A rather different commemorative turn
In May and June, the Royal Ballet of Flanders is performing a powerful programme to mark the centenary of the start of the First World War. Kurt Jooss's The Green Table, conceived in 1932 in the shadow of Hitler's rise, finds civilian and military figures dancing with a robotic Death. Also on the stage is a new work, In Flanders Fields, which was inspired by the famous war poem by John McRae and conceived by choreographer and company soloist Ricardo Amarante and scored by young composer Sayo Kosugi. In Dialogue (1971) parted lovers spar to Ralph Vaughan Williams' Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis. To book tickets, visit operaballet.be.
Discover the culture of a little-known kingdom
Now showing at the Louvre museum in Paris, The Saga of the Thracian Kings shines a light on the Odrysians, a powerful tribe that ruled what is now Bulgaria and parts of northern Greece and European Turkey from the fifth to third centuries BC. The Odrysae were warriors, embroiled in numerous local conflicts, but recent archaeological digs have also found considerable economic and artisanal wealth. The exhibition includes magnificent tomb furnishings and items from the tomb of Seuthes III, which are on display for the first time. The Saga of the Thracian Kings, Archaeological Discoveries in Bulgaria, is on display until July 20. For more details, go to www.louvre.fr/exhibitions.
Spend time in Frida Kahlo’s inspirational garden
The New York Botanical Garden has created tableaux from Frida Kahlo's garden and studio at the Casa Azul, her lifelong home in Mexico City. Experts at the botanic garden have used native flora to bring Kahlo's garden with its famous blue walls to life in its Haupt Conservatory. The exhibition also includes more than a dozen original Kahlo paintings and works on paper, many borrowed from private collections, that highlight the imaginative use of plant imagery in her work. Frida Kahlo: Art, Garden, Life runs until November 1. To find out more, visit www.nybg.org.
