Ballet Cymru dances to Matthews' tunes

The name Cerys Matthews is well known, both for her work in the Brit-pop group Catatonia, and her show on BBC Radio 6. Now her music is being put to dance.

In 2010, Matthews released Tir (welsh for land), an album of traditional Welsh songs, from which chorographers Darius James and Amy Doughty created a ballet show for Ballet Cymru.

Matthews said, “I was excited to see how they would choreograph to traditional songs – they did an incredible job. The songs now come alive on a whole new level.“ Cerys will be providing music for the show live herself in Newport, London and Caernarfon.

Catch this exciting Ballet Cymru production in Cardiff on 9 November at the Millenium Centre.

A few words with Cerys Matthews:

What made you want to get involved with Ballet Cymru?

They are a great ballet company with fresh outlook on their art form. I was excited to see how they would choreograph to traditional songs – they did an incredible job. The songs now come alive on a whole new level.

What would you say the overall theme or story of the Tir ballet?

Every song, and there are 11 used has its own story and also own atmosphere. What Ballet Cymru have managed to do is to channel those feelings and write a parallel story or vibe through ballet. Myfanwy is sung with a lone female dancer, Bachegn Bach o Dincar for a highly energetic male dancer, Ar hYd y Nos for a small group and so forth. Now each song exists with a whole new dimension of the dancers input and the so ties they weave in conjunction with the melody and sound, lyrics and phrasing that `I make form the side of the stage.’

Tir is ‘land’ in Welsh. Is Wales the theme?

No- there is no generic theme- each song stands alone, but what hold is all together is the power of those songs and the fact that they were all written by People from Wales.

Cerys Matthews Official Website

Ballet Cymru dances to Matthews’ tunes