Ballet Next Performs at Joyce Theater, Now thru 10/28

Ballet Next, the independent ballet company founded by acclaimed dancers Michele Wiles and Charles Askegard, will present its first week-long season at The Joyce Theater from tonight, October 23-28, 2012.

Since debuting for a one-night only, sold out performance at The Joyce in 2011, Ballet Next has forged an exciting creative laboratory, bringing together world-class choreographers, dancers and musicians to develop contemporary work with the highest level of classical technique as its foundation. The highly-anticipated season includes two programs with five world premieres from Mauro Bigonzetti, Brian Reeder, Margo Sappington, Alison Cooke Beatty, and Charles Askegard, and features dancers from New York City Ballet, Stuttgart Ballet, Houston Ballet, and Pacific Northwest Ballet, as well as young talents who comprise the Ballet Next group of Soloists. The Ballet Next Ensemble will accompany the dancers with live music led by noted Israeli cellist Elad Kabilio.

Program A:
New-to-the-scene choreographer Alison Cooke Beatty has created a new piece for six dancers, Tinntinnabuli, set to music by Arvo Pärt, which will open the program. Choreographer Margo Sappington has further developed her critically acclaimed pas de deux Entwined. The ballet is now set to Erik Satie’s “Gnossienne No. 2,7,5,3, & 4,” and has been expanded to include a solo for Michele Wiles, as well as a new duet and trio. Completing the program is La Follia, a duet created for Ballet Next in 2011 by Italian choreographer Mauro Bigonzetti, set to Antonio Vivaldi’s quartet sonata of the same name.

Program B:
The Company will present the world premiere of Picnic, a ballet inspired by the 1975 film Picnic at Hanging Rock, set to music by Dmitri Shostakovitch with choreography by Brian Reeder from American Ballet Theater. The program also includes the world premiere of Stravinsky Divertimento, a pas de deux choreographed by Charles Askegard, and a new work by Mauro Bigonzetti.

In addition to Wiles and Askegard, guest artists slated to perform include Georgina Pazcoguin and Ana Sophia Scheller, New York City Ballet; Jason Reilly, Stuttgart Ballet; Karina Gonzalez, Houston Ballet; and Carla Korbes, Pacific Northwest Ballet. Company Soloists include Lilly Nicole Balogh and Kristie Latham.

A festive opening night benefit performance in partnership with Accelerate Brain Cancer Cure (ABC2) is planned for October 23, with proceeds going to support new Ballet Next choreography and advanced research to fight brain cancer. For information and benefits tickets, please visit www.abc2.org or www.balletnext.com

Schedule and Tickets:
Program A:
Tinntinnabuli, Entwined, La Follia
Oct. 23, 7:30pm, Oct 25, 8pm, Oct. 27, 2pm, Oct 28, 2:00pm

Program B:
Stravinsky Divertimento, Picnic, New Bigonzetti piece
Oct 24, 7:30pm, Oct 26, 8pm, Oct 27, 8pm, Oct 28, 7:30pm

Tickets for the performances start at $10, and are available by calling JoyceCharge (212-242-0800); by visiting The Joyce Theater Box Office (Monday-Friday, 12:00-6:00pm); or by charging them online at joyce.org The Joyce Theater is located at 175 Eighth Avenue at West 19th Street.