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Royal Opera House takes a break at the seaside
Louise Jury, Chief Arts Correspondent23 Mar 2009
The Royal Opera House is to make its debut on the festival circuit with performances at this year's Latitude.
After the English National Opera starred at Glastonbury five years ago, Covent Garden is taking a mixed programme of dance and music to the fourth Latitude near Southwold, Suffolk, in July.
It will be a sample of pieces already or shortly to be seen at the venue's contemporary programme.
They include part of a song cycle, Dalston Songs, by east London composer Helen Chadwick based on the life stories of her international array of neighbours.
Dancers will include Ballet Black, a company of black and Asian dancers who were a recent sell-out in the Linbury Studio Theatre at Covent Garden.
When ENO performed Wagner's Valkyrie in 2004 at Glastonbury, it was deemed a radical departure for the Somerset festival - and the opera company.
But the move to invite the Royal Opera House to Suffolk is quite in keeping with the event in the seaside town.
Latitude has welcomed the Royal Court, the Royal Shakespeare Company and Sadler's Wells alongside groups such as Franz Ferdinand, Nick Cave and Elbow since it launched in 2006.
Alison Duthie, from ROH2, Covent Garden's contemporary arm, said: "Latitude offers a fantastic opportunity to take work to a completely different setting with a younger new audience we want to engage with. It's a very high quality festival and involves a wide range of art forms. It was irresistible."
■The full programme is being announced tonight. Latitude 2009 will take place from 16 to 19 July at the Henham Park Estate near Southwold.
