Dancer Nicolas Le Riche to Join Tamara Rojo in LE JEUNE HOMME ET LA MORT at London Coliseum, April 18-21

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Legendary French dancer Nicolas Le Riche, Étoile of the Paris Opera Ballet, will dance the lead role in Le Jeune Homme et la Mort, partnering Tamara Rojo, for the Ecstasy and Death programme.

This limited run, which opens at the London Coliseum on Thursday 18 April, will be the first time he has partnered Tamara Rojo. Nicholas Le Riche whose farewell performance at the Paris Opera next year has just been announced, has made Le Jeune Homme one of his signatures roles, following in the footsteps of Baryshnikov and Nureyev, Le Riche's mentor at the Paris Opera.

English National Ballet Artistic Director Tamara Rojo said: "I am delighted to both welcome and partner Nicolas Le Riche in Roland Petit's masterpiece of love and despair."

Le Riche will alternate with English National Ballet's own protégé Yonah Acosta whose interpretation of the role was acclaimed in 2011 and made such and impact.

Casting details are also announced for Etudes which include performances by Vadim Montagirov, English National Ballet's recently promoted Lead Principal who will partner Tamara Rojo and Erina Takahashi.

The Ecstasy and Death programme consists of three contrasting 20th Century ballets of magnificent choreography and deep poetic emotion, which together, will showcase the Company's stylistic versatility, technical brilliance and dramatic flair. Drawing on the dancers' extraordinary physical, emotional and theatrical talents, this will be the first time English National Ballet has performed Ji?í Kylián's landmark ballet Petite Mort.

Petite Mort
Ji?í Kylián's beautiful, poetic piece, is a landmark of contemporary choreography and its language has inspired a new generation of choreographers. It features six men, six women, and six fencing foils, symbolising energy, silence and sexuality. The foils become dancing partners in the piece, representing the brutality of everyday life. Choreographed to the slow movements from Mozart's Piano concertos in A Major and C major, Petite Mort was created in 1991 for the Salzburg Festival to mark the second centenary of Mozart's death. Ji?í Kylián is a Prague-born dancer and choreographer, formally Artistic Director at Nederlands Dans Theatre. Since his first renowned piece Sinfonietta, his work has become part of the repertoire of all major ballet companies throughout the world.

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