''Still Life at the Penguin Cafe'' is a ballet choreographed by

David Bintley Sir David Julian Bintley (born 17 September 1957) is an English former ballet dancer, the artistic director of the Birmingham Royal Ballet, and co-artistic director of the New National Theatre Tokyo ballet company. Early life Bintley was born i ...

and featuring music composed by Simon Jeffes, founder of the

Penguin Cafe Orchestra The Penguin Cafe Orchestra (PCO) were an avant-pop band led by English guitarist Simon Jeffes. Co-founded with cellist Helen Liebmann, it toured extensively during the 1980s and 1990s. The band's sound is not easily categorized, having elemen ...

. It is also the title of the accompanying album. Geoffrey Richardson co-wrote one of the pieces.Roche, Henry, ''Still Life at the Penguin Cafe: Arranged for Piano by Henry Roche'', Edition Peters, 2002 The ballet's debut production in 1988 was performed by

The Royal Ballet The Royal Ballet is a British internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, England. The largest of the five major ballet companies in Great Britain, the Royal Ballet was founded in ...

at Covent Garden, in England. The ballet was conceived by David Bintley (at that time resident choreographer at Covent Garden), who approached Simon Jeffes about the music that was to be used in the choreography. The music for the ballet was drawn from several musical pieces composed by Jeffes before the ballet was conceived, composed during the period 1981 to 1987. Most of the pieces were originally written for small ensembles, consisting of, for example, violin, cello, guitar and piano. Jeffes orchestrated the pieces for the ballet, and in the Royal Ballet production, they were performed by a full orchestra. The ballet was filmed in 1988 by

Thames Television Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a Broadcast license, franchise holder for a region of the British ITV (TV network), ITV television network serving Greater London, London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until th ...

and commercially released. The name of the ballet is derived from that of the Penguin Cafe Orchestra, which was Simon Jeffes' ensemble.

Ballet story

The pieces / sections in the ballet are: # The Penguin Cafe (musical piece Air à Danser) # Utah Longhorn Ram (musical piece Prelude and Yodel) # Texan Kangaroo Rat (musical piece Long Distance, original title Horns of a Bull) # Humboldt's Hog Nosed Skunk Flea (musical piece The Ecstasy of the Dancing Flea, original title Pythagoras's Trousers) # Southern Cape Zebra (SCZ) (musical piece White Mischief) # Rain Forest People (musical piece Now Nothing) # Brazilian Woolly Monkey (musical piece Music By Numbers) # Conclusion (musical piece Numbers 1–4)

Story line

The ballet begins with a voice-over (by Jeremy Irons) describing how the

great auk The great auk (''Pinguinus impennis'') is a species of flightless alcid that became extinct in the mid-19th century. It was the only modern species in the genus ''Pinguinus''. It is not closely related to the birds now known as penguins, wh ...

was very recently made extinct by man. The initial segment is set in a cafe, and several humans and penguins dance. Each subsequent segment prior to the conclusion shows an endangered species (or, in the case of the Rain Forest People, a culture.) The conclusion shows all the characters withstanding a downpour, and gathering on an ark-like boat. The overall theme of the ballet is pro-environment, pro-conservation. The ballet seeks to make the audience more aware of endangered species.

Production Details

From the 1988 production: * Performed by the Royal Ballet * Composed by Simon Jeffes ( Geoffrey Richardson co-composed "Brazilian Woolly Monkey" i.e. "Music by Numbers") * Choreographed by David Bintley * Designed by

Hayden Griffin Hayden Griffin (23 January 1943 – 24 March 2013) was a stage designer, known for his work for the Royal Court Theatre and the Royal National Theatre in London. Griffin was "regarded by many as the finest stage designer of his generation". Early ...

* Music performed by The Orchestra of

the Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal Ope ...

, Covent Garden * Conducted by

Isaiah Jackson Isaiah Allen Jackson (born 22 January 1945) is an American conductor who served a seven-year term as conductor of the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra of Boston, of which he has been named Conductor Emeritus. He was the first African-American to be a ...

* Narrated by Jeremy Irons

Dancers

* Utah Longhorn Ram -

Deborah Bull Deborah Bull, Baroness Bull, CBE (born 22 March 1963) is an English dancer, writer, and broadcaster and former creative director of the Royal Opera House. She joined King's College London as Director, Cultural Partnerships in 2012. In 2015 she w ...

* Ram Partner -

Guy Niblett Guy or GUY may refer to: Personal names * Guy (given name) * Guy (surname) * That Guy (...), the New Zealand street performer Leigh Hart Places * Guy, Alberta, a Canadian hamlet * Guy, Arkansas, US, a city * Guy, Indiana, US, an unincorp ...

* Texan Kangaroo Rat -

Bruce Sansom Bruce Edward Sansom (born September 1963) is a British former ballet dancer, and assistant artistic director and ballet master at San Francisco Ballet. Bruce Sansom was born in September 1963 in Newbury, trained at the Royal Ballet School, and jo ...

* Humboldt's Hog-nosed Skunk Flea -

Fiona Brockway Fiona is a feminine given name. The name is associated with the Gaelic traditions of Ireland and Scotland (through the poetry of James Macpherson), but has also become popular in England.. It can be considered either a Latinised form of the Gael ...

* Southern Cape Zebra -

Phillip Broomhead Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularize ...

* Rainforest People -

Tracy Brown Tracy Brown (1974-2023) was an American author of urban fiction who is known for her works set in Staten Island, New York. Personal life Tracy Brown lived in Staten Island, New York, where she was born and grew up. Brown became pregnant with he ...

, Jonathan Cope,

Michelle di Lorenzo Michelle may refer to: People *Michelle (name), a given name and surname, the feminine form of Michael * Michelle Courtens, Dutch singer, performing as "Michelle" * Michelle (German singer) * Michelle (Scottish singer) (born 1980), Scottish wi ...

* Brazilian Woolly Monkey -

Stephen Jefferies Stephen Thomas Jefferies (born 8 December 1959) is a former South African first-class cricketer. Career Jefferies was a left-handed batsman and a left-arm medium-fast bowler whose career centred on his home country of South Africa, though in ...

* The Great Auk -

Nicola Roberts Nicola Maria Roberts (born 5 October 1985) is a British pop singer. She rose to prominence in late 2002 upon winning a place in Girls Aloud, a girl group created through ITV's '' Popstars: The Rivals''. The group's success helped them win the c ...

Recordings and publications

* Laser Disk: London/Decca #071 222-1 (1991). See production details above for choreographer, etc. Out of print. * Sheet music, arranged for piano by Henry Roche. Published by Peters Edition Ltd (London) 2002; . Still in print as of November 2007. * VHS tape — Polygram Records; ASIN 630202367X, 1992. Out of print. * DVD — Published by ArtHaus. ASIN: B000Y351ZC. In print since January 2008. Both the Laser Disk and DVD contain a 50-minute documentary on the Penguin Cafe Orchestra.

Album

The music for the ballet was released as an album, under Jeffes' name, together with an 18-minute suite called ''Four Pieces for Orchestra'', comprising orchestral recordings of earlier PCO tracks: # Perpetuum mobile # Southern Jukebox Music # Oscar Tango # Music for a Found Harmonium * CD: Polygram records (1991) ASIN B00000E42T. BBC Orchestra, conducted by Barry Wordsworth. Out of print but available as a digital download.

Footnotes

External links

NY Times review

Teachers info about the ballet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Still Life at the Penguin Cafe Ballets by David Bintley Ballets by Simon Jeffes 1988 ballet premieres