nutcracker - BBC Two

Created by legendary choreographer Sir Peter Wright, The Royal Ballet’s Production of The Nutcracker is the most lavish and best-loved Christmas ballet on the planet. This signature classic more than any other has come to define the scale, spectacle and technical prowess of the company.

For the first time in many years, the Royal Ballet gives access behind-the-scenes for a landmark 90 minute Christmas documentary, following the company as they prepare for the season’s production.

This year’s Nutcracker sees the debut of numerous young dancers from the Royal Ballet School - from 11-year-old dancers at White Lodge to senior year students dancing as Snowflakes – as well as dancers most recently promoted to the company’s highest rank of Principal. The programme follows preparations for one of the most iconic and most technically challenging roles in the entire ballet repertoire: the Sugar Plum Fairy, a role danced by some of the greatest dancers ever to grace the stage – from Margot Fonteyn to Darcey Bussell.

With access across three months to rehearsals and the many elements that make up the production, this film will show the extraordinary artistry and craftsmanship behind the theatrical magic and gives the viewer a direct insight into The Royal Ballet during one of the most exciting periods in its creative history. In so doing, it reveals not just the dedication of the dancers themselves, but also the extraordinary skillset behind them that makes the Royal one of the world’s most prestigious ballet companies.

Producer/Director: Hugo Macgregor
Executive Producers: Nicolas Kent for OFTV and Emma Cahusac for the BBC
Commissioning Editor, BBC: Mark Bell

Young Men - BBC Two

The internationally acclaimed, all-male BalletBoyz present the first ever full length feature film to be made by a dance company. A world premiere on BBC Two, Young Men follows a group of young soldiers as they experience the indiscriminate brutality of warfare.

Shot on location in northern France, and premiering in the month of Remembrance Sunday, the film follows a young solider and his squadron’s experience of basic training, combat, and ultimately, the destruction of modern warfare. The film is shot without words, instead using the set and carefully choreographed dance to depict the devastation of a continent. The characters themselves remain ambiguous, representative of the experiences of young men of every nation. The dancers, all who are members of the BalletBoyz ten-strong Company, are largely only just of conscription age.

The film features a score by critically acclaimed recording artist Keaton Henson, performed by the BBC Concert Orchestra.

Originally conceived Young Men received its world premiere at London’s Sadler’s Wells in January 2015 where it played to sold out houses, returning again in October 2015 due to popular demand. The film is part of 14-18 NOW, the UK-wide arts programme for the centenary of the First World War.

Written and Produced By: Michael Nunn OBE and William Trevitt OBE
Commissioning Editor and Executive Producer, BBC: Jan Younghusband

Sir Peter Wright at 90 - BBC Four

Sir Peter Wright, who celebrates his 90th birthday this November, is a legend of British ballet. He has been a classical dancer, a choreographer, a television director and a teacher. He worked alongside most of the great names – Margot Fonteyn, Dame Ninette de Valois, Frederick Ashton, John Cranko, Kenneth MacMillan. For two decades he ran the touring company of the Royal Ballet and then transformed it into the Birmingham Royal Ballet. He has created enduring productions of the classical repertoire – Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Coppelia – and his versions of The Nutcracker and Giselle are acknowledged world-wide as possibly the finest of all.

Sir Peter’s passion for ballet is unabated, and this year he has supervised productions in Budapest and Munich as well as in London. His determination to train as a dancer overcame parental opposition and early hardships, and his artistic and organisational abilities were all too often taken for granted. But his strong belief in ballet as a complete theatrical experience breathed new life into the classics while always honouring their origins. This documentary will look at his colourful career and examine his unwavering convictions through the first major television interview he has given, as well as contributions from many distinguished colleagues and a rich array of archive and behind-the-scenes footage.

Producer/Director: David Thompson
Executive Producer: Janet Lee
Commissioning Editor, BBC: Jan Younghusband

BBC Young Dancer 2017 - BBC Four, BBC Two

Following the success of the inaugural competition in 2015, BBC Young Dancer returns in 2017, inviting dancers aged 16-21 to enter in four categories; Ballet, Contemporary, South Asian Dance and Street Dance.

BBC Young Dancer provides a platform for non-professional UK resident dancers to demonstrate their dancing abilities through four competitive rounds designed to highlight their technical command, creative ability and expressive capability. Their competition journey, from the early stages through to preparing for the Grand Final, will be documented in four programmes to be shown on BBC Four in the weeks running up to the Grand Final, which will be broadcast on BBC Two.

The Grand Final will take place at Sadler’s Wells in London on 22 April 2017. The judges for the Grand Final will be Marc Brew, Kevin O’Hare, Kate Prince, Nahid Siddiqui, Kenneth Tharp and Jasmin Vardimon. Award winning British choreographer Shobana Jeyasingh will act as cross category judge on all four Category Final judging panels.

Executive Series Producer: Paul Bullock
Competition Manager: Kerry Clark
Dance Consultant: Jane Hackett
Commissioning Editor, BBC: Jan Younghusband

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