Ocean’s Kingdom, the first-ever ballet composed by former Beatle Paul McCartney and choreographed by Peter Martins, will debut in New York this September, reports Rolling Stone.
Performed by the New York City Ballet, the show will debut September 22 during the company’s fall gala. McCartney composed a major orchestral work, while Martins, the company’s ballet master-in-chief, handled the choreography.
The ballet is "basically a romantic story" that takes place between an ocean kingdom and an earth kingdom, McCartney told the New York Times. "[Y]ou’ll have to see whether the couple make it. There’s all sort of troubles along the way." Currently, the ballet runs about 45 to 50 minutes and requires a cast of at least 40 dancers.
Martins says that he first got the idea after running into McCartney at a fundraiser. "Of course, being a Beatles fan – because that’s my generation – I was very intrigued. I knew of course about his foray into classical music and his interest in it. I said to him, ‘Maybe we could do something together.’"