Wayne McGregor’s one-act ballet Infra is now on the AQA school syllabus for 14-16 year old dance students in the UK – the first time a non-narrative work has been included. Choreographed for Royal Ballet in 2008 with a score by Max Richter, The Guardian’s dance critic Judith Mackrell described it as ‘astonishingly bold,’ and added that McGregor ‘has gone beyond delivering the goods.’
Inspired by the Latin word for ‘below,’ Infra takes a look at life beneath the surface of the city, of hidden things and unspoken urban events. AQA has said it hopes Infra’s inclusion will open students’ minds to new possibilities in choreography and dance. AQA performing arts qualifications manager Seb Ross described Infra as: ‘a challenging and beautiful contemporary work.’
McGregor, who is resident choreographer at Royal Ballet, said that: ‘Studying dance in schools contributes vitally to a well-rounded and wide reaching general education for young people…dance sharpens a student’s ability to think with and through the body, while challenging them to combine a broad range of multiple intelligences to solve creative problems.’
McGregor has created 12 works for Royal Ballet, with many of them becoming staples of its repertory. His most recent piece was the critically acclaimed Woolf Works inspired by the writings of Virginia Woolf, while in 2015 his Tree of Codes was a key piece at Manchester International Festival.
