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BOSTON BALLET ANNOUNCES
SPECTACULAR
2008-2009 SEASON
HIGHLIGHTING THE FINAL SEASON AT
CITIWANG IS
A 100TH ANNIVERSARY TRIBUTE TO DIAGHILEV’S BALLETS RUSSES
PLUS BALANCHINE’S JEWELS,
KYLIÁN’S BLACK AND WHITE,
A WORLD PREMIERE BY JORMA ELO AND
AUDIENCE FAVORITES CINDERELLA AND
THE SLEEPING BEAUTY
BOSTON, MA – April 1, 2008 – Boston
Ballet Artistic Director Mikko Nissinen announced programming today
for the Company’s 45th Anniversary season, opening in October
2008. Nissinen’s season showcases the Company’s
versatility by featuring classic story ballets as well as works by
renowned neoclassical and contemporary choreographers such as
George Balanchine, Jiří Kylián and Resident
Choreographer Jorma Elo. A special Ballets Russes (Russian Ballet)
program titled Diaghilev's Ballets Russes Centennial Celebration
and paying tribute to the most influential impresario and company
in the history of the art form, closes the season.
Boston Ballet’s program is part of an
initiative called Ballets Russes 2009 and produced in association
with Boston University. Ballets Russes 2009, an eight-day festival
devoted to the centenary of Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, will
be held from May 16 through May 23, 2009.
Boston Ballet inaugurates its season with the third
annual Night of Stars: A Boston Ballet Gala Performance, a special
program that showcases the entire company. A week later, Boston
Ballet opens its six-program schedule with James Kudelka’s
critically acclaimed Cinderella, first performed by the Company in
2005. Cinderella is followed by the seasonal favorite The
Nutcracker. Opening on November 27, this marks the 41st consecutive
year that Boston Ballet will perform the timeless holiday classic.
The season continues in February 2009 with Jiří
Kylián’s Black and White, featuring five Kylián
works; George Balanchine’s 1967 full length Jewels in March;
and Marius Petipa’s timeless classic, The Sleeping Beauty, in
April. Boston Ballet will also pay special tribute to the Ballets
Russes in a program that includes George Balanchine’s The
Prodigal Son, Vaslav Nijinski’s The Afternoon of a Faun,
Michel Folkine’s Le Spectre de la Rose and the world premiere
of Elo’s of Le Sacre du Printemps in May.
“Our upcoming season traverses so many styles
and is truly a spectacular display of variety for the Company. It
is an honor to produce the full Balanchine Jewels, and to perform
an amazing evening of masterpieces by Kylián, the complete
Black and White program, is remarkable. To have both programs in a
single season is an impressive feat,” said Nissinen.
“It is an additional honor to pay tribute to the Ballets
Russes, which contributed tremendously to our art form. It is
always my goal to expose dancers and audiences to a wide range of
styles, and next season will feature a spectacular combination of
the history of the art form, classical story ballets, and the best
contemporary ballet.”
All performances are held at the Citi Performing
Arts CenterSM Wang Theatre with the exception of The Nutcracker,
which returns to The Opera House for the fourth consecutive
year.
Cinderella
October 16-26, 2008
Music: Sergei Prokofiev
Choreography: James Kudelka
Back by popular demand and last performed by Boston
Ballet in 2005, James Kudelka’s beautiful and critically
acclaimed Cinderella opens the Company’s season. Set to
Sergei Prokofiev’s superb score, Kudelka’s version of
the fairy tale is not the conventional rags-to-riches story, but a
more contemporary tale of the transforming power of love.
“It’s an entertaining, colorful, family-friendly
production, often clever and inventive,” said Karen Campbell
in The Boston Globe of Boston Ballet’s 2005 U.S. premiere of
the piece. Kudelka originally choreographed his Cinderella in 2004
for The National Ballet of Canada while Artistic Director of the
company.
The Nutcracker
November 28-December 27, 2008
Music: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Choreography: Mikko Nissinen
Following the opening of The Nutcracker last season,
Karen Campbell wrote in The Boston Globe, “Boston
Ballet’s production is one of the most beloved around,
marrying substantive choreography with eye-popping production
values.” Mikko Nissinen’s The Nutcracker, featuring the
Company and more than 200 children from Boston Ballet School,
continues to delight Boston audiences. The cherished Tchaikovsky
score will be performed live by the Boston Ballet Orchestra.
Black and White
February 12-15, 2009
Petite Mort – BOSTON BALLET PREMIERE
Music: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Choreography: Jiří Kylián
No More Play – BOSTON BALLET PREMIERE
Music: Anton Webern
Choreography: Jiří Kylián
Sarabande
Music: Johann Sebastian Bach
Choreography: Jiří Kylián
Falling Angels
Music: Steve Reich
Choreography: Jiří Kylián
Six Dances – BOSTON BALLET PREMIERE
Music: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Choreography: Jiří Kylián
The work of Jiří Kylián, one of
Europe’s most fascinating and celebrated choreographers,
returns to Boston Ballet with his complete Black and White program.
Falling Angels, a mesmerizing study in motion and minimalism, and
Sarabande, a powerful display for six men, gave audiences a glimpse
of Kylián’s unique and potent vision when presented
here in 2005. Boston Ballet is the first company other than the
Netherlands Dance Theatre to perform the full program. This
five-ballet program also includes Petite Mort, which incorporates
artistic swordplay set to Mozart, Six Dances and No More Play.
Playing with space, shape and contrast, Kylián’s work
challenges, enlightens and moves. The Boston Globe raved, saying
“‘dazzling’ doesn’t do justice to the
program Boston Ballet performed last night” when
Kylián’s works were last performed.
“He’s an absolute master of his craft.
He’s a genius. I feel that any dancer who has the chance to
dance a Kylián work is so blessed. To have five of them in
one night is fabulous,” said Nissinen.
Kylián was born in Prague, Czech Republic. He
trained at the Prague Conservatory and at the Royal Ballet School,
London. He began his choreographic career with Stuttgart Ballet
(1970) before moving to the Nederlans Dans Theatre (NDT), where he
became director in 1978. His many works include Sinfonietta, with
music by Janáček (1979), the all-male Soldiers' Mass
(1980), L'Enfant et les Sortilèges (1984), and three based
on Aboriginal culture: Nomads (1981), Stamping Ground (1982), and
Dreamtime (1983). Through the years, Kylián has moved away
from lyrical works to abstract and often surrealistic ballets such
as No More Play (1988), Falling Angels (1989), Sweet Dreams (1990),
Sarabande (1990), and Petite Mort (1991). In April 1995,
Kylián celebrated 20 years with NDT by mounting a
large-scale dance production, Arcimbaldo. On that occasion, he
received one of the Netherlands’ highest honors, becoming
Officer in de Orde van Oranje Nassau. In 1997, Kylián won
the Edinburgh Festival Critics' Award and received an honorary
doctorate at The Juilliard School in New York. Kylián also
received the Benois de la Danse award in 1998 and the Laurence
Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dance among many other
awards and honors. Kylián is currently resident
choreographer and artistic advisor of NDT and artistic advisor of
the Saitama Arts Foundation in Japan.
Jewels – BOSTON BALLET
PREMIERE
February 26-March 8, 2009
Music: Gabriel Fauré, Igor Stravinsky, Peter Ilyich
Tchaikovsky
Choreography: George Balanchine
A ballet in three parts, George Balanchine’s
Jewels premiered at New York City Ballet in 1967. Jewels presents a
miniature history of classical dance, with references to
ballet’s French origins, Russia’s imperial style, and
Balanchine’s own take on the art form. Each act is distinct
in both music and style. Critically acclaimed since it premiered,
Jewels has been called “the world’s first plotless,
full-length ballet.” Jewels was inspired by a visit to
jeweler Van Cleef & Arpels. “Emeralds” recalls the
elegance and luxury of 19th century France and is set to music from
Gabriel Fauré’s Pelléas et Melisande and
Shylock. “Rubies,” an athletic and jazzy ballet, is set
to Stravinsky’s Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra and
“Diamonds” is set to Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No 3
in D Major, Op.29, evoking Russia’s imperial style through
its classical choreography.
The Sleeping Beauty
April 23-May 3, 2009
Music: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Choreography: Marius Petipa
Additional Choreography: Sir Frederick Ashton
Production: Ninette de Valois (after Nicholas Sergeyev’s 1939
production)
Set and Costume Design: David Walker
The Sleeping Beauty is derived from the
“Mother Goose” tale by Charles Perrault. It’s the
magical fairytale of good, evil, true love, and a spellbound
princess who sleeps for 100 years and is awakened by the kiss of a
handsome prince. Nissinen introduced this version of the ballet,
set to Tchaikovsky’s brilliant score, in 2005. He has
re-united David Walker’s sets and costumes with this version
of the ballet, which originated with The Royal Ballet. When Boston
Ballet premiered this version of The Sleeping Beauty in 2005, The
Boston Globe’s Christine Temin raved, “The Sleeping
Beauty is the greatest challenge in the classical repertory. Boston
Ballet met and conquered that challenge last night, in the most
luminous performance of “Beauty” I've seen the company
give in its 41-year history.”
Diaghilev's Ballets Russes Centennial
Celebration
May 14-17, 2009
The Prodigal Son
Music: Sergei Prokofiev
Choreography: George Balanchine
The Afternoon of a Faun – BOSTON BALLET
PREMIERE
Music: Claude Debussy
Choreography: Vaslav Nijinsky
Le Spectre de la Rose – BOSTON BALLET
PREMIERE
Music: Carl Maria von Weber
Choreography: Michel Fokine
Le Sacre du Printemps – WORLD PREMIERE
Music: Igor Stravinsky
Choreography: Jorma Elo
Boston Ballet will present a Ballets Russes
retrospective program as part of Ballets Russes 2009, an eight-day
festival devoted to the centenary of Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets
Russes and produced in association with Boston University.
Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes, a company of
Russian trained dancers, became known as one of the most
influential ballet companies of the 20th Century. It was known not
only for the exquisite technique of its dancers, but also because
of its ground-breaking artistic collaborations among
choreographers, composers, and artists.
Balanchine choreographed The Prodigal Son, one of
his few narrative ballets, for Ballets Russes in 1928. It is based
on the Biblical tale of the rebellious son who leaves his
father’s home to find adventure in the wider world, only to
return after experiencing the cruelties of humankind. The ballet
features powerful dancing and highly dramatic lead roles. It
maintains the central theme of the parable, with dancing
reminiscent of the Russian tradition. The Prodigal Son conveys the
moral of the parable in the Gospel of St. Luke and emphasizes the
themes of sin and redemption. The Prodigal Son was one of the first
Balanchine ballets to achieve international recognition.
The Afternoon of a Faun was choreographed by Vaslav
Nijinsky for the Ballets Russes and was first performed in 1912.
The ballet was inspired by Stéphane Mallarmé’s
poem, “L’après-midi d’un faune.” The
ballet was originally staged to depict the dancers as part of a
large tableau and often featured the dancers moving across the
stage in profile. Le Spectre de la Rose, choreographed by Fokine,
was first presented in 1911. It tells the story of a young girl,
who returning from her first ball, falls asleep and dreams that the
rose she holds in her hand is dancing with her. The ballet was
given its U.S. premiere in 1916 at the Metropolitan Opera House.
Resident Choreographer Jorma Elo will premiere a new work, his
sixth for Boston Ballet, set to Igor Stravinsky’s Le Sacre du
Printemps. The score is rhythmic and inspired by primitive pagan
rituals. Upon its premiere, the work was controversial, shocking
audiences that were accustomed to classical ballet. Many
choreographers have created works to the score, including Pina
Bausch, Sir Kenneth MacMillan and Maurice Béjart.
Elo’s will be a version featuring the natural elements and
earth tones.
Ballets Russes 2009
Ballets Russes 2009 will feature performances by Boston Ballet and
the Boston Pops, a festival of dance films at the Museum of Fine
Arts and an exhibition of stage designs and actual costumes at the
Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford. Boston University will host a major
three-day academic conference on the Ballets Russes and an
exhibition of related posters and memorabilia. Ballets Russes 2009
is produced in association with Boston University.
Boston Ballet 2008-2009
Season at a Glance
Night of Stars: A Boston Ballet Gala
Performance
October 10, 2008
Cinderella
October 16-26, 2008
Music: Sergei Prokofiev
Choreography: James Kudelka
The Nutcracker
November 28 – December 27, 2008
Music: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Choreography: Mikko Nissinen
Black and White
February 12-15, 2009
Petite Mort – BOSTON BALLET
PREMIERE
Music: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Choreography: Jiří Kylián
No More Play – BOSTON BALLET
PREMIERE
Music: Anton Webern
Choreography: Jiří Kylián
Sarabande
Music: Johann Sebastian Bach
Choreography: Jiří Kylián
Falling Angels
Music: Steve Reich
Choreography: Jiří Kylián
Six Dances – BOSTON BALLET
PREMIERE
Music: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Choreography: Jiří Kylián
Jewels – BOSTON BALLET
PREMIERE
February 26-March 8, 2009
Music: Gabriel Fauré, Igor
Stravinsky, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Choreography: George Balanchine
The Sleeping Beauty
April 23-May 3, 2009
Music: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Choreography: Marius Petipa
Additional Choreography: Sir Frederick Ashton
Production: Ninette de Valois (after Nicholas Sergeyev’s 1939
production)
Set and Costume Design: David Walker
Diaghilev's Ballets Russes Centennial
Celebration
May 14 – May 17, 2009
The Prodigal Son
Music: Sergei Prokofiev
Choreography: George Balanchine
The Afternoon of a Faun –
BOSTON BALLET PREMIERE
Music: Claude Debussy
Choreography: Vaslav Nijinsky
Le Spectre de la Rose – BOSTON
BALLET PREMIERE
Music: Carl Maria von Weber
Choreography: Michel Fokine
Le Sacre du Printemps – WORLD
PREMIERE
Music: Igor Stravinsky
Choreography: Jorma Elo
Tickets
Tickets for season ballets can be purchased by phone at
866.348.9738, online at www.citicenter.org, or in person at the
Citi Performing Arts CenterSM box office, located at 270 Tremont
Street in Boston's Theatre District, open Monday - Saturday from
10am - 6pm. Prices for season ballets start at $25. Prices for
Night of Stars start at $30. Discounted group tickets (10 or more)
are available by calling Boston Ballet's Group Sales at
617.456.6343. Rush tickets are available. Contact the Boston Ballet
box office at 617.695.6955 or visit www.bostonballet.org for
details.
About Boston Ballet
Founded in 1963, Boston Ballet is one of the leading dance
companies in North America. Under the leadership of Artistic
Director Mikko Nissinen and Executive Director Valerie Wilder, the
Company has 50 dancers and maintains an internationally acclaimed
repertoire of classical, neo-classical and contemporary works,
ranging from full-length story ballets to new works by some of
today's finest choreographers.
Boston Ballet's second company, Boston Ballet
II, is made up of nine pre-professional dancers who gain experience
by performing with Boston Ballet and as an independent group,
presenting lecture-demonstrations and unique programs to audiences
throughout the Northeast. The Boston Ballet Center for Dance
Education is the largest ballet school in North America. In service
of its mission to bring the highest quality arts education to all,
it reaches and instructs more than 5,000 students of all ages each
year through Boston Ballet School, Young Dancers Summer Workshop,
Summer Dance Program, Citydance, Taking Steps, and Adaptive Dance.
The wide array of dance education programs are held at four major
ballet studio locations, in community centers, and throughout the
Boston Public Schools.
Boston Ballet gratefully acknowledges the following
institutional partners:
State Street Corporation, 2008 Sponsor, The
Nutcracker
Carl and Ruth Shapiro Family Foundation/Linda S.
Waintrup, Trustee
Massachusetts Cultural Council
National Endowment for the Arts
Boston Organ & Piano, Official Piano Supplier of
Boston Ballet
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