1981 – Premiere of Christopher Bruce’s Ghost Dances by Ballet Rambert

First performed at Bristol’s Theatre Royal by Ballet Rambert in 1981, Christopher Bruce’s Ghost Dances tells stories of love and compassion, as death – in the form of the ‘ghost dancers’ – interrupts the daily lives of a series of ordinary people. Referencing celebrations of the Day of the Dead and driven by the rhythms of traditional Latin American songs, it is a moving, intensely human work. The music for Ghost Dances was by Ernesto Cavour and Atahualpa Yupanqui, arranged by Nicholas Carr, with the set by Bruce himself and costumes by Belinda Scarlett.