''Within the Golden Hour'' is a one-act contemporary ballet choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon, composed by

Ezio Bosso Ezio Bosso (; 13 September 1971 – 14 May 2020) was an Italian composer, pianist, double bass player, and conductor. He composed film scores such as '' Un amore'' and Gabriele Salvatores' '' Io non ho paura'', and ballets which were perform ...

and featured music by Antonio Vivaldi. The ballet premiered in 2008 at the

War Memorial Opera House The War Memorial Opera House is an opera house in San Francisco, California, located on the western side of Van Ness Avenue across from the west side/rear facade of the San Francisco City Hall. It is part of the San Francisco War Memorial and ...

, danced by the

San Francisco Ballet San Francisco Ballet is the oldest ballet company in the United States, founded in 1933 as the San Francisco Opera Ballet under the leadership of ballet master Adolph Bolm. The company is currently based in the War Memorial Opera House, San Fra ...

Production

''Within the Golden Hour'' was created as part of

's New Work Festival, which commissioned 10 choreographers to create works for the company. It is performed by 14 dancers, including three main couples, originated by Sarah Van Patten, Pierre-François Vilanoba, Maria Kochetkova,

Joan Boada Joan Boada (born ) is a Cuban retired ballet dancer, teacher and ballet master. His career started at the Cuban National Ballet, where he was promoted to principal dancer at age 16. He defected to France in 1994, then performed with several compa ...

, Katita Waldo and Damian Smith. In 2016,

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 ...

in London performed ''Within the Golden Hour'' for the first time, featuring

Beatriz Stix-Brunell Beatriz Eugenia Stix-Brunell (born 1993) is an American ballet dancer. Her career started with Morphoses when she was 14. She joined the Royal Ballet in 2010, was promoted to first soloist in 2016, and retired in 2021. Early life Stix-Brunell ...

, Vadim Muntagirov,

Lauren Cuthbertson Lauren Louise Cuthbertson (born 11 June 1984) is an English ballerina and a principal dancer with the Royal Ballet in London. Early life and education Lauren Cuthbertson was born in Devon in 1984. She began studying dance at a local dance sch ...

Matthew Golding Matthew Golding (born 30 December 1980) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with Adelaide in the Australian Football League (AFL). He started his career at the Reynella Football Club and then went on to playing footy for Glenelg ...

, Sarah Lamb and Steven McRae. A 2019 revival, also danced by The Royal Ballet, was filmed and released on a DVD, with Stix-Brunell, Muntagirov, Lamb,

Francesca Hayward Francesca Hayward (born 4 July 1992) is a Kenyan-born English ballet dancer and actress. She is a principal dancer in the Royal Ballet at Covent Garden in London. In 2019, she starred as Victoria the White Cat in the musical film '' Cats'', an ...

, Valentino Zucchetti and Alexander Campbell. In June 2020, in the first series of performance since 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 ...

's closure due to the 2019-20 coronavirus pandemic, which was broadcast online, dancers Mayara Magri and Matthew Ball performed a pas de deux from ''Within the Golden Hour'', after learning it in five days. The performance was dedicated to Bosso, who died in May that year. In October that year, in Royal Ballet's first full company performance since the pandemic, the finale of ''Within the Golden Hour'' was performed.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Royal Opera House production page
Ballets by Christopher Wheeldon Ballets to the music of Antonio Vivaldi 2008 ballet premieres