In launching the major ballet season for 2010 Meridian chief executive Tim Lusk said “The Royal New Zealand Ballet are known for programming works that invigorate, challenge and inspire and, as their National Sponsor, we are delighted to be able to help them create their magic for New Zealanders to enjoy”.

The company’s season is collection of diverse and inspirational dance. From the fresh, innovative Tower season of “From Here to There" – a trio of works, through to the sizzling Meridian Season of “Carmen” and the festive favourite, “The Nutcracker”, there is something for everyone.

Opening in Dunedin (February 26th) will be the Tower Season of “From Here to There” which features a new commission by New Zealand choreographer Andrew Simmons who is one of New Zealand’s great emerging choreographic talents and a former RNZB dancer. His work “A Song in the Dark” embraces themes of missed opportunities, love and beauty in the ordinary.

Also on the programme are another new work and the return of one of the company’s most acclaimed pieces. UK-based choreographer Christopher Hampson returns to New Zealand to premiere “Poulenc Variations” – a stylish number featuring dancers decked out in black tutus. The last work on the programme will be a return of David Dawson’s visually spectacular “A Million Kisses” described as “elegant and refined“(NBR May 20 2005).

“Six purple panels surround the three sides of the stage, whose startlingly white floor heightens the colours of the filmy red and purple dresses of the female dances and the yellow trousers of the men.”

“The dancers responded to the rigorous patterns of the Bach's Piano Concerto No 1, forming tight structures and carefully delineated lines.”

“At times it seemed the dancers were spending more time in the air than on the stage, with free floating moves, high stepping leaps and dramatic high kicks.”

“All this airy, diaphanous dancing along with the serene abstract music of Bach provided an ethereal spiritual experience. This was cerebral dancing of the highest quality in which classical form and contemporary ambiance merged.”

“The mid-year Meridian Season will see the company presenting a sensual version of “Carmen”. This electrifying contemporary ballet set in modern day Rio de Janeiro has been hailed as “brilliant dance theatre” and a “raunchy production not to be missed”..

They end the year with the festive favourite. “The Nutcracker” which is the quintessential Christmas ballet but this reworked version by Gary Harris’ is set in a hospital.

The NBR Review (NBR November 4 2005) said “The Nutcracker” is essentially a pantomime set to dance and generally oriented to a younger audience. However, this new version choreographed by Gary Harris is designed to appeal to adults.”

“The ballet begins traditionally enough on Christmas morning with Clara and her brother Fritz quarrelling over her nutcracker doll. But Fritz whacks Clara over the head and she is rushed to hospital, where she spends a night in which dreams and reality merge.”

“Setting the ballet in the hospital gives the story a greater sense of naturalism and the dream sequences can be read as part of Clara's hallucinations. But some of the dances are part of the hospital routine, with staff dancing about doing their jobs. In one sequence the nurses dancing at night in the darkened ward seem like flitting moths surrounded by fireflies.”

“Harris has also avoided the endless stream of folk dances that pad out the central part of the ballet by incorporating them into the real world of the hospital. The Spanish dance is performed by a frisky tea lady and the Russian dance by Fritz and Matron.”

“Harris has also created endearing new characters including a terrifying buxom matron superbly danced and acted by John Trimmer and three male dancers on crutches who seem to have stepped out of a Monty Python sketch.”

RNZB Artistic Director Gary Harris says the 2010 line-up provides the perfect platform to highlight the talents of the RNZB dancers. “The aim of 2010 is to give New Zealanders a bit of an assortment of treats, from classical to contemporary. We are thrilled to have two new commissions as part of our triple bill. It’s also nice to see Carmen returning to strut her stuff and, of course, what better way to end the year than with something our pint-sized fans will enjoy too”