 Elena Riu's Salsa Nueva  Salsa Nueva has been touring for a year calling at the Walt Disney Hall in Los Angeles, the Royal Festival Hall, the Kijani International Festival in Nairobi and Mombassa, Rhythm Sticks International Festival at the South Bank Centre, Festival Latinoamericano in Caracas, Dartington International Summer School, the Classical Music Society in Derry, the Jimena de la Frontera International Music Festival in Andalucia plus many stop-overs in the UK including the Warwick, Guildford, and Swaledale Festivals, the Ramshorne Theatre in Glasgow, the Lighthouse in Poole and The Spitz. Salsa Nueva is published by Boosey & Hawkes thrughout the world www.boosey.com CD released on Somm Recordings label available in all major record shops www.somm-recordings.demon.co.uk |
Elena’s family show Adventures of Tom Thumb, in collaboration with Blue Scream Theatre, wins Fringe First Award at the Edinburgh International Festival Fringe.  A GRIMM BUT GLORIOUS FAIRYTALE So rich are the Grimm Brothers' fairytales that each generation finds something new in them. Elena Riu and Blue Scream certainly hit on a novel way of presenting The Adventures of Tom Thumb in their prize-winning collaboration, which came to the South Bank for a short run. Picking up the theme of Tom venturing into the real world to seek his fortune, the show plays with ideas of fantasy and reality. Tom himself is represented both as a mind-wandering geriatric in a nursing home and as a puppet, dressed similarly as an old man but capable of the flights of fancy of which the story consists. The puppet is the work of Finn Caldwell, creator of the memorable puppetry in Anthony Minghella's stunning ENO production of Madam Butterfly. Caldwell also plays the old man and the manipulation, by him and his fellow players - Martin Barron as Daniel Thumb, Eliza Wills as Jeannine - of the miniaturised hero displays a similar expressive virtuosity. Turning the Purcell Room convincingly into a black box, with skilful lighting by Robin Fisher, the company weaves narrative, music and spectacle into an engaging hour's entertainment for children. Out of a handful of props - a red mattress becomes a giant's mouth, the duvet his stomach - a whole fantasy world is created. Riu doubles as Queen Mab and pianist, contributing atmospheric music by Crawford Seeger, Gubaidulina, Ustvolskaya, Ligeti, Silvestrov and a little Mozart. In a different context, some of this music might be regarded as "difficult", but here it seems just right and apparently presents no problems to a young audience. In that, it's all of a piece with a show that stretches the imagination while giving unfailing delight. Catch it when it returns to the Lyric Hammersmith in April or the Chelsea Festival in June. The Adventures of Tom Thumb - Barry Millington, The Evening Standard 03.01.07 **** "this exemplary piece is so beautifully conceived and executed that adults can't fail to enjoy it too. The illusion and narrative are maintained through playful complicity between performers and audience, enhanced by Riu's live piano score and the occasional cheeky one-liner for adults. The result, performed with verve and charm, is a show filled with invention and fun, a celebration of imagination whose conclusion carries a knockout emotional punch" The Adventures of Tom Thumb – The Scotsman **** "Blue Scream and Elena Riu have achieved the rare feat of creating a children’s show that is accessible but never patronising. A captivating production that is in turn both marvellously funny and profoundly moving. If only more adaptations were this inspired" The Adventures of Tom Thumb - Three Weeks “intriguing and brave production for children over eight years old and grown-ups. It is a delightful and carefree story, made all the more poignant when you realise that these adventures really are the hallucinatory dreams of an old man” |
|
|
