The 2010-2011 Season features three eclectic repertory programs, two classic full-length ballets, and the critically-acclaimed production of George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker™. World premieres by Choreographer in Residence Matthew Neenan and New York City Ballet Principal Dancer Benjamin Millepied will augment the repertoire, as will Company premieres from William Forsythe, Roland Petit, and Christopher Wheeldon. The Company will also present Wheeldon’s Swan Lake, handmade for its 40^th Anniversary Season.

In crafting this new season, Kaiser aimed to showcase the breadth of the Company’s repertoire as well as the dancers’ skill and artistry, engaging both loyal followers and new ballet-goers alike.

“When you look at this season, you can see an incredible diversity in the various choreographic styles the dancers of this Company are able to perform at an extremely high level,” Kaiser says. “On each program, audiences will come away with a very different impression of the Company, and when you put them all together, it’s pretty extraordinary.”

After constructing the 2010-2011 Season, Kaiser stepped back and noticed a theme très intéressant had emerged. Nearly all the programs have ties to the culturally-rich country of France. The fiery Carmen and a World Premiere are both courtesy of renowned French-born choreographers, and Christopher Wheeldon’s Swan Lake and the original La Fille mal gardée are set in France. Plus, apart from the regular season of six productions, the Company will perform a brand new version of the classic French ballet Pulcinella at the first-ever Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts where the theme is Paris: 1910-1920.

While he didn’t set out to weave a French thread through the 2010-2011 Season, Kaiser candidly admits, “If I had sought to inject a French theme into the season, it probably wouldn’t look much different than it does now!”

To experience Pennsylvania Ballet’s inspiring 2010-2011 Season, call 215.893.1955 or visit paballet.org. Individual tickets go on sale July 6, 2010.

PENNSYLVANIA BALLET’S 2010-2011 SEASON

***Principal Dancers Arantxa Ochoa and Sergio Torrado in Concerto Barocco, choreography by George Balanchine © The George Balanchine Trust. Photo: Paul Kolnik.

Carmen Triple Bill
October 21-24, 2010
Academy of Music

• Concerto Barocco by George Balanchine, music by Johann Sebastian Bach
• World Premiere by Matthew Neenan, Choreographer in Residence
• Carmen* by Roland Petit, music by Georges Bizet

Concerto Barocco is itself a piece of Pennsylvania Ballet history. The first ballet George Balanchine ever gave the Company, Concerto Barocco was featured in Pennsylvania Ballet’s very first performance in 1963. Clean, pure, and exhilarating, Concerto Barocco’s unfettered choreography follows no plot but is a near-perfect reflection of the score crafted by Johann Sebastian Bach.

Pennsylvania Ballet’s own Choreographer in Residence Matthew Neenan creates a world premiere work, his 13^th commission for the Company. Says Artistic Director Roy Kaiser, “Matthew hasn’t fallen into the trap of just relying on what works. I think that’s a sign of a good choreographer. He’s always looking for something new and a new way to present dance.”

French-born choreographer Roland Petit’s seductive Carmen is an irresistible blend of sensuality, theatricality, and style. Inspired by the famous opera of the same name, Carmen follows the torrid and tragic affair between its temptress title character and her lover, Don José. Carmen’s fiery movement and unbridled passion leave audiences breathless.

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***Artists of Pennsylvania Ballet in George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker™, choreography by George Balanchine © The George Balanchine Trust. Photo: Alexander Iziliaev.

George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker™
Music by Peter Ilyitch Tschaikovsky
December 4-31, 2010
Academy of Music
Presented by PNC Arts Alive

The holidays in Philadelphia are not complete without Pennsylvania Ballet’s production of George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker™! An enduring tradition now in its 42^nd year, George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker™ boasts enchanting characters, lavish costumes and sets, world-class dancing, and a heart-warming Tschaikovsky score complemented by the Philadelphia Boys Choir. This classic has never failed to attract big audiences. Be warned: the more often you see it, the more you’ll enjoy it!

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***Principal Dancers Amy Aldridge and Sergio Torrado in In the Upper Room. Photo: Paul Kolnik.

Classic Innovations
February 3-6, 2011
Merriam Theater

• The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude* by William Forsythe, music by Franz Schubert
• Polyphonia* by Christopher Wheeldon, music by György Ligeti
• In the Upper Room by Twyla Tharp, music by Philip Glass, arrangement by Kurt Munkacsi

Audiences were thrilled by the Company premiere of William Forsythe’s In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated last season. Now Pennsylvania Ballet is bringing the choreographer’s energizing The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude into the repertoire. Here, the modern master manipulates ballet technique into a powerful, contemporary work. Vibrant costumes including futuristic, plate-like tutus are a hallmark of this piece by a prolific choreographer.

Bold and stripped-down, Polyphonia has helped solidify Christopher Wheeldon’s place among the great choreographers of today. The polyphony (variety of sounds) of the Ligeti score is mirrored by Wheeldon’s mix of ballet and modern steps. Inventive partnering highlights this abstract masterpiece fashioned for the 21^st century.

Twyla Tharp’s theatrical In the Upper Room is a tour-de-force of energy and finesse. Phillip Glass’ thundering score propels this rigorous display of continuous, in-your-face athleticism. Wearing running shoes or ballet slippers, two groups of dancers shift through a stage filled with billows of smoke, their steps ranging from classical to unconventional.

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***Principal Dancers Riolama Lorenzo and Zachary Hench in Christopher Wheeldon’s Swan Lake. Photo: Paul Kolnik.

Swan Lake
by Christopher Wheeldon
Music by Peter Ilyitch Tschaikovsky
March 3-12, 2011
Academy of Music

Premiered in 2004 to national acclaim, Christopher Wheeldon’s stellar production of Swan Lake was created and performed to sold-out audiences for Pennsylvania Ballet’s 40^th Anniversary Season. Wheeldon’s Swan Lake is based on the original Ivanov/Petipa classic and set to the timeless Tschaikovsky score but has been re-imagined for today’s audiences. The million-dollar production features spectacular sets and costumes set in the 19^th-century milieu of the Paris Opera Ballet of Edgar Degas. Dazzling choreography and visual complexities illuminate this version of the world’s most beloved ballet.

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***Principal Dancer Alexander Iziliaev in Agon, choreography by George Balanchine © The George Balanchine Trust. Photo: Paul Kolnik.

Building on Balanchine
April 14-17, 2011
Merriam Theater

• Agon by George Balanchine, music by Igor Stravinsky
• World Premiere by Benjamin Millepied
• Who Cares? by George Balanchine, music by George Gershwin

Agon is an organic collaboration between choreographer George Balanchine and composer Igor Stravinsky, who together designed the structure of this ballet during the creation of the score: 12 pieces of music for 12 dancers. Minimalist costumes and sets let Balanchine’s choreography take center stage. The ballet takes its name from the Greek word for “contest” or “struggle,” and was lauded by Balanchine himself for its striking precision.

Renowned French-born choreographer Benjamin Millepied creates his first world premiere for Pennsylvania Ballet. Currently a Principal Dancer at New York City Ballet, Millepied offers both a fresh perspective and inspiration from his mentor, choreographer Jerome Robbins, one of Balanchine’s colleagues.

Who Cares? brings a bit of Broadway to ballet. The lively George Gershwin score features beloved classics like “The Man I Love” and “I Got Rhythm.” An enchanting, fun-filled ode to the 1930’s, Who Cares? sends audiences from the theater feeling energized.

Pennsylvania Ballet honors its heritage with Building on Balanchine, showcasing the supreme talents of its dancers to perfection.

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***Principal Dancer Arantxa Ochoa in La Fille mal gardée. Photo: Paul Kolnik.

La Fille mal gardée
by Sir Frederick Ashton
Music by Ferdinand Hérold, adaptation and arrangement by John Lanchbery
June 2-11, 2011
Academy of Music

La Fille mal gardée (loosely translated from French as “The Wayward Daughter”) is Sir Frederick Ashton’s touching tale of two determined lovers and their quest to marry. Lise, the young daughter of a wealthy farmer, wishes to marry Colas, a handsome, young farm worker, but her mother, Mother Simone (who, in the tradition of English theater, is played by a man) disapproves. Set along a backdrop of simple country life, this uplifting ballet is brimming with charming characters (including dancing hens!), hilarious antics, and memorable dances – a delightful romantic comedy.

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Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts
April 7-10, 2011
Kimmel Center
Pulcinella, a world premiere by Jorma Elo
Music by Igor Stravinsky
Collaboration between Pennsylvania Ballet and The Philadelphia Orchestra

Pennsylvania Ballet is honored to be featured in a landmark cultural event: the Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts (PIFA). This three-week celebration of art opens with a historic collaborative performance between the Company and The Philadelphia Orchestra. Pennsylvania Ballet will share the stage of Kimmel Center’s Verizon Hall with The Philadelphia Orchestra. Jorma Elo, resident choreographer at Boston Ballet, will create a world premiere version of the classic French ballet Pulcinella, featuring the music of Igor Stravinsky, especially for this once-in-a-lifetime series of performances.

Pennsylvania Ballet, one of the nation’s leading ballet companies, and Fred Alger Management present the world’s best-known love story, Romeo & Juliet, June 4-12 at the Academy of Music. Witness poetry in motion as Pennsylvania Ballet performs choreographer John Cranko’s stunning interpretation of William Shakespeare’s classic tale of star-crossed lovers.

“John Cranko was a master at telling a story through dance. He conveys the saga of Romeo & Juliet entirely through the movement and through the characterization that each dancer brings to their role,” Artistic Director Roy Kaiser says. “This ballet displays raw emotion from beginning to end. It’s brilliant.”

Luminous in its power and poignancy, Romeo & Juliet is set to Sergei Prokofiev’s moving score. Audiences will be swept away to fair Verona through grand sets and opulent costumes. Festive, stately dances plus romantic pas de deux express the drama of feuding families and forbidden love. To miss it would be tragic!

Tickets for Romeo & Juliet are on sale now, with prices ranging from $24 to $129. Tickets are available online at paballet.org, by phone at 215.893.1999, or in person at the Kimmel Center Box Office.

Romeo & Juliet performances at the Academy of Music:
· Friday, June 4 at 7:30 p.m.
· Saturday, June 5 at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.
· Sunday, June 6 at 2 p.m.
· Thursday, June 10 at 7:30 p.m.
· Friday, June 11 at 7:30 p.m.
· Saturday, June 12 at 2 p.m.

Artists of Pennsylvania Ballet in Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s Requiem for a Rose. Photo: Alexander Iziliaev.

Pennsylvania Ballet, one of the nation’s leading ballet companies, showcases the breadth of its growing repertoire in one thrilling program at the Merriam Theater, May 5-9. Program IV features Company premieres by Jerome Robbins and William Forsythe, a timeless Balanchine piece, and an encore presentation of a work commissioned by Pennsylvania Ballet.

“When creating a program, I strive to choose ballets that will make our dancers better artists while simultaneously engaging our audience with moving, energetic work,” Artistic Director Roy Kaiser says. “Program IV accomplishes each of these goals beautifully.”

To begin the program, master choreographer George Balanchine’s Square Dance marries American folk dance with classical ballet. As its title would suggest, this work is inspired by square dancing, but Balanchine uses a traditional ballet vocabulary to express the intricate, formal patterns of that unique movement.

In the Company’s newest Jerome Robbins acquisition, Afternoon of a Faun, the choreographer recreates the essence of the music and the themes in the Vaslav Nijinsky original, L’Après-midi d’un Faune, for modern audiences. The work has been called a “miniature masterpiece.” In it, a woman interrupts a male dancer working in a studio, and the pair engages in a delicate duet with the audience as their mirror.

Company Member Abigail Mentzer in Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s Requiem for a Rose. Photo: Alexander Iziliaev.

The transient nature of love is explored in Requiem for a Rose, a dynamic piece that envisions 12 dancers as a bouquet of roses, with bold and fluid movement hinging on a single heartbeat. A freelance choreographer based in the Netherlands, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa traveled to Philadelphia just last year to create this work with the Company. Ochoa describes her ballets as “constructed chaos.” While Requiem for a Rose has no plot, she urges the dancers to tell a story with their bodies.

Nuance and depth saturate In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated, William Forsythe’s frenetic experiment in abstract movement, set to Thom Willems pulsating, electronic score. An American choreographer, Forsythe spent most of his working life in Europe, and has become known for his unusual language of dance. It’s classical ballet, but with an off-kilter edge: off-balance positions, extreme extensions, and increased hip action. The New York Times declares In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated “changed the way people perceived classical dance: how the fundamental principles of ballet technique could be used in new ways, how dancers could behave onstage, how we could see them.”

Tickets for Program IV are on sale now, with prices ranging from $21.50 to $126.50. Tickets are available online at paballet.org, by phone at 215.893.1999, or in person at the Kimmel Center Box Office.

Program IV performances at the Merriam Theater:

• Wednesday, May 5 at 7:30 p.m.
• Thursday, May 6 at 7:30 p.m.
• Friday, May 7 at 7:30 p.m.
• Saturday, May 8 at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.
• Sunday, May 9 at 2 p.m.

Pennsylvania Ballet, one of the premier ballet companies in the country, launches its 46^th season with a Balanchine classic, an innovative new work by Choreographer in Residence Matthew Neenan, and Agnes de Mille’s rousing ballet honoring the American West.

“I want to be able to expose the audience to a wide variety of styles within the art form,” Artistic Director Roy Kaiser says. “We have an amazingly talented company of dancers that can take on a diverse program like this and perform at a very high level.”

Mr. Kaiser, who celebrates his 30^th year with the Company and 15^th as Artistic Director this year, revels in the artistic and technical virtuosity of Pennsylvania Ballet to explore the vitality and diversity of the art form and engage the audience with new work.

Theme and Variations is George Balanchine’s tribute to the Imperial Russian Ballet of his youth. Pennsylvania Ballet – founded by Balanchine student and protégée Barbara Weisberger – honors its classical roots with this work. Balanchine’s landmark ballet connects the art of the past to the present with a modern sensibility that became the new standard for classical form and movement.

Tradition yields to innovation as Choreographer in Residence Matthew Neenan unveils At the border, his 12^th commission for Pennsylvania Ballet.  Set to Hallelujah Junction, composer John Adams’ complex score for two pianos, this World Premiere is the first of three contemporary works by Mr. Neenan to be performed by the Company this season.

Rodeo, Agnes de Mille’s spirited ode to the American character, is the unexpected story of a tomboy in search of love, set to Aaron Copland’s well-known score.  This lively Western ballet was the precursor to de Mille’s choreography for the beloved musical Oklahoma! complete with a rousing Hoedown that remains a show-stopping audience favorite.

Tickets for Program I are on sale now, with prices ranging from $24 to $129. Choose your own seats online at paballet.org.  Tickets are also available at the Kimmel Center Box Office or by phone at 215.893.1999.

Program I Performances:

• Wednesday, October 21 at 7:30 p.m.
• Thursday, October 22 at 7:30 p.m.
• Saturday, October 24 at 2 p.m.
• Saturday, October 24 at 8 p.m.
• Sunday, October 25 at 2 p.m.

Pennsylvania Ballet is one of the premier ballet companies in the United States and has been at the forefront of American dance since 1963. A leading Philadelphia cultural institution, the Company has earned a national reputation for its impassioned artistry and technical virtuosity, and has received widespread critical acclaim for extraordinary performances of a diverse classical and contemporary repertoire. Under Artistic Director Roy Kaiser, the Company has expanded its Balanchine-based repertoire to include bold, innovative new works that embody creative excellence and engage audiences in an ongoing commitment to the vitality of this unique art form. For more information, call 215.551.7000, or visit paballet.org.

La Sylphide, widely regard as the oldest ballet in the classical repertoire, returns to the Academy of Music after a 21-year absence. Pennsylvania Ballet, one of the nation’s premier ballet companies, concludes its 45th Anniversary with this stunning romantic masterpiece June 5-13 on a program that includes the highly anticipated Company Premiere of Peter Martins’ inventive Barber Violin Concerto. “This remarkable program has something for everyone – a celebrated classical work that audiences will enrapture audiences, and a contemporary piece that challenges viewers to reinterpret convention,” promises Artistic Director Roy Kaiser.

La Sylphide was last performed here in 1989 as part of the renowned PBS series Dance in America and propelled the Company into the national spotlight. Set against the lush landscapes of the Scottish Highlands, this landmark romantic work of love and loyalty is admired for its demanding choreography and its profound portrait of human nature. August Bournonville choreographed La Sylphide in 1836 for the Royal Danish Ballet. More than a century later, Peter Martins restaged the work for Pennsylvania Ballet, offering a contemporary perspective that incorporates subtle character nuances but upholds the integrity of Bournonville’s distinctive style of movement.

The long-awaited Company Premiere of Barber Violin Concerto offers a compelling conclusion to a remarkable season. Peter Martins’s seminal work explores the juxtapositions between classical ballet and modern dance, set to Samuel Barber’s deeply expressive score. The choreography features two principal couples, one lushly dressed in classic ballet attire, pointe shoes and ballet slippers; the other, barefoot and more austere. They perform a series of engaging pas de deux that culminates in a chase that brings this eclectic work to its energetic conclusion.

Philadelphia industrialist Samuel Fels Samuel commissioned Barber’s Violin Concerto in 1939 as a graduation gift to his adopted son. The first movement features a virtuosic violin solo that echoes throughout the entire piece, exploiting the instrument’s brilliant character. Martins used the Barber Concerto to create the ballet for New York City Ballet in 1988 as part of the American Music Festival at the New York State Theater. Since then it has been performed on the Dance in America series and hailed as “an ingenious juxtaposition of styles,” by The New York Times.

Danish-born Peter Martins has spent more than 30 years with the New York City Ballet as a dancer, choreographer and Ballet Master. During his career as a dancer Martins danced a tremendous variety of roles, ranging in style from the 19th-century classic Coppélia, to Balanchine’s Serenade and Jerome Robbins’s Afternoon of a Faun, which Pennsylvania Ballet will premiere to Philadelphia audiences during the 2009-2010 Season. He has created more than 75 ballets ranging from pas de deux to large scale pieces, set to music by composers as diverse as Tschaikovsky and Stravinsky, and Gershwin.

Performances of La Sylphide are as follows:
*      Friday, June 5 at 8 p.m.
*      Saturday, June 6 at noon and 8 p.m.
*      Sunday, June 7 at 2 p.m.
*      Thursday, June 11 at 8 p.m.
*      Friday, June 12 at 8 p.m.
*      Saturday, June 13 at 2 p.m.
Tickets for La Sylphide are on sale now, with prices ranging from $24 – $129 and can be purchased by calling 215.893.1999 or online at paballet.org. Reel in nine friends or more and save up to 50%, call 215.587.6921.

Artistic Director Roy Kaiser has announced a bold and compelling 2009-2010 Season featuring fifteen visionary ballets on six dynamic programs, including Company Premieres by Jerome Robbins and William Forsythe, and a World Premiere by Choreographer in Residence Matthew Neenan.  2009-2010 Season Subscriptions are available by calling 215.893.1955 or online at www.paballet.org .  Full season subscription prices have not increased at all this year, and range from $77.50 to $413.50. Subscribers receive many benefits over single ticket purchasers including a 10% discount, priority seating, convenient partial payment plan in three easy installments, flexible ticket exchanges, discounts to fine Philadelphia restaurants, shops, hotels and museums, advance ticket purchasing for George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker and more!

Founded in 1963 by Balanchine student and protégée Barbara Weisberger, Pennsylvania Ballet is one of the nation’s leading ballet companies. Headquartered in Philadelphia, the Company’s annual local season features programs of classic favorites and new works, including the critically acclaimed holiday production of George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker.  For more information, call 215.551.7000 or visit www.paballet.org.

Artistic Director Roy Kaiser announces a bold and compelling 2009-2010 Season featuring fifteen visionary ballets on six dynamic programs, including Company Premieres by Jerome Robbins and William Forsythe, and a World Premiere by Choreographer in Residence Matthew Neenan.

The season includes four innovative repertory programs, one classic full-length work and the critically acclaimed production of George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker. The Company was invited to perform The Nutcracker at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC in late November before returning to the Academy of Music in December.

Among the repertory programs presented, a World Premiere by Mr. Neenan will join ballets by George Balanchine and Agnes de Mille to open the season in October.  The Company will perform ballets choreographed by Mr. Robbins and Mr. Neenan to the music of Frederic Chopin in celebration of the composer’s 200th birthday in March. The long-awaited Company premieres of Mr. Robbins’s lyrical masterwork Afternoon of a Faun and Mr. Forsythe’s fiercely brilliant In The Middle, Somewhat Elevated will follow in May.

Mr. Kaiser celebrates his 30th year with the Company and 15th as Artistic Director in the 2009-2010 season by continuing to expand an increasingly diverse repertoire of classical and innovative works performed by Pennsylvania Ballet, widely regarded as one of the premier ballet companies in the country.

“I’ve always drawn inspiration from the extraordinary dancers who continually seek to improve their technical virtuosity and impassioned artistry,” says Mr. Kaiser. “I remain committed to presenting challenging and provocative programming, and I think this season really represents the artistic strength of the Company.”

PENNSYLVANIA BALLET’S 2009-2010 SEASON
*Denotes Company Premiere

Program I
October 21 – 25, 2009
Academy of Music

* Theme and Variations: Choreography by George Balanchine (Music: Tschaikovsky)
* World Premiere: Choreography by Matthew Neenan, Choreographer in Residence
* Rodeo: Choreography by Agnes de Mille (Music: Copland)

In Theme and Variations, Balanchine pays homage to the Imperial Russian Ballet of his youth in one of his most technically demanding works.  This plotless ballet features glittering costumes and inventive choreography that is credited with bringing classical ballet into the 20th century.

Choreographer in Residence Matthew Neenan creates his 12th new work especially for the Company in his own unique contemporary style.

The allure of the cowboy is the focus of de Mille’s Rodeo, which captures the pioneering spirit of the American character and the exuberance of youth. A defining achievement in de Mille’s early choreographic career, Rodeo is an optimistic tale of a tomboy’s attempt to lasso in love, with Copland’s exuberant score setting the scene.

George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker
Choreography by George Balanchine
Music: Tschaikovsky
November 24 – 29, 2009
The Kennedy Center

Pennsylvania Ballet has accepted an invitation to perform George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, one of the most prestigious cultural venues in the country. This engagement will mark the first time the Balanchine version of The Nutcracker has been performed in Washington, DC. Tickets go on sale to the public August 12, 2009.

December 12 – 31, 2009
Academy of Music
Presenting Sponsor: PNC

Our critically acclaimed production returns to the Academy of Music to delight audiences of all ages in this enduring holiday classic. The Nutcracker Prince, the Mouse King, the Sugarplum Fairy join the Philadelphia Boys Choir as the Company mesmerizes audiences with extraordinary sets and exquisite costumes. Tickets go on sale to the public June 15, 2009.

Program II
March 4 – 13, 2010
Academy of Music

* The Four Temperaments: Choreography by George Balanchine (Music: Hindemith)
* Carmina Burana: Choreography by Matthew Neenan, Choreographer in Residence (Music: Orff)

The stunning simplicity and angular architecture of The Four Temperaments became the standard for Balanchine works. The work is an abstraction of ancient doctrines that enumerated the four aspects of a person’s disposition.

A thunderous score and innovative choreography punctuate Matthew Neenan’s fiery Carmina Burana, which premiered to sold out audiences in 2007 when The Philadelphia Inquirer declared it “simply scintillating… steamy and explosive…a triumph.”  Neenan fuses the power of Orff’s classic work with his eruptive movement and existential sets.

Program III
March 10 – 14, 2010
Academy of Music

* The Crossed Line: Choreography by Matthew Neenan, Choreographer in Residence (Music: Chopin)
* In the Night: Choreography by Jerome Robbins (Music: Chopin)
* The Concert: Choreography by Jerome Robbins (Music: Chopin)

A trio of works that embody the emotional range and inventiveness of Frederic Chopin celebrate the famed composer’s 200th birthday.

The Crossed Line explores the boundaries and shifting nature of relationships to Chopin piano concertos transcribed for piano and violin/cello. The piece began as an idea Mr. Neenan developed while attending New York City Ballet’s Choreographer Institute in September 2003. The concept grew into an exciting commission for Pennsylvania Ballet in April 2004, and was critically acclaimed for “Neenan’s crisp choreography, creativity, and innovativeness are refreshingly unpredictable.”

In the Night uses four Chopin nocturnes as inspiration for three intimate pas de deux that articulate graduated stages of love and romance. Each episode is a tableau of romance – tender young love, mature and balanced love, and explosive passion. Robbins’s three heroines each has a distinct character, as do the principals who portray them. When last performed, The Washington Post observed “[The Company’s performance]… was liquid smooth. At its heart was an extraordinary dancer, Riolama Lorenzo, who made you notice critical little things such as how she rose onto pointe as if a breath started in her feet and advanced right up into her rib cage.”

The Concert, Robbins’s comedic masterpiece set during a piano recital, envelopes audiences with its sidesplitting humor, witty timing, and satirical choreography in its spirited salute to Chopin. The onstage accompanist engages in the antics, which send everyone home laughing.

Program IV
May 5 – 9, 2010
Merriam Theater

* Square Dance: Choreography by George Balanchine (Music: Vivaldi/Corelli)
* Afternoon of a Faun*: Choreography by Jerome Robbins (Music: Debussy)
* Requiem for a Rose: Choreography by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa (Music: Schubert)
* In The Middle, Somewhat Elevated*: Choreography by William Forsythe (Music: Willems)

Master choreographer George Balanchine’s Square Dance explores the juxtapositions of American folk dances and classical ballet. The hierarchal pairings and partner exchanges suggest the formal patterns of square dance, but the piece also offers virtuosic performances from the lead ballerina and male soloist. The Company has not performed this celebrated work since its 1992-1993 Season.

The Company’s newest Robbins acquisition, Afternoon of a Faun, is considered a landmark piece of lyrical dance theater. A nymph-like figure interrupts a male dancer’s work in the dance studio, and the pair engages in a delicate duet with the audience as their mirror. The stunning simplicity of the choreography underscores the compelling complexities that lie behind the glass.

The transient nature of love is explored in Requiem for a Rose, a dynamic work created for the Company during its 45th Anniversary Season. This encore engagement reunites choreographer Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s vision of 12 dancers as a bouquet of roses, in bold and fluid movements that hinge on a single heartbeat.

Nuance and depth saturate In The Middle, Somewhat Elevated, a frenetic experiment in angular movement that demands the raw commitment of its cast. The feigned disdain of the dancers contrasts the technical demands of the choreography. The New York Times declared this work “changed the way people perceived classical dance: how the fundamental principles of ballet technique could be used in new ways, how dancers could behave onstage, how we could see them.” The Company Premiere of In The Middle, Somewhat Elevated has been funded by The Pew Center for Arts and Heritage, through Dance Advance.

Program V
June 4 – 12, 2010
Academy of Music

* Romeo & Juliet: Choreography by John Cranko (Music:Prokofiev)

Luminous in its power and poignancy, John Cranko’s Romeo and Juliet is set to Sergei Prokofiev’s famous musical score. The ballet version of Shakespeare’s famous tale established Cranko as a master story teller, using powerful music and pristine movements to explore the powerful relationship between the two title characters. When Pennsylvania Ballet last produced Romeo and Juliet in 2005, The Philadelphia Inquirer said it was a “sumptuous production” that keeps audiences “fully engaged and at times transfixed.”

For more information or to subscribe to Pennsylvania Ballet’s 2009 – 2010 Season, please call 215.893.1955 or order online at paballet.org.