Echo and Narcissus

★★★★ "Exquisitely formed and performed... a potent blend of dark depths and beguiling beauty" The Guardian

★★★★ "A work of considerable and well-considered beauty. Highly adept dancers" The Times

★★★★ "Beautifully fluent ... small miracles of mirroring" The Guardian

★★★★ "Compellingly hypnotic" The Stage 

★★★★ "Brandstrup uses a dancer’s physique so completely you almost forget verbal communication exists at all, or is necessary" The Stage

Kim Brandstrup returns to the Ustinov Studio with a brand new work to complete his mythological trilogy.

Following the huge success of Minotaur and Metamorphoses in Deborah Warner’s first and second seasons, which explored notable characters and relationships from Greek mythology, Olivier Award-winning choreographer Kim Brandstrup presents the final installment of the triptych with Echo and Narcissus.

In Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Echo is doomed only to repeat the words of others. Never able to speak nor to be heard, she circles the beautiful Narcissus, who only sees and hears himself. Misapprehension prevails as they move through a strange, echoing hall of mirrors and reflection.

Continuing the theme of featuring works by Benjamin Britten throughout Deborah Warner’s seasons (Phaedra, The Turn of the Screw), Echo and Narcissus is preluded by a performance of Britten’s Six Metamorphoses after Ovid, a work for solo oboe, and Leda and the Swan, a short film created by Brandstrup, both similarly inspired by Ovid’s Metamorphoses.

Echo and Narcissus will feature an ensemble of dancers including Laurel Dalley Smith from the Martha Graham Dance Company in New York, Seirian Griffiths, Jacob Wye, Jonathan Goddard, Archie White. Ustinov Dance offers a truly exceptional opportunity to experience close up some of the finest dancers in the world.

Kim Brandstrup is renowned for his work over four decades with the Royal Ballet, New York City Ballet, English National Ballet and Rambert.