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Dance auditions held for ‘The Ghosts of Versailles’

‘Fabulous!’, was the word used by world-renown Irish-American choreographer, Seán Curran, to describe the calibre of Irish-based dancers he had the pleasure of auditioning at Wexford Opera House recently, ahead of the forthcoming production of ‘The Ghosts of Versailles’.

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Seán Curran, founder and Artistic Director of Seán Curran Company, a well-known New York based Dance Company, is the choreographer for ‘The Ghosts of Versailles’ and made a fleeting visit to Wexford when some of the dancers cast in the original Saint Louis production last June became unavailable due to scheduling conflicts.  As the dancers play a central role in this opera within the opera, it’s vital to get the best dancers available.

After the successful casting of ‘Snegurochka’ last year by Myriad Dance Company, now resident dance company of Wexford Opera House, Myriad was brought in again to facilitate the casting.  More than 20 dancers came to the Opera House to experience a 2-hour masterclass with Seán, which served as a very useful audition method.  Eventually 5 Irish-based professional dancers were cast.  They will all arrive at the end of September, along with the rest of the artists, to begin an intensive rehearsal period ahead of the Gala opening of the festival.

‘The Ghosts of Versailles’ by Oscar-award winning composer, John Corigliano is a co-production between Opera Theatre of Saint Louis and Wexford Festival Opera.  This enormous production, originally commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera in 1987, was re-worked by the composer for a new performing edition, due to be produced again at the Met.  However, with the heavy casting demands, large cast, chorus, dancers and orchestra, the Met was forced to shelve the project.  Saint Louis and Wexford joined forces to produce this new performing version, which made its world-premiere in Saint Louis last June.  Wexford will host the European premiere, which opens the 58th Wexford Festival Opera on Wednesday, October 21, 2009. 

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