Danses Concertantes, commissioned by Ninette de Valois in 1955, was MacMillan’s first
major work. An early sign of the incredible artistic output that would follow, the work’s critical
success spurred MacMillan to abandon performing in favour of choreography. It is followed
by Different Drummer, MacMillan’s complex and haunting balletic interpretation of Woyzeck,
Georg Büchner’s play about a soldier’s descent into madness. The mixed programme
concludes with Requiem, his 1976 work for Stuttgart Ballet, created in memory of its late
artistic director, MacMillan’s friend and former Royal Ballet dancer and choreographer John
Cranko.