George Balanchine News

"Balanchine and Beyond," the Pennsylvania Ballet's strangely named program that I saw Saturday, June 11, 2016 at the Merriam Theater in Philadelphia, was a very satisfying evening. Of course, beyond can mean anything, so the choice of Trisha Brown, Hans van Manen and Jean-Pierre Frohlich was a very strange, or very apt, combination, depending on how you view and take your ballet. So I decided, if this is what they are presenting, I'll sit down and enjoy myself. And, for the most part, I did.

We all know that Eliot Feld – who might be New York City's most accomplished man in dance – has a love for calisthenics, vernacular twists and grooves, and folklore. But since closing his ballet company in 2003, his work has been primarily with students who cannot understand the dry wit inherent to his choreography. The effect is decidedly discombobulating. One wishes that Mr. Feld would either up the ante in his work – there were no pirouettes or turns, though there was plenty of batterie, which tends to be more difficult – or further develop the artistry of his charges.

Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival 2016 opens its 84th annual season with exciting contemporary dance company Aspen Santa Fe Ballet presenting a diverse program, June 22-26 in the Ted Shawn Theatre. Aspen Santa Fe Ballet is dually-based in New Mexico and Colorado and led by Artistic Director Tom Mossbrucker and Executive Director Jean-Philippe Malaty. Exhibiting masterful technique and powerful performances, the company brings stirring works by a roster of esteemed choreographers including Alejandro Cerrudo's Silent Ghost, Fernando Melo's Re:play, and Cayetano Soto's Huma Rojo.

CHICAGO —The Chicago Dancing Festival proudly celebrates its 10th anniversary of free programming featuring performances by leading ballet, modern and contemporary dancers from across the country, August 23-27, 2016. Just as the Festival draws from top dance companies, this year's program will once again be presented in Chicago's top downtown venues including the Harris Theater for Music and Dance, the Museum of Contemporary Art and the Jay Pritzker Pavilion at Millennium Park plus the highly anticipated return to Chicago's Landmark Stage, the Auditorium Theatre. 

The School Of American Ballet (SAB) is one of the most famous classical ballet schools in the world and is the school of George Balanchine's New York City Ballet, a leading international ballet company based at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City. The school trains students from the age of six, with professional vocational ballet training for students aged 11-18.

Before the concert event, BroadwayWorld sat down with Megan Fairchild, who will return to the Broadway world after her run in ON THE TOWN last year. Fairchild chats with us about ballet vs. theatre, returning to theatre for one-night only and much more!

?The Chicago Dancing Festival proudly celebrates its 10th anniversary of free programming featuring performances by leading ballet, modern and contemporary dancers from across the country, August 23-27, 2016. Just as the Festival draws from top dance companies, this year's program will once again be presented in Chicago's top downtown venues including the Harris Theater for Music and Dance, the Museum of Contemporary Art and the Jay Pritzker Pavilion at Millennium Park plus the highly anticipated return to Chicago's Landmark Stage, the Auditorium Theatre.

The afternoon performance on Saturday May 28, 2016 of the New York City Ballet (NYCB) was bubbling with children and balletomanes in anticipation of A Midsummer Night's Dream. This playful ballet, which was based upon the Shakespearean play, was delightfully displayed with the combination of music by Felix Mendelssohn and choreography by the company's co-founder, George Balanchine.

Charlotte Ballet announces Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux's twenty-first and final season of programming as president and artistic director. Bonnefoux, who has led Charlotte Ballet since 1996, will retire at the end of the season.

Houston Ballet's 2016 Spring Mixed Repertory Program reprises Balanchine's SERENADE and Sir Kenneth Macmillan's GLORIA and presents the Houston Ballet premiere of Alexander Ekman's self-aware comedic contemporary work CACTI. We talk to company principal dancer Ian Casady ('Gloria' and 'Cacti') about the joys and challenges of appearing in the program.

?Metropolitan Ballet Academy & Company (MBA/MBC), recognized by Pointe magazine as one of “seven local studios in America cultivating top talent” (Oct/Nov 2011), will celebrate its 20th Anniversary year with a Gala Performance on Saturday, June 4, 2016 at 4:00 pm. Alumni from Metropolitan's two decades of training will return from their professional engagements with dance companies across America to perform in the Gala, which also features pre-professional Metropolitan Ballet Company dancers in classical and contemporary works. The Gala Performance will be held at the Josephine Muller Auditorium of Abington Friends School, 575 Washington Lane, Jenkintown, PA 19046. Tickets are $50 each and available at 215-663-1665 or online at www.metropolitanballetcompany.org.

May 26, 2016 (BOSTON, MA)—Mikko Nissinen, Artistic Director of Boston Ballet, has announced six promotions from within the company for the 2016–2017 season. Soloists Anaïs Chalendard and Seo Hye Han have been promoted to the rank of Principal Dancer, Second Soloist Junxiong Zhao to Soloist, and Corina Gill to Second Soloist. Samivel Evans and Desean Taber, two dancers from Boston Ballet II—Boston Ballet's second company—will join the Company as Corps de Ballet dancers. All promotions are effective August 15, 2016. The full 2016–2017 roster of dancers will be announced at a later date.

The School Of American Ballet (SAB) is one of the most famous classical ballet schools in the world and is the school of George Balanchine's New York City Ballet, a leading international ballet company based at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City. The school trains students from the age of six, with professional vocational ballet training for students aged 11-18.

The Joffrey Ballet Concert Group, under the artistic direction of Davis Robertson, is performing at New York Live Arts, where I saw them on Friday, May 27, 2016. Robertson introduced the not-for-profit company as good dancers who are currently unemployed.

May 12th 2016 - May 15th 2016 By Balanchine, Neenan, & Scarlett, music by Tchaikovsky, Poulenc & Herion May 12, 2016 to May 15, 2016 - Academy of Music

BWW Review: Houston Ballet Presents A Riveting Collection Of Dance

Choreographer Wayne McGregor. Obsidian Tear, inspired by renowned Finnish composer Esa-Pekka Salonen's orchestral work Nyx, features an all-male cast. Salonen, who was recently named Composer in Residence with the New York Philharmonic, will make his Royal Ballet debut conducting the world premiere. The work will see its world premiere in London May 28, 2016, and its U.S. premiere in Boston Ballet's 2017–2018 season in Boston. In addition to the groundbreaking work Chroma—performed by Boston Ballet in 2013 and 2015 to critical acclaim with repeated standing ovations—Obsidian Tearwill be the second work of McGregor's in Boston Ballet's repertoire. After Boston Ballet's debut performance in Chroma, Thea Singer of the Boston Globe stated: “The Boston Ballet dancers astonish with their master of the choreography, contorting this way and that with remarkable intensity.” McGregor will reveal additional plans for the world premiere and co-production at The Royal Opera House's Insights event on May 11, 2016, 2:15 pm EDT / 7:15 pm BST. The event will be live-streamed for viewers around the world to enjoy on The Royal Opera House YouTube Channel.

Beginning today, May 26 through June 5, 2016, Houston Ballet offers up its Spring Mixed Repertory Program.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -The Washington Ballet's (TWB) new Artistic Director Julie Kent unveiled the Company's 2016.2017 40th Anniversary Season to a crowd at the Company's England Studio at its Northwest headquarters in Washington, DC on Tuesday. 

BalletCollective's 2016 Season will further explore the company's unique collaborative process with world premiere works featuring two collaborations pairing architects Carlos Arnaiz and James Ramsey with composers Judd Greenstein and Ellis Ludwig-Leone respectively. Both works will be choreographed by BalletCollective director Troy Schumacher and will be premiered at NYU Skirball Center on October 27 and 28 featuring live music and an ensemble of eight dancers, including New York City Ballet's Harrison Coll, Rachel Hutsell Anthony Huxley, Lauren King, Isabella LaFreniere, Ashley Laracey, and Lauren Lovette.