Intimate Pages The musical and thematic basis for choreographer Christopher Bruce’s ballet “Intimate Pages” was the String Quartet No. 2 by the Czech composer Leoš Janáèek. Indeed, Bruce even borrowed the quartet’s title for his choreographed work. A victim of unrequited love, the composer wrote this delicate and finely crafted work in 1928, the last year of his life. For a little over a decade he had been corresponding with a young married woman he had met in 1917, having written in the intervening period over six hundred letters. The ballet conveys both the joy and the anguish expressed in the music. Lonely Town, Lonely Street Robert North’s jazz ballet “Lonely Town, Lonely Street”, in which he himself takes part, is a passionate and energy-laden portrait of a lonely person in the big city. The work takes its title from the popular music of Bill Withers on which it is based, and from the stage design by Andrew Storer, whose set with fire escapes represents a rundown neighbourhood in a North American metropolis. The titles of the compositions alone give an indication of the stage action: “Song for Guy”, “Lonely Town, Lonely Street”, “Another day to run”, “Let me in your life”, “I don’t want you on my mind”, “Who is he and what is he to you”, “Ain’t no sunshine when she’s gone” and “You”. Sergeant Early’s Dream Woven into the musical accompaniment of English, Irish and American folksongs, Christopher Bruce’s dance work “Sergeant Early’s Dream” tells a story of migration to the New World from the Old. The thoughts of the emigrants are filled with sadness as they give up their familiar surroundings, the family home, friends and neighbours and ultimately their roots. Yet they discover that they carry within themselves their own culture, and it is this which gives them a sense of identity and belonging. Consequently the ballet – built around contrasts and marked rhythms – recurrently conjures up fleeting references to a past life: the folklore of the Old World and the harsh lives, the loves and the tragedies of the people they knew there. Christopher Bruce, one of the leading contemporary British choreographers, has very close ties to the Rambert Dance Company. He trained here, joined the company in 1963 and soon rose to prominence as one of its leading dancers. In 1969 he created the first of many ballets he has devised for the troupe’s repertoire. From 1975 to 1979 he took a hand in directing the ensemble, later returning after a number years of freelance choreography to take up the position of artistic director in 1996.