American Repertory Ballet Presents the Company Premiere of CARMEN

American Repertory Ballet proudly presents the company premiere of Carmen by celebrated choreographer Kirk Peterson at State Theatre New Jersey (15 Livingston Ave., New Brunswick) on Thursday, October 12 at 8:00 p.m. The piece, set to music by Rodion Shchedrin, will be played live by Rutgers Symphony Orchestra led by Kynan Johns.

Also on the bill are Peterson's The Eyes that Gently Touch (set to Philip Glass' Mad Rush) performed by pianist Robert Grohman and Mary Barton's audience favorite,Straight Up with a Twist, set to music by Kaila Flexer and Third Ear.

Kirk Peterson had a distinguished career for 17 years with American Ballet Theatre as principal dancer, choreographer, Artistic Director of ABTII, Ballet Master, Principal Character Artist and as Master Teaching Associate. Peterson was also Artistic Director of the Hartford Ballet for five years. As a choreographer, his work has been seen with San Francisco Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, Washington Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, Atlanta Ballet, BalletMet, San Francisco Opera and The Royal Ballet School. Peterson was resident choreographer for Cincinnati Ballet for six years and he is also a repetiteur for the Antony Tudor Ballet Trust. Peterson originally created Carmenfor Cincinnati Ballet. This performance marks ARB's premiere of the work.

"The original creation of the Carmen Suite by Rodion Shchedrin, instigated by the great ballerina Maya Plisetskaya, was meant to be interpreted as dance," Peterson explains. "I wished to explore different aspects of the novella not previously highlighted. ThisCarmen is my response to this exciting score."

Tickets starting at $27 are available online at www.stnj.org or by calling the State Theatre ticket office at (732)246-7469.

Visit arballet.org to learn more.

American Repertory Ballet/Princeton Ballet School is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization.