Swansea Grand Theatre is a

performing arts The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which involve the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. P ...

venue in the centre of Swansea, Wales. The theatre stages plays,

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment, generally combining gender-crossing actors and topical humour with a story more or less based on a well-known fairy tale, fable or ...

s and touring theatrical acts visiting Swansea. Swansea Grand Theatre was the base for the UK's only Russian

ballet company A ballet company is a type of dance troupe that performs classical ballet, neoclassical ballet, and/or contemporary ballet in the European tradition, plus managerial and support staff. Most major ballet companies employ dancers on a year-rou ...

, the Swansea Ballet Russe.City and County of Swansea - Swansea Ballet Russe
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History

The theatre opened in 1897. Erected on the site of the former 'Drill Hall' it was designed for proprietors H H Morell and F Mouillot by architect William Hope of Newcastle, built by D Jenkins and opened by Madame Adelina Patti - a locally resident operatic diva. In 1968, the Swansea Grand was threatened with closure but, following a campaign led by its manager and artistic director John Chilvers, the theatre was saved. The Swansea Corporation (City Council) leased the building in May 1969 and bought it outright in 1979. The theatre was then refurbished and updated between 1983 and 1987 at a cost of £6.5m. A further £1m was spent on an Arts Wing which opened in 1999 (opened by Catherine Zeta Jones). The City and County of Swansea continues to own, manage and fund the building today.

Facilities

Swansea Grand Theatre has a 1,014-seat auditorium and variety of smaller studios and rooms. The Arts Wing is the most recent development at the theatre, a space to host exhibitions, conferences and smaller-scale music and drama performances. These include Lunchtime Theatre on the last Saturday of each month, presented by Fluellen Theatre Company.

Ballet Russe and other organisations

Since September 1999, the Ballet Russe, formerly known as Swansea's Pavlov Ballet, has been based at the Swansea Grand Theatre. The company, which started in

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

, is a group of young dancers, most whom trained in

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

at the Bolshoi and Kirov academies.Background On The Ballet Russe Company
/ref> They work as an ensemble under the artistic leadership of the Messerer family, and are able to put on full-length performances of '' Giselle'', ''

The Nutcracker ''The Nutcracker'' (, ), Opus number, Op. 71, is an 1892 two-act classical ballet (conceived as a '; ) by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, set on Christmas Eve at the foot of a Christmas tree in a child's imagination featuring a Nutcracker doll. Th ...

'', '' Coppélia'', '' La Fille Mal Gardée'' and ''

Swan Lake ''Swan Lake'' ( rus, Лебеди́ное о́зеро, r=Lebedínoje ózero, p=lʲɪbʲɪˈdʲinəjə ˈozʲɪrə, links=no ), Op. 20, is a ballet composed by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875–76. Despite its initial failu ...

'', and also give gala performances including extracts from ''Bayadere'', ''Carnival of Venice'', ''

Don Quixote , the full title being ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'', is a Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts in 1605 and 1615, the novel is considered a founding work of Western literature and is of ...

'' and '' Le Corsaire''. Swansea Grand Theatre is also home to the Sir Harry Secombe Trust Youth Theatre, Fluellen Theatre Company, the Swansea Grand Theatre School of Dance and Mellin Theatre Arts, which hold classes, performances and workshops at the venue.

References

External links

Swansea Grand TheatreFluellen Theatre Company
{{coord, 51, 37, 05, N, 3, 56, 52, W , region:GB, display=title Organisations based in Swansea Theatres in Swansea Theatres completed in 1897