P.A.R.A.D.E.
First performed in 1917, Parade was one of the most groundbreaking and revolutionary ballets ever staged. Rooted in everyday life and populated by ordinary people, it captured a yearning for meaningful human connection as mechanisation cast an ever-growing shadow over society.
A century after its riotous premiere, Rees returned to the qualities that made Parade so radical: its pioneering creative spirit, subversive undertones and surreal visual language. His reimagining, P.A.R.A.D.E., transported the work into a dystopian contemporary Wales.
Responding to the people and places surrounding the Wales Millennium Centre, Rees drew inspiration from its proximity to Y Senedd—the Welsh Parliament—and the nearby water tower that concealed Torchwood’s subterranean headquarters in the BBC television series. He created an immersive new context that fused science fiction, dance and politics, as though imagined through the distinctly Welsh lens of writer Russell T Davies.
Created as part of R17, P.A.R.A.D.E. reimagined the original ballet for a new century: as relevant, resonant and provocative as it had been in 1917. It was a shock to the senses and a call to revolt—not through violence, but through art, culture and creative expression.
The Russian Revolution goes up the wall: thrilling new life for Diaghilev’s great cubist uprising
Judith Mackrell , The Guardian
