New England Entertainment Digest - Online
Brought to you by JAC Publishing & Promotions!

Boston Ballet Announces Spectacular 2008-2009 Season

BOSTON, MA: 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 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.

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.