LOST LETTERS
by Matthew Golding
Concept and direction: Lucia Lacarra and Matthew Golding
Choreography: Matthew Golding
Choreographic assistant: Gianluca Battaglia
Dancers: Lucia Lacarra, Matthew Golding, Lucia Castellano Luri, Itziar Ducajú Mayans, Francesco Forcina, Carlos López Muñoz, Gabriel Martínez Rodríguez, Manuela Medeiros, Jossehp Abdiel Peñaloza, Eva Nazareth Suár ez Pérez
Music: Sergéi Rachmaninov and Max Richter
Film director: Matthew Golding and Ekain Albite
Technical direction: Celso Hernando
Communication: SautdeBasque Comunicación
Photography: Jesús Vallinas
Co-production: Teatro Arriaga Antzokia, Kursaal Eszena, Teatro Principal de Vitoria-Gasteiz, Festival Internacional de Música y Dan za de Granada
Contributor: Teatros del Canal
With the support of the Basque Government and the Town Council of Zumaia
The acclaimed Basque star Lucia Lacarra presents the first production of her new company, the Lucia Lacarra Ballet. Lost Letters is a show about letters sent from the war front, with choreography by the Canadian principal dancer Matthew Golding.
From the trench. In every war throughout history, handwritten letters from the front and replies sent from home have provided a vital link between soldiers and their families. But what would happen if one of these letters were lost? Based on a real letter written by artilleryman Frank Bracey to his wife Win during the First World War, Lost Letters imagines how the woman’s destiny might have changed if the letter sent by her beloved husband had never reached her. Lost Letters transforms a true story into an original screenplay and a ballet plot.
The poppy of remembrance. The choreographer Matthew Golding created the central scene of Lost Letters using the symbolic poppy of remembrance, a flower used to commemorate the men and women killed in all the wars in countries such as the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and, to a lesser extent, the United States.
Inspired by the poem In Flanders Fields written by John McCrae, the American teacher Moina Michael (1869-1944) wrote the poem We Shall Keep the Faith on 9th November 1918:
“In Flanders fields the poppies blow / Between the crosses row on row”.
Michael made a commitment to always wear a red poppy in memory of those who had served in the war. In 1921 the poppy was adopted as a symbol of remembrance for war veterans by the American Legion Auxiliary and Earl Haig’s British Legion Appeal Fund (later the Royal British Legion). Remembrance Day or Poppy Day is celebrated in Commonwealth countries on 11 November to honour members of the armed forces who have died on active service. This day of remembrance was established at the end of the First World War.
Music and film. The music for Lost Letters was composed by Richter and Rachmaninov. The film was shot in the flysch, the hermitage of San Telmo and the convent in the Basque town of Zumaia, all well-known locations for scenes in the series Game of Thrones. The script is based on an original idea by Matthew Golding and was directed by Basque director Ekain Albite.
Co-production. Lost Letters is a co-production of the Arriaga Antzokia Theatre, the Kursaal Eszena, the Teatro Principal de Vitoria-Gasteiz and the Festival Internacional de Música y Danza de Granada, with the collaboration of the Teatros de Canal de Madrid. This production has received the support of the Basque Government and the Town Council of Zumaia.
LUCIA LACARRA BALLET
The Lucia Lacarra Ballet Company was founded by the Basque artist and is made up of ten dancers who were selected in an audition held at the Teatros de Canal in Madrid in June 2023. It is a neoclassical-contemporary company and is directed by principal dancers Lucia Lacarra and Matthew Golding. One of the aims of the Lucia Lacarra Ballet Company is to act as a platform for the professional training of the young members of its corps de ballet. The Lucia Lacarra Ballet Company made its debut in October 2023 at the Teatro Arriaga in Bilbao.
LUCIA LACARRA | Artistic director and principal dancer
Born in the Basque town of Zumaia, Lucia Lacarra made her professional debut with the Víctor Ullate Ballet Company at the age of fifteen. Principal dancer of the Marseille and San Francisco Ballets, and of the Munich and Dortmund Operas, Lacarra has received the most important awards in the world of dance, such as the Nijinsky, the Benois de la Danse and the Spanish National Dance Award, and was recognised as ‘Dancer of the Decade’ in the Kremlin Palace. In 2007 she became the first Spanish ballerina to be invited to take part in the Vienna New Year’s Concert. Together with Matthew Golding, she created and produced the shows Fordlandia (2020), In The Still Of The Night (2021), for which she received the Max Award. In October 2023 she founded her own company, the Lucia Lacarra Ballet Company, with which she premiered Lost Letters (2023). Awarded the Spanish Gold Medal for Fine Arts in 2023, Lacarra received a special Positano Award in September last year and was recently appointed Honorary Academician of the Spanish Academy of Performing Arts.
MATTHEW GOLDING | Choreographer and principal dancer
Born in Saskatchewan (Canada), Matthew Golding won the Youth America Grand Prix and a Prix de Lausanne scholarship to study at the Royal Ballet School, where he graduated. Principal dancer with Het Nationale Ballet in Amsterdam and the Royal Ballet in London, Golding has been a guest star with the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, the National Ballet of Canada, the English National Ballet and the Hong Kong Ballet, among others. His awards include the Dutch Zwaan Prize and a nomination for the Benois de la Danse. Together with Lucia Lacarra, he has created and produced the shows Fordlandia (2020), In The Still Of The Night (2021) and Lost Letters (2023), choreographing the last two.
