George Balanchine News

Choreographers Kyle Abraham, Jessica Lang and Reggie Wilson have been awarded New York City Center's 2015 Choreography Fellowships. The Fellowship supports choreographers at critical stages in their careers and reflects City Center's long history of nurturing dance makers, from George Balanchine to Christopher Wheeldon.

The Autumn / Winter 2015 Season at Sadler's Wells has just been announced.

The spring 2015 season of the New York City Ballet at the David H. Koch Theater in Lincoln Center boasts not one but two programs featuring George Balanchine's minimalist masterpieces that are affectionately referred to as the "leotard ballets" by dancers and devotees alike. On the evening of May 1st, "Balanchine Black & White 1" proved once again that plotless ballets stripped of elaborate sets and costumes do indeed achieve Mr. B's goal of focusing on the movement and the music. What is so remarkable is that each of the three works on the bill, all of them with the dancers in practice clothes, is uniquely compelling. This feast of Mr. B's earliest neoclassical creations holds the audience in thrall from start to finish without ever becoming repetitious.

A pack of wolves in a jungle located in India raise a little boy with his pals: a bear and a black panther. The boy's adventures include fighting a tiger, being abducted by monkeys, and returning to the human village. This wonderful tale is based on "The Jungle Book," a collection of stories by English author Rudyard Kipling, and provides the basis for "Mowgli," a full-length ballet performed by the Roxey Ballet.

Casting for the first two weeks of American Ballet Theatre's 2015 Spring Season at the Metropolitan Opera House was announced today by Artistic Director Kevin McKenzie. 

The Group Rep presents the world premiere musical Love Again, book by Doug Haverty, music by Adryan Russ, lyrics by Russ and Haverty, directed by Kay Cole, produced by Richard Alan Woody and Jon Cortez for The Group Rep, with musical direction by Richard Berent.

Centenary Stage Company's Young Performers work tirelessly to perfect their dance moves, learn all of their lines, and get their vocal harmonies just right for the culmination of their training session and this spring is no exception! These talented young thespians between the ages of 8 and 18 will fill the Little Theater with a variety of shows and musicals to entertain audiences of all ages May 29th - June 7th with their annual Spring Festival of Shows. The Young Performers Workshop (YPW) has been hailed as a 'state treasure' by Peter Filichia of the Star Ledger and brings in youth from Morris, Warren, Hunterdon and Sussex counties. This spring, the festival will feature How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying, Gypsy, and American Sampler: 100 Years of Broadway Dance. Performances will be held on select dates in the Little Theatre on the campus of Centenary College at 400 Jefferson Street in Hackettstown.

On Friday, June 12, 2015 from 12:00pm to 3:00pm at the Cherry Valley Country Club in Skillman, NJ, Princeton Ballet School, the official school of American Repertory Ballet, will host its second annual fashion show: 'Turn Out for Fashion.' All proceeds of this event will support the Princeton Ballet School Scholarship Fund. Before the Fashion Show, on May 2, American Repertory Ballet will participate in Lord & Taylor's 'Charity Day: Shop Smart Do Good,' supporting Women's Health in our community.

New York City Ballet will open its 2015 Spring Season tonight, April 28 with three programs of 12 landmark Black & White ballets by George Balanchine: Monumentum pro Gesualdo, Movements for Piano and Orchestra, Concerto Barocco, Episodes, The Four Temperaments, Apollo, Agon, Duo Concertant, Symphony in Three Movements, Square Dance, Le Tombeau de Couperin, and Stravinsky Violin Concerto. The ballets will be performed in 11 performances during the first two weeks.

Southern California's premiere professional ballet company, Inland Pacific Ballet (IPB), celebrating its 20th season, presents Beauty and the Beast, a breathtaking full-length ballet based on the time honored fairy tale with 10 performances taking place from tonight, April 25 through May 16, 2015 in theaters within the San Gabriel Valley and the Inland Empire.

Southern California's premiere professional ballet company, Inland Pacific Ballet (IPB), celebrating its 20th season, presents Beauty and the Beast, a breathtaking full-length ballet based on the time honored fairy tale with 10 performances taking place from April 25 through May 16, 2015 in theaters within the San Gabriel Valley and the Inland Empire. A creative interpretation of this universal story of inner beauty, IPB's encore presentation promises a visual feast full of romance and drama. Stunning sets, brilliant dancing, gorgeous costumes and a stirring musical score that will transport audiences to an enchanted fairy tale world filled with fanciful characters, a charming village, an enchanted forest and the Beast's magnificent castle, all vividly illustrating the drama and romance of this beloved story and the transformative power of love.

Stravinsky's twentieth-century operatic masterpiece The Rake's Progress will return to the Met stage for a revival of three performances only, opening May 1 and continuing through May 9. Music Director James Levine leads the performances, with rising stars Paul Appleby and Layla Claire in the central roles of the carefree Tom Rakewell and his faithful sweetheart, Anne Trulove; Stephanie Blythe as Baba the Turk, the hot-tempered bearded lady whose life becomes entangled with Tom's; English bass Brindley Sherratt in his Met debut as Anne's father, Trulove; and Gerald Finley as Nick Shadow, the mysterious man who encourages Tom to trade respectability for a life of aimless pleasure.

FRANCES CHUNG and TIIT HELIMETS, principal dancers of the San Francisco Ballet, will appear as guest artists in the Allen Civic Ballet/Allen Philharmonic's joint production of Swan Lake Act III on May 16, 2015 at the Performing Arts Center at Allen High School in Allen, Texas. Ms. Chung and Mr. Helimets will be dancing the Black Swan Pas de Deux as part of this production. Ms. Chung and Mr. Helimets will also teach master classes prior to this performance.

Celebrated international ballet star, David Hallberg, offers an intimate look at the world-renowned ballet companies as they perform varied and rarely-seen contemporary works, representative of each preeminent institution. Hallberg will introduce each company and share an insider's perspective on the works and the institutions that have left an indelible impression on him as an artist. 'David Hallberg Presents: LEGACY' will take place tonight, April 17, 2015 at 7:00pm at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center.

Today, April 17, 2015 at 5:15 pm, American Repertory Ballet will host 'Dancing Your Way into College,' an On Pointe enrichment series event. This event will be held at ARB's Princeton studios, located in the Princeton Shopping Center (301 North Harrison Street, above McCaffrey's). This event is free and open to the public.

Bach Festival Society of Winter Park is pleased to announce the commissioning of a new work in celebration of conductor and artistic director John V. Sinclair's 25th anniversary with the Society. The piece, titled Music, Awake!, with music by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Paul Moravec and words by distinguished author Terry Teachout, celebrates the universal power of music. It will be premiered during concerts with the Bach Festival Choir and Orchestra on April 16 and 17, 2016. Terry Teachout and Paul Moravec are experienced collaborators, having premiered three operas in recent years for companies such as The Santa Fe Opera and Philadelphia's Center City Opera Theater.

The 2015/16 Royal Opera House Season has been announced. The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet and visiting companies will stage more than sixty works during 2015/16 and twelve productions from Covent Garden - six operas and six ballets - will be relayed live to more than 1,500 cinemas in 35 countries as part of the ROH Cinema Season.

The Joyce Theater will present a two-week engagement of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, from May 12-24, offering two programs that include works by Alejandro Cerrudo, Nacho Duato, Ji?íKylián and Crystal Pite. Tickets range in price from $10-$59 ($10-$44 for Joyce Theater members) and can be arranged through JoyceCharge at www.Joyce.org or by calling 212-242-0800. Please note: ticket price is subject to change. The Joyce Theater is located at 175 Eighth Avenue at 19th Street in Chelsea.

The Vail International Dance Festival announces its 2015 schedule to be held July 27 through August 10, marking its 27th season with world premieres, exceptional debuts, and captivating collaborations. Located in the pristine alpine community of Vail, Colorado, the Festival features many of the world's greatest artists from all genres of dance. Under the direction of former New York City Ballet star Damian Woetzel, the Festival's 2015 season includes Artist-in-Residence ballerina Carla Körbes, Savion Glover, Wendy Whelan, American Ballet Theatre's Isabella Boylston, Misty Copeland, and Herman Cornejo, New York City Ballet's Sara Mearns, Tiler Peck, Lauren Lovette, Jared Angle, Chase Finlay, Zachary Catazaro, and Joseph Gordon, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater's Linda Celeste Sims and Antonio Douthit-Boyd, Boston Ballet's Misa Kuranaga and Jeffrey Cirio, Pacific Northwest Ballet's Angelica Generosa, and Memphis Jookers Lil Buck and Prime Tyme.