Apollo | Interlinked | 'Still Life' at the Penguin Café

A colourful host of endangered animals seek shelter from the storm in David Bintley’s ‘Still Life’ at the Penguin Café. Featuring a morris-dancing flea, a ballroom-dancing ram, a hoe-downing rat, a majestic zebra and many more, this is an ‘unforgettable’ (Sunday Times), witty and enjoyable, yet bittersweet and poignant look at human impact on the world. All danced to Simon Jeffes’s delightful score, originally composed for the Penguin Café Orchestra.

The ‘quiet perfection’ (The Guardian) of Apollo highlighted the genius of its creator, the then 24-year-old George Balanchine, and launched his lifelong partnership with the composer Igor Stravinsky. This most exquisite of ballets was regarded by Balanchine as his artistic coming of age. Its pared back elegance gives the perfect platform for the Company’s world-class dancers to shine.

Brilliant young Brazilian choreographer Juliano Nunes’s Interlinked was premiered in summer 2022 as part of the Birmingham 2022 Festival. Described as ‘stretching ballet’s mould’ by The Guardian, with a specially composed score by Australian composer Luke Howard, this beautifully abstract piece explores ideas of grace, beauty and harmony in ways that push the usual boundaries of classical dance.

Download your castsheet by clicking the buttons on the performance calendar below, or after the performance by visiting our castsheet archive. The final version of each download will be available approx. two hours before the listed performance (earlier versions may be posted in advance if available).