Daethon & Arundel

Separated by class and by eighteenth century societal rules, a lowly palace servant, Daethon, and the young prince, Arundel, fall in love in a world beset by dangers. Set in the wild lands between Austria and Hungary, they find themselves caught between vampires, witches and the scheming plots of Arundel's power-hungry sister, Lorelle. Daethon & Arundel, a full ballet in four acts, is the first published work by composer and classically trained dancer David Hotchkiss. Inspired by myriad classical styles - from romantic waltzes through to bracing mazurkas - Daethon & Arundel brings to the ballet stage a spectacle unlike any seen before; the tragic love of two male leads played out through an old world grand ballet, with a score evocative of the pomp, joy, majesty and splendour of the golden age of Petipa's classics. An exhilarating and deeply moving score, herein complete with detailed libretto, choreography notes and set & staging guidance, this work has been created specifically for the ballet, with music written to be danced to.

Born and raised in Yorkshire, music was an early passion for David Hotchkiss-from early childhood piano lessons to joining the chamber choir at his school, taking part in concerts all over the country. A move to Oxford to complete his Master's Degree in Chemistry, and then a PhD in Organic Chemistry, did nothing to dampen his love of the classical arts, attending many of the concerts at the Sheldonian Theatre given by the Oxford University Orchestra. His later career, that took him across Europe before settling in Norfolk, was always accompanied by music, gravitating from piano to guitar and finally to orchestral composition. After a period of serious illness, David started ballet dancing with Karen Sant at the KNT Danceworks company at the Northern Ballet School in Manchester, where he quickly became a regular. Truly bitten by the ballet bug, David began to go and see every ballet performance he could, enjoying the great classics from Giselle to the Nutcracker, as well as myriad modern ballets and reconstructed versions of the classics. Last year he quit his job and made the decision to enrol in veterinary school in Hungary, a lifelong dream. He now lives in an apartment in Budapest, accompanied of course by his piano.