Inferno, The Rite & Burlesque at American Contemporary Ballet at Television City

IN SEASON 13 OPENER, ACB SERVES HALLOWEEN THREE WAYS

Two nights and three ballets evoke horror…in beautiful disguise.

American Contemporary Ballet opens its 13th season in Los Angeles with three provocative, eerie creations on alternating nights throughout October, offering a Halloween experience unlike any other in the city. Compelling, surprising and unmissable, the performances’ casts vary every night, ensuring no two shows are the same, except in their underlying premise: Beauty is skin deep; evil goes straight to the bone.

INFERNO

Even in ballet, a journey through Hell is terrifying. It can also be spellbinding. Dante’s underworld and its population of demons, poets, doomed lovers and Satan himself unfolds in ACB’s dark and slyly humorous reflection on the wages of sin – and our all too human attraction to it.

THE RITE

A young woman chosen for sacrifice, a score that caused a Paris riot and riveting choreography brought L.A. audiences to the 2023 premiere of ACB’s The Rite. The desire to re-explore the unearthly spectacle – or just to enjoy the sensation of hair rising on the back of their necks – brought many back for multiple performances.

BURLESQUE

Both Inferno and The Rite will be paired with Burlesque, a weird and cinematic take on the genre that only ACB (or maybe David Lynch) could imagine. Gothic and mind-bending? Yes. Slightly disturbing? It may be the only burlesque that leaves more to the imagination than is comfortable. And all that can be said with certainty of the ballet’s inexplicable Variation 7 is that your friends will be talking about it.