San Francisco Ballet Will Head to New York for Two Week Engagement at Lincoln Center, 10/16-27

San Francisco Ballet, the oldest professional ballet company in America, has announced that it will perform at New York's Lincoln Center at the David H. Koch Theater, October 16-27, 2013. From October 16-20, the Company will present a variety of mixed-bill programs with works by Edwaard Liang, Serge Lifar, Wayne McGregor, Mark Morris, Alexei Ratmansky, SF Ballet Artistic Director & Principal Choreographer Helgi Tomasson, Yuri Possokhov, and Christopher Wheeldon. From October 23-27, SF Ballet presents the New York premiere of Wheeldon's lavish new full-length ballet Cinderella. Tickets will be available to the general public starting June 10 by visitingsfballet.org or calling 212.496.0600.

"After five years, we are thrilled to return to New York-one of the Company's favorite tour destinations," remarked San Francisco Ballet Artistic Director & Principal Choreographer Helgi Tomasson. "This fall we are especially excited to bring eight New York premieres including Christopher Wheeldon's wonderful full-length production of Cinderella."

From October 16-20 over six performances, SF Ballet will present four varied mixed-bill programs. Program A will be performed on Wednesday, October 16 and Saturday, October 19 at 8 pm. The program will feature the New York premiere of Tomasson's Trio, set to Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky's "Souvenir de Florence" and called "elegant and engrossing" by The Los Angeles Times. The work in three movements was premiered on SF Ballet's 2010 Repertory Season. Wheeldon's Ghosts, a New York premiere, is set to music by C.F. Kip Winger and was deemed "...original and astonishingly atmospheric...utterly gripping" by The London Independent. Wayne McGregor's Borderlands, premiered during SF Ballet's 2013 Repertory Season, is set to an electronic score by Joel Cadbury and Paul Stoney. The work, a New York premiere, was inspired by the contemporary visual artist Josef Albers. Program B will be

performed on Saturday, October 19 at 2 pm and includes Tomasson's Trio, Wheeldon's Ghosts, and Lifar's Suite en Blanc. Rarely seen in the U.S., Lifar's Suite en Blanc was first performed by

Paris Opera Ballet in Zurich, in 1943. Set to the music of composer Édouard Lalo, the work was first performed by SF Ballet on its 2013 Repertory Season.

Program C will be performed Thursday, October 17 and Friday, October 18 at 8 pm, and includes Ratmansky's From Foreign Lands, Morris'Beaux, Possokhov's Classical Symphony, and Liang's Symphonic Dances. Ratmansky's From Foreign Lands, a New York premiere, is set to the music of Moritz Moszkowski and premiered on SF Ballet's 2013 Repertory Season. The work offers charming dances from a myriad of countries;The New York Times noted, "...[the ballet] has original details that show why Mr. Ratmansky is in such high demand." Possokhov's Classical Symphony, set to the music of Sergei Prokofiev, had its world premiere on the Company's 2010 Repertory Season and was inspired by ballet history and Possokhov's own classical Russian ballet training. The San Francisco Chronicle deemed the work "likely to delight ballet diehards and newcomers in equal measure." Liang's Symphonic Dances premiered on SF Ballet's 2012 Repertory Season and is set to the music of Sergei Rachmaninov. Called "a brushfire of a work" by the California Literary Review, the work is a New York premiere and features costume design by Mark Zappone and lighting design by Jack Mehler.

Program D will be performed on Sunday, October 20 at 2 pm and includes Lifar's Suite en Blanc, Ratmansky's From Foreign Lands, and Liang's Symphonic Dances.

The New York premiere of Wheeldon's full-length production of Cinderella will be performed Wednesday, October 23 at 8 pm; Thursday, October 24 at 8 pm; Friday, October 25 at 8 pm; Saturday, October 26 at 2 pm and 8 pm; and Sunday, October 27 at 2 pm. The acclaimed work, a co-production with Dutch National Ballet, was first performed in December 2012 by the Dutch company, and the U.S. premiere was presented by SF Ballet in May 2013. This production is a New York premiere and has been acclaimed by audiences and critics alike. The Financial Times noted, "[This production is]...the most dramatically convincing Cinderella in ballet, a triumph of storytelling and stage design firmly in touch with the 21st century" and the San Francisco Chronicle noted that "all Cinderellas should look and dance as well as this one." Set to a score by Sergei Prokofiev and inspired by The Brothers Grimm and Charles Perrault fairy tales, the ballet features a libretto by Craig Lucas, a renowned Tony Award-nominated playwright, director, and screenwriter, known for, among other works, Light in the Piazza and Prelude to a Kiss. Cinderella also features scenic and costume design by Julian Crouch, renowned for his work with the Metropolitan Opera and on Broadway; lighting design by Natasha Katz; tree and carriage sequence direction/design by Obie Award winner Basil Twist; and projection design by Daniel Brodie.

Photo by Erik Tomasson