UNITED KINGDOM: PETER SCHAUFUSS BALLET PERFORM DANCE BASED ON THE LIFE OF ELVIS PRESLEY AT THE SADLERS WELLS THEATRE

Record ID: 389306

  • Title: UNITED KINGDOM: PETER SCHAUFUSS BALLET PERFORM DANCE BASED ON THE LIFE OF ELVIS PRESLEY AT THE SADLERS WELLS THEATRE
  • Date: 26th April 2000
  • Summary: LONDON, UK (APRIL 26, 2000) (REUTERS) (PERFORMANCE CLEARANCE FOR RESALE) DANCERS PERFORMING "THE KING"
  • Embargoed: 11th May 2000 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: LONDON, UK
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Reuters ID: LVAAWEGY2US54PRLI58Y63KTILGE
  • Story Text: It's one for the money and two for the show at Saddlers Wells Theatre in London this week, as the Peter Schaufuss Ballet hits the stage with a "dansical" based on the life of the greatest rock 'n' roll star of all time - Elvis Presley.
    The King of Rock 'n' Roll, Elvis Presley is alive and well, and on stage in London, albeit in an all-dancing, rather than all-singing production.Peter Schaufuss, for years one of the most talented performers of the ballet world, is now trying his hand at choreography.He has his own company, based in Holstebro in Denmark, and their production of "The King"
    has been delighting Scandinavian audiences since its premiere last year.
    A show featuring the music of Elvis Presley is bound to fill a theatre, and for Schaufuss, who wanted to make a piece about the pitfalls of success, there was no contest: "It was an obvious choice to chose the music of Elvis Presley because during his 25 year career, he cut more than 460 recording, so you had a vast choice of music to chose from, not like many other pop culture icons, who have a limited amount of music, but with Elvis, not only do you have a vast number of records, but also you have a choice of different types of singing, because Elvis had enormous variety in his singing, he could sing, rock 'n' roll, gospel, ballads, story songs, he had the whole range."
    "The King" stars Juan Rodriguez as Johnny, an aspiring Elvis impersonator, and charts his career and personal life from his youth and early fame, to his eventual downfall.
    Schaufuss was keen to show the true price of fame, although much of the music is upbeat - the tale is ultimately one of tragedy: "Once you are robbed of your privacy and you have extreme success and with that success comes wealth and your whole life is turned upside down, you can't go to Tescos and shop and I think only people who taste that real fame, I am talking about real fame, I think can talk about how it is almost like being in prison, you cannot live a normal life, and normally what happens is that itup very sad and very tragic."
    Bringing the show to London has not been without its problems, due to difficulties that arose with copyright for some of the music, substitutions have had to be made, and the show reworked in just two weeks.The dancers have risen to the challenge with aplomb, and show off their wealth of talent - abandoning a strict ballet technique for a variety of styles.
    Schaufuss has even coined his own word to describe the eclectic mix: "That's why really I have called it "dansical"
    to kind of underline that this is not a ballet, this is a dance theatre piece and I have used classical technique, pointe show technique with the girls on pointe, I have used barefoot dancing, modern dancing, tap dancing, show dancing, rock 'n'roll, there's all type of different dancing in this show, and that's why the equivalent of a musical in the singing theatre, this is a "dansical" because instead of the singing on the stage, we do choreography, we dance, but yet we have the singing, the original soundtrack of Elvis Presley, so you couldn't really ask for anything more."
    With spectacular costumes, dazzling dancing, and of, course some of the most popular music ever recorded, the crowds are sure to flock in, and prove, yet again that the King lives on.
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