The ballet had already started rehearsing the piece when, in August, EMI declined to consent to the use of Queen?s music in the production, said director János Kiss. However, thanks to the efforts of Ildikó Takács, the director of the Hungarian Cultural Centre in London and centre staff member Natália Nagy as well as lobbying by Gábor Presser, a giant on the Hungarian pop music scene for decades, EMI agreed to let the troupe use the music, but only for one year and only for performances in Hungary.
The troupe has not given up hope that it might still be allowed to bring the piece, choreographed by Ben van Cauwenberh from Belgium, abroad, Kiss said.
The Győr Ballet will premiere The Wizard of Oz, choreographed by László Velekei, at the Győr National Theatre, in December. It will bring a new piece celebrating the 200th anniversary of the birth of Liszt to the stage in the spring.
In addition to its performances in Győr, the ballet will appear in Budapest Eger, Keszthely and Veszprém.
Five new dancers are starting the new season in Györ, said Kiss. Ivano Chiaravalloti comes from the Zurich Opera, Balázs Kádár graduated last year from the dance academy in Győr, Katrin Schmidt studied at the ballet school of the Leipzig Opera, Mariya Mizinskaya earlier danced at the Hungarian State Opera and at the Hungarian Art of Movement Company, and Uemacu Judaj graduated from the ballet school of the Vienna Opera.
Source: Hungarian News Agency (MTI)
