Philadelphia Ballet Opens 2023/2024 Season With World Premiere Of Angel Corella's CARMEN

Philadelphia Ballet will open its 2023/2024 season with a world premiere retelling of Carmen from Artistic Director, Angel Corella. Corella's reimagined version will captivate audiences with innovative choreography that combines traditional Spanish dance and classical ballet to tell the dramatic love story of a powerful but tragic heroine. Based on Georges Bizet's much-loved opera, the ballet tells the tale of the sultry Carmen, her encounter with the soldier Don José, and his subsequent downfall as he attempts to cage her free spirit. 

Carmen will inaugurate Philadelphia Ballet's new season on October 5, offering eight performances at The Academy of Music through October 15, 2023. Tickets are now available for purchase and begin at $25. To purchase tickets click here.

“Growing up in Spain, training in flamenco, and really understanding the visceral, emotional reactions that make Carmen such a powerful and tragic love story has allowed me to create a version that is distinct from the ones that have come before,” said Angel Corella, The Ruth & A. Morris Williams, Jr. Artistic Director. “Building this version of Carmen from scratch and being able to closely collaborate with the artists on new choreography and music has been an incredible experience. I'm really excited to welcome audiences back with such a fiery and dramatic performance.”

Angel Corella and Music Director Beatrice Jona Affron have collaborated together to create a full-length score that includes music from the iconic opera as well as excerpts from other music by Bizet and even some traditional flamenco clapping and percussion. “Angel and I have worked together to revive a number of full-length ballets. This project has been particularly fun, since it is Angel's own creation, rather than a recreation of a traditional work.”

The 2023/2024 season marks the beginning of a two-year celebration of the 60th anniversary of the company's founding by Barbara Weisberger, as well as the tenth anniversary of Corella's appointment as Artistic Director the following year. Audiences are invited to share the excitement of this milestone anniversary season by attending an Opening Weekend Gala Performance and Dinner. 

The black-tie optional evening will include a special-timed performance of Carmen, pre-performance and intermission receptions at the Academy of Music Ballroom, and a post-performance dinner with the artists of Philadelphia Ballet in the Grand Ballroom of the Bellevue Hotel. All funds raised from the evening will support the Ballet's work both on stage and throughout the community. For sponsorship opportunities and event tickets please click here. 

“It's fitting to begin our 2023/2024 season and the company's 60th anniversary celebration with a thrilling, all-new production of Carmen,” said Shelly Power, The Dr. Carolyn Newsom Executive Director. "Carmen is a timeless story and Angel's reimagining of it will undoubtedly win audiences' hearts with the passion, romance and incredible artistry.” 

For more information about Carmen and the other productions of Philadelphia Ballet's upcoming 2023/2024 season, which include George Balanchine's The Nutcracker, Angel Corella's Giselle; a production of three modern masterpieces by Alvin Ailey, William Forsythe, and Twyla Tharp; and The Dream, Frederick Ashton's adaptation of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, with George Balanchine's Prodigal Son please visit philadelphiaballet.org.

Founded in 1963 by Barbara Weisberger, a protégé of George Balanchine, Philadelphia Ballet is one of the nation's premier ballet companies and a true cultural treasure of Philadelphia. Furthering a nearly sixty-year artistic lineage in Philadelphia, The Ruth & A. Morris Williams, Jr. Artistic Director Angel Corella leads an ensemble of 52 dancers from around the world and an ever-evolving repertoire of classic and contemporary works. The Dr. Carolyn Newsom Executive Director Shelly Power spearheads development and strategic plans to strengthen and expand the company's presence and impact locally, nationally, and internationally. Recognized as one of the top ten ballet companies in the United States, Philadelphia Ballet's 30-member Board of Trustees is led by local business leader and philanthropist David F. Hoffman. In addition to its performances on the Kimmel Center Cultural Campus, Philadelphia Ballet serves more than 30,000 individuals across the region every year with hands-on arts education and engagement activities brought to children and adults alike regardless of ability or socioeconomic background. 

Philadelphia Ballet is supported in part by a grant from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Community & Economic Development and receives support from The Philadelphia Cultural Fund and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. 

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