The musical and thematic basis for choreographer Christopher Bruce’s ballet Intimate Pages was the String Quartet No. 2 by the Czech composer Leoš Janácek. A victim of unrequited love, the composer wrote this delicate and finely crafted work in 1928, the last year of his life. For a little over a decade he had been corresponding with a young married woman he had met in 1917. The ballet conveys both the joy and the anguish expressed in the music.

Robert North’s jazz ballet Lonely Town, Lonely Street, in which he himself takes part, is a passionate and energy-laden portrait of a lonely person in the big city. The work takes its title from the popular music of Bill Withers on which it is based, and from the stage design by Andrew Storer, whose set with fire escapes represents a rundown neighbourhood in a North American metropolis. Some of the songs incorporated include: “Song for Guy”, “Lonely Town, Lonely Street”, “Another day to run”, “Ain’t no sunshine when she’s gone” and “You”.

Woven into the musical accompaniment of English, Irish and American folksongs, Christopher Bruce’s dance work Sergeant Early’s Dream tells a story of migration to the New World from the Old. Consequently the ballet – built around contrasts and marked rhythms – recurrently conjures up fleeting references to a past life: the folklore of the Old World and the harsh lives, loves and the tragedies of the people they knew there.

Intimate Pages* / Lonely Town, Lonely Street** / Sergeant Early’s Dream***

Choreography: Christopher Bruce (*/ ***), Robert North (**)
Directed and produced by Thomas Grimm

Relaunched in a new design + territory expansion (previously available as 100284)

Sound Format: PCM Stereo
Picture Format: 4:3
Menu Languages: D, F, GB, SP
Region Code: 0
Running Time: 101 mins
DVD 9 / NTSC