We are delighted to announce the world premiere of Scottish Ballet’s The Crucible as part of the 2019 International Festival.

The Crucible will open the International Festival dance programme and is a highlight of Scottish Ballet's special 50th anniversary season, celebrated by the Company throughout 2019.

Adapted from Arthur Miller’s masterpiece of power and persecution, The Crucible is gripping new ballet with choreography by Helen Pickett and a new musical score from Peter Salem, performed live by the Scottish Ballet Orchestra.

An allegorical comment on the McCarthy hearings of the 1950s, Miller’s chilling account of the 1692 Salem witch trials recalls a community destroyed by fear, hostility and hysteria. Helen Pickett’s original choreography unleashes the full emotional force of the story as a narrative ballet, in the first major dance adaptation of Miller's work.

Brooklyn-based Helen Pickett is a former dancer who spent over a decade performing with William Forsythe’s Ballett Frankfurt before developing her choreographic voice. Having created over 35 ballets in the U.S. and Europe, The Crucible is the second time her work is presented by the International Festival, following the premiere of The Room as part of Scottish Ballet's Dance Odysseys in 2013.

Peter Salem is a composer working across contemporary ballet, film and television. In 2013, his score for Scottish Ballet’s production of A Streetcar Named Desire received international acclaim, winning the Sky Arts Dance award and an Olivier award nomination. Salem also created Broken Wings for English National Ballet and previously collaborated with Helen Pickett to create a new ballet based on Tennessee Williams’ Camino Real for Atlanta Ballet.

Founded in 1969, Scottish Ballet celebrates 50 years as Scotland's national dance company throughout its 2019/20 season. The company has performed at the International Festival twelve times since the 1970s, most recently in 2016 with a double bill of major contemporary dance works by Angelin Preljocaj and Crystal Pite.

The Crucible premieres in August 2019. The International Festival programme launches in March 2019, with tickets available for events thereafter. The 2019 International Festival runs from Friday 2 – Monday 26 August.

The Crucible is sponsored by Baillie Gifford Investment Managers