Boston Ballet Announces Upcoming Season: New NUTCRACKER and More
By: Kelsey Denette Sep. 06, 2012
Boston Ballet Artistic Director Mikko Nissinen announced today the programming for the 2012-2013 season at The Boston Opera House. Boston Ballet’s 49th season includes the premiere of Boston Ballet’s new production of The Nutcracker, two of the world’s most beloved story ballets, The Sleeping Beauty and Coppélia, and three diverse repertory programs featuring works by Balanchine and Forsythe, as well as a world premiere by Jorma Elo and a full Kylían program with three company premieres.
“The range of artistry, choreography, and experiences Boston Ballet will present in the 2012-2013 season is unprecedented,” said Nissinen. “The new, reimagined production of The Nutcracker is already underway with designer Robert Perdziola, and we are preparing a feast for the eyes and senses. Two of Boston’s favorite story ballets return to the stage, and an all-Kylían program will present three company premieres. Jorma Elo will work his magic again with a world premiere, leaving room for surprise and excitement. Boston is in for a great ride next season as the Company continues to present a diverse range of repertoire that excites, engages and challenges our audiences.”
Boston Ballet’s 2012-2013 season begins Thursday, October 25 – November 4, with the Fall Program featuring a world premiere by Jorma Elo, a revival of Christopher Bruce’s Rooster set to the music of The Rolling Stones, and William Forsythe’s smash hit The Second Detail. The season continues November 23 – December 30 with the world premiere of Mikko Nissinen’s The Nutcracker with all new sets and costumes by designer Robert Perdziola. All Kylían, featuring three works by the master choreographer, begins the 2013 performances March 7-17. The program will include Kylían’s Wings of Wax, Tar and Feathers, andSymphony of Psalms. The Sleeping Beauty follows, March 22 – April 7, returning to the stage after four years with the lavish sets and costumes and exquisite dancing for which the production is acclaimed. TheSpring Program, on stage May 2-12, includes Wayne McGregor’s Chroma book-ended by George Balanchine’s Serenade and Symphony in C. George Balanchine’s Coppélia, May 16-26, completes the season.
Beyond its work on stage, Boston Ballet will continue its extensive work in the studios with Boston Ballet School, and the unparalleled Education and Community Initiatives, which include Citydance, Adaptive Dance, and Taking Steps. Through its world-class work on stage, and acclaimed education and outreach initiatives, Boston Ballet continues to reach thousands of lives each year and create access and engagement to the art form of dance.
All performances are held at The Boston Opera House
Fall Program
October 25 – November 4, 2012
WORLD PREMIERE
Choreography: Jorma Elo
Rooster
Music: The Rolling Stones
Choreography: Christopher Bruce
The Second Detail
Music: Thom Willems
Choreography: William Forsythe
The Fall Program begins with a world premiere by Jorma Elo, Boston Ballet’s Resident Choreographer. The work will feature electric organ and piano, music by Bach and will be a reflection on the phases of life. This will be Elo’s eighth world premiere for Boston Ballet. The program continues with a revival of Christopher Bruce’s Rooster set to the music of The Rolling Stones. The work, premiered in 1991 with the Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève, made its Boston Ballet premiere in March 2012 to great audience and critical acclaim. Bruce is a British choreographer known for the unique settings and concepts of his pieces, often pulling inspiration from literature and more contemporary music. Rooster features eight well-known tunes from The Rolling Stone’s song book, including Paint it Black, Ruby Tuesday, Lady Jane and Not Fade Away. TheFall Program is completed with William Forsythe’s The Second Detail. Boston Ballet presented this work to rave reviews in 2011. DANCE Magazine wrote, “The Second Detail knocks it out of the park.” The action-packed, ensemble work is set to a driving score by Thom Willems.
The Nutcracker – WORLD PREMIERE
November 23 – December 30, 2012
Music: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Choreography: Mikko Nissinen
New England’s most popular winter classic, Mikko Nissinen’s The Nutcracker, presented by State Street Corporation, returns to the stage completely reimagined with all new sets and costumes designed by award-winning designer Robert Perdziola. The new production will encompass the beauty and magic of the traditional Nutcracker story with revised scenes and choreography by Nissinen.
“Our preparations for the new Nutcracker are already underway,” said Nissinen. “Robert and I are collaborating on a production which will truly capture the adventure and fantasy of The Nutcracker with a sophisticated and classic vision. We look forward to bringing our audiences on this journey of creation with us and are thrilled to begin sharing some of the sketches for the new production this month.”
Perdziola has designed sets and costumes for the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Opera Boston, Glimmerglass Opera, Manhattan School of Music, and the Juilliard School of Drama. His designs for ballet include sets and costumes for American Ballet Theatre’s Pillar of Fire and Le Spectre de la Rose, scenery designs for Miami City Ballet’sThe House of Bernarda Alba, and sets and costumes for San Francisco Ballet’s Reflections of Saint Joan.
Perdziola is the recipient of a 2008 Helpmann Award nomination, three Helen Hayes Awards for costume design (The Country Wife, Don Carlos, and Lady Windermere’s Fan) and the Irene Sharaff Young Master Award.
For the most up-to-date sketches, video and information on the 2012 The Nutcracker, visit www.bostonballet.org/nutcracker2012.
All Kylían
March 7 – 17, 2013
Wings of Wax
Music: Johann Sebastian Bach, Phillip Glass
Choreography: Ji?í Kylián
Tar and Feathers
Music: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Choreography: Ji?í Kylián
Symphony of Psalms
Music: Igor Stravinsky
Choreography: Ji?í Kylián
All Kylían begins the 2013 spring season performances. The program will include Ji?í Kylián’s Wings of Wax, Tar and Feathers, and Symphony of Psalms, ballets never before danced by a U.S. company. Wings of Wax, premiered in 1997 at the Lucent Dance Theatre is set to the music of J.S. Bach and Phillip Glass. The piece features a large-scale set design of a tree suspended upside down above the dancers on stage.Wings of Wax is a work for eight dancers costumed in black creating a visual effect of bodies disappearing and reappearing on the darkly-lit stage. The title of the piece references the Greek legend of Icarus. Kylían’sTar and Feathers continues the program. This 2006 work is set to music by Mozart and features a grand piano on stage, elevated on 10-foot-high tall, thin legs. The work features a layered soundscape, which includes the on-stage pianist’s improvisation and the recitation of Samuel Beckett’s poem, What is the word. Lighting and fragmented movement add to the surreal world created on stage. Symphony of Psalmscompletes the program. This work for 16 dancers is set to a choral symphony of Igor Stravinsky. Symphony of Psalms was created in 1978 and is considered an iconic Kylían work. The formations and patterns of the dancers, combined with the chanting music, evoke a spiritual feeling. Rich Persian tapestries, high-backed chairs, and powerful lighting set the scene for this ensemble work.
These three works will be additions to Boston Ballet’s growing Kylían repertoire, which includes Bella Figura and the five-ballet Black and White program. Kylían was born in Prague, Czech Republic. He trained at the Prague Conservatory and the Royal Ballet School, London before beginning his choreographic career with Stuttgart Ballet. Kylían is currently artistic advisor of Nederlands Dans Theater.
The Sleeping Beauty
March 22 – April 7, 2013
The Sleeping Beauty
Music: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Choreography: Marius Petipa
Additional Choreography: Sir Frederick Ashton
Production: Ninette de Valois (after Nicholas Sergeyev’s 1939 production)
Marius Petipa’s The Sleeping Beauty, with sets and costumes by David Walker that originated with The Royal Ballet, has become one of Boston Ballet’s trademark works. When it was last presented in 2009 The New York Times raved, “the superb achievement of the company’s artistic director Mikko Nissinen was to reunite [the costumes and sets] with the de Valois’s production. It is The Bostonians who have taken the trouble to dance the unison ensembles with painstaking precision. The effect is nothing but good.” The Sleeping Beauty is derived from the “Mother Goose” tale by Charles Perrault. The story has a rich history as a ballet. Nicholas Sergeyev, an assistant to Petipa, first brought the ballet to the West. He staged it for the first time in 1921 for Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes, mounted the ballet again in 1939 for Ninette de Valois at The Royal Ballet, and later presented the ballet at the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden in 1946. With de Valois’ oversight and additional choreography by both she and Frederick Ashton, the production became beloved and began to travel receiving great acclaim.
Spring Program
May 2 – 12, 2013
Serenade
MUSIC: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
CHOREOGRAPHY: George Balanchine
Chroma
CHOREOGRAPHY: Wayne McGregor
MUSIC: Joby Talbot
Symphony in C
MUSIC: Georges Bizet
CHOREOGRAPHY: George Balanchine
The Spring Program takes the stage May 2-12 with Wayne McGregor’s Chroma book-ended by George Balanchine’s Serenade and Symphony in C. McGregor is the first-ever contemporary resident choreographer for The Royal Ballet. Chroma, premiered in 2006, is a minimalist, contemporary work. McGregor has described it as showcasing “the architecture of the body.” His choreography seems to push and pull the dancers to new lengths and positions. The music, composed by Joby Talbot, is three arranged songs by Jack White of The White Stripes.
Two works by George Balanchine complete the program. Balanchine’s Serenade is considered one of his most iconic works. It was premiered in 1935 by students of the School of American Ballet at a private estate in New York. It was the first original ballet Balanchine created in America. The work features 28 dancers costumed in shades of blue before a background of the same color, creating a soft and feminine visual. Boston Ballet has presented this work in Boston and on an international tour in Spain to great acclaim.
Balanchine’s Symphony in C premiered in 1947. The work is set to Bizet’s Symphony in C major, which he composed at the age of 17. The music, both lively and accessible, complements the elegance, speed and personality of this work. Symphony in C is comprised of four movements culminating in a rousing grand finale where all 52 dancers appear on stage.
Coppélia
May 16 – 26, 2013
Music: Léo Delibes
Choreography: George Balanchine
The light-hearted comedy of George Balanchine’s Coppélia takes the stage May 16-26. Based upon the book by Charles Nuitter, after “Der Sandmann” by E.T.A. Hoffman, this sentimental tale revolves around the life-size dancing doll created by Doctor Coppélius who becomes the source of love troubles for a village swain. The ballet, first choreographed by Arthur St. Léon, was restaged by Marius Petipa and again by Lev Ivanov and Enrico Cecchetti. Balanchine maintained elements from these versions in Acts I and II, creating entirely new choreography for Act III. Boston Ballet premiered the work in 2009, joining GenEva Ballet, New York City Ballet, and Pacific Northwest Ballet, as one of only four companies in the world that have performed this work. Léo Delibes score, called by The New York Times, “a classic of melody, orchestration, rhythm, and storytelling,” is at once lively and accessible. With more than 20 children from Boston Ballet School, Coppélia remains a jubilant and melodic triumph.
Boston Ballet 2012-2013 Season at a Glance
All performances are held at The Boston Opera House.
Fall Program
October 25 – November 4, 2012
WORLD PREMIERE
Choreography: Jorma Elo
Rooster
Music: The Rolling Stones
Choreography: Christopher Bruce
The Second Detail
Music: Thom Willems
Choreography: William Forsythe
The Nutcracker – WORLD PREMIERE
November 23 – December 30, 2012
Music: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Choreography: Mikko Nissinen
All Kylían
March 7 – 17, 2013
Wings of Wax
Music: Johann Sebastian Bach, Phillip Glass
Choreography: Ji?í Kylián
Tar and Feathers
Music: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Choreography: Ji?í Kylián
Symphony of Psalms
Music: Igor Stravinsky
Choreography: Ji?í Kylián
The Sleeping Beauty
March 22 – April 7, 2013
The Sleeping Beauty
Music: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Choreography: Marius Petipa
Additional Choreography: Sir Frederick Ashton
Production: Ninette de Valois (after Nicholas Sergeyev’s 1939 production)
Spring Program
May 2 – 12, 2013
Serenade
MUSIC: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
CHOREOGRAPHY: George Balanchine
Chroma
CHOREOGRAPHY: Wayne McGregor
MUSIC: Joby Talbot
Symphony in C
MUSIC: Georges Bizet
CHOREOGRAPHY: George Balanchine
Coppélia
May 16 – 26, 2013
Music: Léo Delibes
Choreography: George Balanchine
Photo Credit: Clara by Robert Perdziola
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