Mr Wonderful – A Celebration of Jonathan Ollivier’s Life in Dance takes place at Sadler’s Wells on 18 January
Matthew Bourne has announced the full programme for Mr Wonderful – A Celebration of Jonathan Ollivier’s Life In Dance, the evening of dance dedicated to the memory of gifted dancer Jonathan Ollivier at Sadler’s Wells on 18 January.
Speaking on behalf of New Adventures, Northern Ballet and Sadler’s Wells, Bourne revealed final details of the line-up for the fundraising tribute to the dancer who tragically died in an accident last year on the way to the final performance of The Car Man.
Ballet Superstar Marcelo Gomes, principal dancer of the American Ballet Theatre will perform Paganini for the first time in the UK, accompanied by violinist Charles Yang. Gomes, who recently guested with New Adventures in The Car Man, will also give UK audiences the first chance to see him perform the role of The Swan in an excerpt from Bourne’s Swan Lake with Dominic North in the role of The Prince.
Previous New Adventures principal dancers Richard Winsor (now a star of BBC1’s Casualty), Sam Archer; Simon Williams and James Leece will join current company principals Christopher Marney and Dominic North in Bourne’s Mr Wonderful, which was last seen on stage in 1992.
The award-winning Michael Clark Company, who Ollivier danced with between 2011 and 2013 will perform an excerpt from Come, Been and Gone to the music of David Bowie. Ollivier’s close friend from the Rambert School, New York-based choreographer Warren Adams, has arranged for an exclusive excerpt from the West End company of the Broadway hit Motown – The Musical which will open in February at the Shaftesbury Theatre.
Picture: Roy Tan
Award-winning choreographer Drew McOnie will present his piece Shine; and the Rambert School, where Ollivier trained, will present original work by emerging choreographers; and the Young Ensemble from the Sadler’s Wells production of Lord of the Flies will perform their piece Tidal.
As previously announced the event will be hosted by Matthew Bourne, and will be interspersed with film clips and previously unseen footage in celebration of Ollivier’s extraordinary talent and legacy. As well as excerpts from the New Adventures productions in which Ollivier starred, the show will feature a Northern Ballet presentation of a Pas De Deux from Wuthering Heights (in which Ollivier created the role of Heathcliffe) as well as the celebratory Gala piece Sapphire made for the men of the company. The evening will be completed by Kevin and Karen Clifton, from BBC1’s Strictly Come Dancing, who will perform a Paso Doble to The Police’s Roxanne in memory of their friend.
All ticket income will be placed in charitable trust funds for Ollivier’s two young sons, six-year-old Lucas and 12-month-old Isaac. (Please note: the evening is now sold out and anyone wanting to attend should regularly check the Sadler’s Wells website for returns.)
Angela Thomas
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