The Invitation

A young girl and her cousin encounter an older, disillusioned married couple at a party. The boy is flattered by the older woman’s interest; at the same time, the young girl develops a sexual attraction for the man – until he launches a brutal attack on her. Mátyás Seiber composed the music for The Invitation in 1960 in close collaboration with Kenneth MacMillan who provided a detailed sketch of the balletic narrative. Inspired by the French New Wave era in film, it was MacMillan’s intention to bring a contemporary ballet to the stage which was critical of the times. The Invitation was Seiber’s final composition: the composer was killed in a car accident shortly after completing this work. The ballet remained in the repertoire of the Royal Ballet Company in Covent Garden up to 1968. Lynn Seymour, attractive both as a ballerina and an actress, made the role of the young girl famous. In 2016, MacMillan’s still modern choreography returned to the repertoire of the ballet company it was composed for.