SCOTTISH BALLET Theatre Royal. Glasgow, Wed 13—Sat 16 Apr; Edinburgh Festival Theatre, Wed 20—Sat 23 Apr
For 12 years he was one of Rambert‘s most respected dancers — a captivating presence on stage, and a highlight of the London company‘s annual visits to Scotland. And then, seven months ago, something wonderful happened. Paul Liburd got on a train to Scotland — and stayed here. Bidding farewell to Rambert, he joined the Scottish Ballet stable. Their loss was most certainly our gain.
After over a decade in one place, however, Liburd took some acclimatising. ‘I‘ve been coming to Glasgow for years performing with Rambert,‘ he says. ‘But it was still a big move for me. I’ve settled down now though, got to know the other dancers and people in the city, so I feel a bit more at home.‘ Having warmed up with relatively small roles in Scottish Ballet's autumn programme and Christmas Nutcracker, Liburd is ready to tackle something meatier. Not that the Leeds-born dancer had any expectations before his arrival. ‘I didn’t know what the repertoire was, I had no idea what I‘d be getting,’ he admits. ‘l was pretty open minded and just wanted to see what happened.'
The company‘s upcoming spring programme gives Liburd much to get his teeth into. As a former Rambert
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Touring COO
dancer, he is no stranger to diversity - which is just as well, as he is currently learning three vastly different new works. Sir Frederick Ashton‘s 1931 character dance, Facade, uses ballroom dances of the 19203 to add a touch of humour to the programme. Scottish Ballet‘s artistic director Ashley Page has created a brand new work for Liburd and three other dancers, set to Nine Inch Nails and the Aphex Twin. But Liburd‘s biggest challenge comes in the form of George Balanchine‘s neo-classical ballet, The Four Temperaments. Despite his years of experience, Liburd has never danced Balanchine before. and he‘s a notoriously tough choreographer to crack. Scottish Ballet performed the work last spring, prior to Liburd‘s arrival, so he‘s playing catch-up. ‘For a classical work, it‘s very modern,‘ he says. ‘And for me, the music, the amount of dancers on stage, the physicality, it‘s all very exciting.‘
At the age of 36, it would seem Liburd is still at the peak of his game, recently picking up the Critics‘ Circle award for Outstanding Male Dancer (Modern). And with the recent announcement that Scottish Ballet is to play the Edinburgh International Festival for the first time in 20 years, it would seem they found each other at just the right time. ‘I was looking for a challenge before I stopped dancing,‘ says Liburd, breaking into a laugh. ‘And this company’s definitely given me that.‘(Kelly Apter)
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Mary McCluskey, artistic director of Scottish Youth
Theatre, sets the world — and James Boyle - to rights about young people and the arts. ll» N y mi " ' '
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Scott sh Youth Theatre l’, {mind to be associated with our colleagues u". the other mm; a! yOutn performng arts companies. I urge James Emir; and the Cultural Comnmnw to give these Organisations If‘f: resources and the recogr‘ation they deserve.
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