Four World Premieres & More Set for Boston Ballet 2023–2024 Season

Boston Ballet has announced programming for the 2023-2024 season, which celebrates the evolution of the living artform of ballet. The six-program season, which marks Boston Ballet's 60th season, brings together a collection of brilliant choreography from the past, present, and future. The Company's 60th season runs October 5, 2023 through May 19, 2024 at the Citizens Bank Opera House. The Company will then return to the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris May 27-30 after a historic debut there in 2019.

"Boston Ballet's monumental 60th season will bring together a dynamic range of repertoire, showcasing the best of the past, present, and future of our artform," said Artistic Director Mikko Nissinen. "We aim to bridge the connection between art and humanity, utilizing the transformative power of dance to inspire change in our community and beyond. I know our talented artists will shine, showcasing the brilliant and challenging choreography in these works."

The season opens with Fall Experience (October 5-15, 2023), featuring the Boston Ballet premieres of Akram Khan's profound Vertical Road and Hans van Manen's Trois Gnossiennes, a world premiere by Artist of the Company My'Kal Stromile, and Boston Ballet Resident Choreographer Jorma Elo's Bach Cello Suites. Vertical Road "explores man's earthly nature, his rituals and the consequences of human actions... [it] becomes a meditation on the journey from gravity to grace." (Akram Khan Company). Trois Gnossiennes is a pas de deux set to Erik Satie's masterful work for the piano, with the pianist on stage, and moved by a trio of male dancers. The ballet reveals the harmony and tension that manifests in physical movement and musical texture. Stromile will create a new work for the Company. "I am excited to create my first mainstage piece for Boston Ballet! The work will comment on the aesthetics of classical ballet and challenge the norms of line, body architecture, and design through a series of internal and external operations," he said. Elo created Bach Cello Suites for the Company in 2015 and features a live cellist performing Johann Sebastian Bach's Cello Suites Nos. 1 & 2 onstage, forming a unique relationship to the dancers.

Mikko Nissinen's critically-acclaimed The Nutcracker returns November 24-December 31, 2023. The beloved production features costumes and sets by award-winning designer Robert Perdziola and the renowned score by Tchaikovsky. Named as the "gold standard" (The Boston Globe), The Nutcracker remains a beloved holiday tradition for audiences of all ages.

Winter Experience (February 22-March 3, 2024) celebrates the evolution of dance. Nissinen will reimagine Raymonda, to illuminate and preserve the best sections of the original full-length ballet by Marius Petipa, with choreography by Nissinen and Florence Clerc and new scenery and costumes by Robert Perdziola. Alla Nikitina will serve as Character Dance Associate. Helen Pickett will create an exciting world premiere SISU, plus her energizing Petal will be performed for a live audience by Boston Ballet for the first time. Petal was originally commissioned as a 10-minute work for a Boston Ballet in-studio workshop in 2007 and is set to music by Philip Glass and Thomas Montgomery Newman. Pickett will premiere her seventh work for Boston Ballet, SISU. Taking inspiration from the Finnish word for will, determination, and perseverance, her world premiere is a tribute to the courage and tenacity of our ballet community, in general, and particularly during the pandemic. Set to the sublime music of Mikael Karlsson, Pickett describes her work best, "Our ethereal art only truly lives in the present, and this fleeting but potent, inspirational energy is infused with bravery, vulnerability and beauty. Dance taught me: Change is the only constant. And committing to this life concept has offered and can offer extraordinary possibilities."

Sir Frederick Ashton's enchanting Cinderella (March 14-24, 2024) returns with sets and costumes new to Boston. The full-length classic is set to the soaring score by Sergei Prokofiev. Presented in three acts, Cinderella was Ashton's first full-length work for Sadler's Wells Ballet, which later became The Royal Ballet, and is still regarded as one of his greatest works. Cinderella returns to Boston after a successful Company debut in 2014 and return in 2019.

The spring season continues with Carmen (April 25-May 5, 2024), featuring the return of Jorma Elo's passionate Carmen and the Kingdom of the Shades by Marius Pepita, from his La Bayadère. Carmen reimagines the heartbreaking story of love, jealousy, passion, and betrayal for the 21st century. His modern adaptation, which originated in 1845 as a novella by French writer Prosper Mérimée, returns live for the first time since 2009. Florence Clerc's Kingdom of the Shades is an iconic scene from La Bayadère, with the entrance of the shades, while featuring academic choreography, it is known as one of ballet's most celebrated compositions. Kingdom of the Shades preserves the artistry of this beloved scene, while leaving behind outdated and problematic storytelling of the ballet.

The 60th season concludes with Spring Experience (May 9-19, 2024). Ken Ossola will create a world premiere for Boston Ballet, pulling inspiration from Michelangelo's "non-finito" sculptures Prisoners. Featuring a score composed by Boston Ballet Music Director Mischa Santora, the ballet will envelop audiences into a world of sound, music, and dance. Ossola made his American debut with Zoom In, which premiered during Boston Ballet's virtual season in 2021. Jiří Kylián's transformative and breathtakingly beautiful Bella Figura includes music by Lukas Foss, Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Alessandro Marcello, Antonio Vivaldi, and Giuseppe Torelli. Kylián created the work in 1995 for Netherlands Dance Theatre and Boston Ballet was the first American company to present Bella Figura in 2011. Boston Ballet's repertoire has included nine of Kylian's works to date. Returning to the Boston Ballet stage is William Forsythe's explosive Blake Works III (The Barre Project). This work was created for Boston Ballet in 2022 and is an extension of his evolving work The Barre Project, set to the propulsive and beautifully structured music of composer James Blake.

Boston Ballet will take Bach Cello Suites, Bella Figura, and Blake Works III (The Barre Project) on tour to Paris at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris May 27-30, 2024. The Company made a historic debut in Paris in 2019, and was greeted with sold-out performances, standing ovations, and glowing reviews from national and international critics. Touring remains a significant aspect of the Company's mission, expanding Boston Ballet's global reputation, and furthering Boston's engagement with the cultural life of communities at home and abroad.

Subscriptions for the 2023-2024 season including The Nutcracker are on sale now. Single tickets will go on sale on September 6. For more information, visit bostonballet.org or call 617.695.6955.

All performances take place at the Citizens Bank Opera House (539 Washington Street, Boston, MA, 02111):

Fall Experience | October 5-15, 2023

Vertical Road
Choreography: Akram Khan
Music: Nitin Sawhney
Lighting Design: Jesper Kongshaug
Costume Design: Kimie Nakano
Set Conceived by: Akram Khan, Kimie Nakano, Jesper Kongshaug

Trois Gnossiennes
Music: Erik Satie
Choreography: Hans van Manen

World Premiere
Choreography: My'Kal Stromile

Bach Cello Suites
Music: Johann Sebastian Bach
Choreography: Jorma Elo
Costume Design: Charles Heightchew

The Nutcracker | November 24-December 31, 2023
Music: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Choreography: Mikko Nissinen
Set & Costume Design: Robert Perdziola
Lighting Design: Mikki Kunttu

Winter Experience | February 22-March 3, 2024

Raymonda (World Premiere)
Concept: Mikko Nissinen
Music: Alexander Glazunov
Choreography: Mikko Nissinen, Florence Clerc
Character Associate: Alla Nikitina
Set and Costume Design: Robert Perdziola

Petal
Music: Philip Glass and Thomas Montgomery Newman
Choreography: Helen Pickett
Scenic Design: Helen Pickett
Original Costume Design: Nete Joseph
Original Lighting Design: Todd Elmer

SISU (World Premiere)
Music: Mikael Karlsson
Choreography: Helen Pickett

Cinderella | March 14-24, 2024

Music: Sergei Prokofiev*
Choreography: Sir Frederick Ashton
Scenic Design: Toer van Schayk
Costume Design: Christine Haworth
Production Directed, Supervised and Staged by: Wendy Ellis Somes and Malin Thoors
*By arrangement with G. Schirmer, INC. publisher and copyright owner.

Carmen | April 25-May 5, 2024
Carmen
Music: Rodion Shchedrin after Georges Bizet*
Choreography: Jorma Elo
Costume Design: Joke Visser
Lighting Design: Mikki Kunttu
Set Design: Benjamin Phillips
*By arrangement with G. Schirmer, Inc., publisher and copyright owner

Kingdom of the Shades
Music: Ludwig Minkus
Choreography: Florence Clerc, after Marius Petipa

Spring Experience | May 9-19, 2024

World Premiere
Music: Mischa Santora and Michael Cain
Choreography: Ken Ossola

Bella Figura
Choreography: Jiří Kylián
Music: Lucas Foss, Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Alessandro Marcello, Antonio Vivaldi, Giuseppe Torelli
Costume Design: Joke Visser
Lighting Design: Kees Tjebbes
Set Design: Jiří Kylián
Assistant to the Choreographer: Ken Ossola

Blake Works III (The Barre Project)
Choreography: William Forsythe
Music: James Blake*
Costume Design:  William Forsythe, Howard Merlin, Tiler Peck Designs by BodyWrappers
Lighting Design: Brandon Stirling Baker
Assistant to the Choreographer: Jodie Gates