The Firebird and My Brilliant Career will be presented together from 30 April until 1 June. Choreographed by two stars of the ballet world – Loughlan Prior and Cathy Marston – RNZB says the season “promises to be a tour de force of storytelling, movement and theatrical spectacle”.
The Firebird is a reimagining of the Russian fairytale, set in a dystopian desert world where water is more valuable than gold.
Choreographed by Prior – who was named one of ‘25 to Watch’ in 2025 in the prestigious US publication Dance Magazine – the ballet was first presented by RNZB in 2021 to sold-out audiences in Wellington and Auckland.
The season was cut short due to Covid-19 restrictions, and now the production is finally being presented in the South Island.
Prior’s choreography meets Tracy Grant Lord’s striking costume and set designs, presented alongside immersive projections from POW Studios.
Igor Stravinsky’s sweeping score will be performed by a live orchestra in Wellington, Auckland and Christchurch, under the baton of Hamish McKeich.
Complementing The Firebird is the New Zealand premiere of My Brilliant Career, choreographed by the internationally acclaimed Cathy Marston for Queensland Ballet in 2023.
Based on Miles Franklin’s iconic novel and familiar to many through the 1979 film starring Judy Davis and Sam Neill, this one-act ballet explores the fierce independence and passion of a young woman determined to carve her own path in life.
“With our first main stage season for 2025, we are delighted to be bringing to audiences across the motu a pair of contrasting, but equally thought-provoking and emotionally charged narrative works which demonstrate the immense storytelling capacity of ballet,” says RNZB artistic director Ty King-Wall.
“It is wonderful to be presenting for the first time in New Zealand, a work by Cathy Marston. Cathy is a choreographer at the peak of her powers, and My Brilliant Career demonstrates perfectly her skill at adapting literary sources for the stage. It is a privilege for us to be performing one of her works.
“We are also so excited to be returning to Loughlan Prior’s The Firebird and to be sharing it with a wider audience this time, after receiving such an enthusiastic response to its premiere four years ago.”
Discover more at https://rnzb.org.nz/show/the-firebird-mbc
