La Sylphide in Philadelphia for the First Time in 21 Years
June 5 – 13 at the Academy of Music
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.
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