Sara Mearns News

Reviewing George Balanchine 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' on Wednesday, May 24 was like visiting an old friend. My father took me to see it as a child soon after it opened in 1962, and while the memory fades as we grow older, Gloria Govrin in the role of Hippolyta bounding around the stage remains steadfast, never diminishing. Thank you, New York City Ballet, for the recollection and for a wonderful theatrical evening.

Arlene Shuler, President & CEO, today announced programming for New York City Center's 2017-18 season. The season will open with the annual Fall for Dance Festival, featuring 20 companies in five unique programs.

New York City Ballet continues to include new choreographies in its repertoire, billed this season as the Here and Now Festival. On May 12, 2017 NYCB performed four newer works created in 1994, 1998, 2006, and a world premiere.

The Jacob's Pillow 85th Anniversary Season kicks off with the Season Opening Gala, the Pillow's signature fundraising event, Saturday, June 17. The event embodies the start of the summer season in the Berkshires, and features exclusive programming, unique and delicious food and drink, and plenty of dancing and live music.

Lincoln Center Festival Director Nigel Redden today announced casting for the unprecedented, international presentation of George Balanchine's Jewels . The Bolshoi Ballet, New York City Ballet, and Paris Opera Ballet will share the stage where the masterpiece first premiered on April 13, 1967, for five historic performances celebrating one of the greatest creative artists of the 20th century and the global recognition the work has received.

New York City Ballet's 'All Wheeldon' program, part of the Here/Now series on April 30, was, in most cases, a great success. Wheeldon is now a celebrity choreographer. He is followed everywhere, has received abundant awards for his ballets and Broadway productions. Together with Justin Peck and Alexander Ratmansky, all City Ballet past or present artists-in-residence, he has come to many to represent ballet's future, although what that future is remains a question mark.

The 2017 Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival 2017, the first programmed exclusively by new Director Pamela Tatge, is full of exciting programming featuring world premieres, commissions, site-specific work, international artists, live music, and Pillow-exclusive engagements, all to celebrate a momentous 85th Anniversary Season. Running June 21-August 27, Festival 2017 includes more than 200 free events, performances, exhibits, and talks, as well as many new offerings and initiatives launched under Tatge's leadership. In keeping with the Jacob's Pillow mission to engage and educate the community through the depth and breadth of dance, the genres and styles presented as part of the 85th Anniversary Season are far-reaching and inclusive, encompassing modern, contemporary, ballet, hip-hop, improvisation, flex, tap dance, step, Brazilian social dance, dance theater, traditional Native American, Bharatanatyam, musical theater dance, classical Cambodian, Latin ballroom, capoeira, and traditional Korean movement styles.

Curated By Justin Peck and Misty Copeland, Ballet Across America Returns To Kennedy Center

The 2017 Jacob's Pillow Dance Award, a prestigious honor that carries a $25,000 cash prize, will be presented to choreographer, performer, writer, educator, and speaker Liz Lerman in acknowledgement of her vision and outstanding contributions to the dance field.  Long ago dubbed the “Democrat of Dance” by Alan M. Kriegsman of The Washington Post, Lerman's extraordinary career of the past four decades includes a wide range of groundbreaking work. Established in 2007, the Jacob's Pillow Dance Award's previous recipients include the legendary choreographer Merce Cunningham; MacArthur Fellows Michelle Dorrance and Kyle Abraham; and choreographer, performer, and artistic director Camille A. Brown, among others.

On March 17 2017, excitement buzzed at the Peter Norton Symphony Space during the season premiere of The Ashley Bouder Project. A powerful collective that celebrates the beauty and strength of female dancers (and the resilient support of their male counterparts!) the showcase more than proved Bouder's mantra that At This Dance, Women Take the Lead.

Celebrating innovation and diversity in American ballet, the Kennedy Center presents the return of its weeklong Ballet Across America series, April 17 and April 19-23, for seven performances in the Opera House. Last seen in 2013, and illustrating the most exciting, creative dance happening across America today, this season's engagement explores new directions in the art form through programs curated by two of the biggest superstars in the ballet world: dancer-choreographer Justin Peck and principal dancer Misty Copeland.

When Aurora makes her first appearance in SLEEPING BEAUTY, the audience usually sits up-there's a murmur, an anticipation. THE STAR is here, and she's in charge for the next two hours. And THE STAR had better be ready. The audience is watching her every move, not to mention her every mishap.

George Balanchine said that 'Allegro Brillante' contained everything he knew about classical ballet in 13 minutes. I would say a bit more, depending on the tempo the conductor is taking for the evening. But putting tempos aside, 'Allegro Brilliante' offers a ballet so rich in form and steps that it's hard to take it all in. I've been watching the ballet for over 30 years, and I still marvel and its invention and the sheer stamina it takes to perform the work.

During the summer of 2016, New York City Ballet made a triumphant return to Paris for a three-week season at the historic Thtre du Chtelet.

Following the critical acclaim and record-breaking attendance of Festival 2016, Jacob's Pillow Dance announces its 85th Anniversary Season of exciting programming featuring world premieres, commissions, site-specific work, international artists, live music, and Pillow-exclusive engagements.

Festival Ballet Theatre (FBT), Orange County's resident professional ballet company, will present the family favorite production of The Nutcracker, December 10 - 24, 2016 at the Irvine Barclay Theatre in Irvine, California.

 The Performing Arts School at bergenPAC announces the 2017 Master Class series in residence with Principal Ballet Dancers. The classes will be held at The Performing Arts School at bergenPAC-1 Depot Square, Englewood, NJ 07631. 

On Sunday, November 13, 2016 at 3pm and 7:30pm and Monday, November 14, 2016 at 7:30pm, Works & Process at the Guggenheim presents Working in Process/ New Bodies, the culmination and World Premiere of choreographer Jodi Melnick's Works & Process residency with dancers Sara Mearns, Jared Angle, and Gretchen Smith at the Guggenheim's Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Peter B. Lewis Theater. Melnick's work weaves dance, spoken text, and moderated discussion with Claudia La Rocco, with live music for harpsichord by composer Gyorgy Ligeti, violin by composer Heinrich Biber, and newly commissioned music by Robert Boston.

Festival Ballet Theatre (FBT), Orange County's resident professional ballet company, will present the family favorite production of The Nutcracker, December 10 - 24, 2016 at the Irvine Barclay Theatre in Irvine, California.

Strengthening its role as a center for artist research and development, Jacob's Pillow Dance announces an active, year-round season with its expanded 2016-2017 Creative Development Residency program. This season brings new additions to the program including two technical residencies, cross-genre collaborations, and invited audiences of college students, as well as a diverse roster of 10 artist residencies, the Pillow's largest residency season yet.