Oregon Ballet Theatre 2011 Season Begins

Oregon Ballet Theatre unravels the mysteries of the human heart this season with the help of toreadors and tortured artists, country girls and conjurers in the just announced 2011/2012 season. Our Fall Program will feature World Premiere Petrouchka from Nicolo Fonte coupled with the World Premiere of Carmen from Christopher Stowell. The holiday season features the return of Christopher Stowell's popular A Holiday Revue and George Balanchine's The Nutcracker. The heart of our Winter program is the World Premiere of Lola de Avila's Giselle. In the spring we bring a mixed repertory program, Chromatic Quartet, which features Company Premiere George Balanchine's Stravinsky Violin Concerto, Company Premiere Christopher Wheeldon's Liturgy, Val Caniparoli's Lambarena and a World Premiere new work.
 
In the 2011-12 Season four productions will be performed in the Keller Auditorium, two in the Newmark Theatre. Season subscriptions are open for sale Monday, February 14th 2011. Season tickets start at $74.00 (for a four show subscription) and include special pricing for students. Subscribers save up to 20% over single ticket seats. Visit www.obt.org or dial 503.2.BALLET for tickets.
 
Find season images at OBT's Flickr page http://www.flickr.com/photos/oregonballettheatre
 
Oregon Ballet Theatre is pleased to announce the 2011-2012 Season:

Petrouchka/Carmen | October 8-15, 2011 - Keller Auditorium

Petroucha - World Premiere
Music by Igor Stravinsky
Choreography by Nicolo Fonte

Carmen - World Premiere
Music by Georges Bizet
Choreography by Christopher Stowell

Experience the agonies and ecstasies of affairs gone awry in these twin tales of thwarted love. She's caught between the man she needs and the man she wants. He's snarled in the strings of a love unrequited. Each reminds us that an affair needn't end happily to be utterly divine. Artistic Director Christopher Stowell and audience favorite Nicolo Fonte (Left Unsaid, Bolero) will collaborate on a world premiere re-envisioning of Stravinsky and Bizet's masterpieces, with the full force of the OBT Orchestra at each performance.
 
Nicolo Fonte has garnered international acclaim his fearless and emotional choreography and captured the hearts of Portland audiences with the World Premiere of Bolero, choreographed for OBT in 2008. Fonte will blend his contemporary style with the nearly century old tale, Petrouchka.  Petrouchka was originally composed by Igor Stravinsky in the winter of 2011 and was premiered by Sergei Diahgilev in 1913 Paris. In the original, Vaslav Nijinsky danced the title role of the heartbroken marionette. Christopher Stowell will complete the double header with his interpretation of Carmen. Carmen, the opera, originated in 1875 with Georges Bizet's score which he based on a 1845 novella about a scandalous gypsy woman. In 1949 Roland Petit premiered the ballet version of Carmen, and since the work has been performed over 5,000 times.

A Holiday Revue | December 10-22, 2011 - Keller Auditorium

Music by Various Composers
Choreography by Christopher Stowell

Slip into something saucy and join Susannah Mars, Richard Bower and the OBT dancers for an evening of effervescent delights. Artistic Director Christopher Stowell will be mixing it up this year, swirling past favorites with fresh confections in an evening The Oregonian called, "a supper-club pleasure" in a "smashing setting." Back by popular demand, this year's A Holiday Revue returns with even more dance numbers and jazzy tunes!

George Balanchine's The Nutcracker | December 10-24, 2011 - Keller Auditorium

Music by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Choreography by George Balanchine

Light the fire in a child's heart (and spark your own childhood wonder) with this beloved trip into a land where Nutcracker soldiers fight rat armies, snowflakes come dancing to life and the sugarplum fairy saves the day with the wave of a wand. Each year George Balanchine's The Nutcracker sets the season a-sparkle, creating memories your family will cherish forever. OBT remains the only company West of the Mississippi licensed to perform Balanchine's original choreography and this year 7 performances will feature the whole OBT Orchestra.

Giselle | February 25-March 3, 2012 - Keller Auditorium

World Premiere
Music by Adolphe Adam
Choreography by Lola de Avila (after Petipa/Coralli/Perrot)

A summer affair turns to winter chill when a country girl with tender feelings and a weak heart falls for a gentleman with questionable intentions and the worst timing. Her heart bursts. Adrift in the afterlife she must ultimately decide... free him through her forgiveness or let avenging spirits dance him to death? One of the world's most beloved full-length story ballets comes to Oregon Ballet Theatre in this world premiere production set by Lola de Avila (Associate Director of the San Francisco Ballet School) after Petipa/Coralli/Perrot.
 
Lola de Avila is an internationally admired teacher and dancing coach who has worked and performed with Royal Chamber Ballet of Spain, Ballet of Madrid, School of the National Ballet of Spain. She is currently the Associate Director of the San Francisco Ballet School. Giselle originally premiered in 1841 and became popular almost immediately both for the dramatic content and challenging choreography.

Chromatic Quartet | April 19-28, 2012 - Newmark Theatre

Stravinsky Violin Concerto - Company Premiere
Music by Igor Stravinsky
Choreography by George Balanchine

Liturgy - Company Premiere
Music by Arvo Pärt
Choreography by Christopher Wheeldon

Lambarena
Music by Johann Sebastian Bach with Traditional African Music
Choreography by Val Caniparoli

A World Premiere New Work

Violins and African drums... the invigorating clash of old and new... Get caught up in the rhythm of the moment with this quartet of short pieces that strip the language of the body to its bare essentials. We present the essence of Balanchine with Stravinsky Violin Concerto; explore the architecture of the duet with Christopher Wheeldon's Liturgy; then explode into color and rhythm with OBT audience favorite Lambarena. Rounding out the program will be a world premiere from a yet to be determined new voice in contemporary ballet.
 
George Balanchine's choreography is some of the most notable and iconic of the 20th century. Balanchine was known for his close, collaborative relationship with Igor Stravinsky and his work, Stravinsky Violin Concerto epitomizes their synergy.  Christopher Wheeldon's is a contemporary choreographer with an international reputation and a growing and coveted repertoire. OBT performed Wheeldon's RUSH at the Kennedy Center in 2008, There Where She Loved in 2004, and are pleased to welcome Liturgy as our third Wheeldon work. Val Caniparoli's versatile style makes him a crowd favorite and has resulted in an impressive roster choreographic of works spanning more then 35 dance companies worldwide. 

"There are so many ideas in this 1972 ballet... so much pure, thrilling dance invention, both in the kaleidoscope group patterns and knotty, pretzeled, wicked partnering." -- The New York Time's Claudia La Rocco on George Balanchine's Stravinsky Violin Concerto,

"The sense was that they were on a spiritual journey...it is an experiment in movement...it is a striking experiment on a high plane." --The New York Time's Anna Kisselgoff on Christopher Wheeldon's Liturgy.

Dance United June 9, 2012 - Keller Auditorium

The crème of the international ballet community returns to Portland once again for Dance United, our gala celebration of the best of the best ballet performances from around the world. For each Dance UniTed Christopher draws on his relationships with the national (and international) dance community to bring you an evening of performances you could only get from Oregon Ballet Theatre (or a round the world tour!) Invitations for this year's Dance United are being issued to dancers to companies ranging from the Joffrey Ballet, to the Dutch National Ballet and the San Franscisco Ballet, plus companies in England, Australia and New York City.

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