Nashville Ballet presents DIRECTOR'S CHOICE at TPAC's Polk Theatre 2/11-13

The American premiere of Twyla Tharp's The Story Teller, along with two of Nashville's favorite contemporary dance pieces, are part of Nashville Ballet's Director's Choice winter repertoire program, to be performed at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center's James K. Polk Theatre Febraury 11-13.

"Our entire 25^th anniversary season celebrates audience favorites, including two of the ballets in this series," Paul Vasterling, Nashville Ballet CEO and artistic director, said. "We are also introducing the audience to a new work that is sure to be added to our future audience favorites list."

The Story Teller debuted at The Australian Ballet in 1997, but has not been performed since then. Nashville Ballet's performance will mark the North American premiere of the ballet, which was created by world-famous choreographer Tharp. According to Vasterling, the piece illustrates the personal story of one character through the movements of four dancers - his exact story is open to interpretation based on each couple's athletic, modern style.

Nashville Ballet was awarded a prestigious American Masterpieces grant by the National Endowment for the Arts to produce this work.

Tharp's talent, reputation and lifetime of achievement in the dance world have earned her a Kennedy Center Honor in 2008, a Tony Award, 19 honorary doctorates, two Emmy Awards, the National Medal of the Arts in 2004 and many other honors. She has created the choreography for four Broadway shows, five Hollywood films and 135 individual dances. In March, she will also accept the Vasterling Award from Nashville Ballet for artistic achievement.

Nashville Ballet will also perform Postcards from the Boys, which became an audience favorite after its 2005 Music City debut. Award-winning choreographer Sarah Slipper created the jazzy, progressive piece specifically for the music written by Nashville singer-songwriters Guy Clark and Darrell Scott. Accomplished Nashville composer Conni Ellisor arranged the score, which includes Do It or Die Trying, Shattered Cross and I Wanna Be Free by Scott, as well as Homeless and She Ain't Goin' Nowhere by Clark, among others.

Nashville songwriter Shawn Camp will perform the music for Postcards from the Boys with a seven-member orchestra alongside Nashville Ballet dancers on stage. With his distinctive voice and multi-instrumental abilities, Camp has released six of his own albums and written material for artists such as Del McCoury, Brooks & Dunn, Garth Brooks and Ricky Skaggs.

Satto, the third ballet in this triple-bill, features two Nashville Ballet company members in Salvatore Aiello's sensual adaptation of an Asian legend about an encounter between a wind god and a leaf. The dancers' minimalist costumes, athletic choreography and meditative music by Katutoshi Nagasawa and Chip Davis illustrate the hypnotic and erotic interaction between the wind god and leaf. Nashville Ballet performed Satto for an international audience during a South American tour in 2005.

Tickets for all Nashville Ballet performances may be purchased in person at the TPAC box office in downtown Nashville, by phone at (615) 782-4040 or online at www.nashvilleballet.com. Groups of ten or more receive a discount. For information on group sales or to purchase group tickets, please call TPAC at (615) 782-4060.

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