After the performances in Helsinki, the Finnish National Ballet will rent the production to the United States. It will premiere at Kansas City Ballet in October 2023 and at Colorado Ballet in Denver in February 2024.
Based on the well-known suspense novel by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson and commissioned by the Finnish National Ballet, Val Caniparoli’s ballet Jekyll & Hyde had its world premiere in November 2020. Due to pandemic restrictions in place at the time, only a limited audience had the chance to see the performances. The production returned to the Finnish National Ballet’s repertoire in April 2023.
A recorded performance from this spring will be released on the Finnish National Opera and Ballet’s Stage24 streaming service on International Dance Day, 29 April 2023. It will be available to watch for free worldwide for six months. In the recording, Lucas Jerkander takes on the role of Dr. Henry Jekyll and Michal Krčmář is seen as Edward Hyde. Antti Keinänen appears as the author Stevenson, whose life becomes intertwined with the story. The ballet gives the female characters more prominence than the original novel. Key female roles include Hanako Matsune as Nellie Carew and Rebecca King as Rowena. The Orchestra of the Finnish National Opera is conducted by Kalle Kuusava.
The ballet’s score primarily consists of compositions by Krzysztof Penderecki and Henryk Górecki, whose music is complemented by three other Polish composers: Wojciech Kilar, Frédéric Chopin, and Henryk Wieniawski. The sets and costumes, designed by David Israel Reynoso, evoke the shadowy atmosphere of 19th-century London. Jim French is responsible for the lighting design.
After the performances in Helsinki, the Finnish National Ballet will rent the production to the United States. It will premiere at Kansas City Ballet in October 2023 and at Colorado Ballet in Denver in February 2024. American choreographer Val Caniparoli, who has worked with the San Francisco Ballet for five decades as both a dancer and resident choreographer, has had his choreographies performed by more than 50 ballet companies in the United States and around the world.
Caniparoli’s Jekyll & Hyde will be performed by the Finnish National Ballet in Helsinki 1. – 25.4.2023.