Published on Jan 7, 2013

Rating:

Genre: NCPA

Dates: March 6-7, 2013

Venue: Opera House of NCPA

Prices: 180, 240, 300, 500, 600, 700, 800, 1000

Features: Recognized as one of the great dance companies in the world, the American Ballet Theatre will be performed the classic mixed repertory at Opera House of NCPA on March 6th-7th.

PROGRAMME

Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes
The witty, romantic piano etudes of Virgil Thomson are echoed in Mark Morris' valentine to classical ballet. From voluptuous, rippling torsos and arms to majestic tableaux of heart-stopping beauty, this inventive ballet is pure pleasure.

The Moor's Pavane
Considered Limon's masterwork, The Moor's Pavane beautifully distills in one act the passion and dramatic arc of Shakespeare's Othello. Performed to a stately Renaissance court dance, this psychological thriller inevitably reaches its heartbreaking climax as the noble Othello succumbs to Iago's treachery.

Rodeo
Agnes de Mille's humorous love story about a tomboyish cowgirl in the pioneer West is an audience favorite. Set to Copland's spirited score, which includes the famed 'Hoedown,' Rodeo features costume designs by Tony Award-winner Santo Loquasto.

BRIEF INTRODUCTION

American Ballet Theatre
American Ballet Theatre(ABT) is recognized as a living national treasure since its founding in 1940, ABT annually tours the United States, performing for more than 600,000 people, and is the only major cultural institution to do so. It has also made more than 30 international tours to 43 countries as perhaps the most representative American ballet company and has been sponsored by the State Department of the United States on many of these engagements.

When American Ballet Theatre was launched in the autumn of 1939, the aim was to develop a repertoire of the best ballets from the past and to encourage the creation of new works by gifted young choreographers, wherever they might be found. Founded in 1940 by Lucia Chase and Richard Pleasant and directed by Chase and Oliver Smith from 1945-1980, the Company more than fulfilled that aim. The repertoire, perhaps unmatched in the history of ballet, includes all of the great full-length ballets of the nineteenth century, such as Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty and Giselle, the finest works from the early part of this century, such as Apollo, Les Sylphides, Jardin aux Lilas and Rodeo and acclaimed contemporary masterpieces such as Airs, Push Comes to Shove and Duets. In acquiring such an extraordinary repertoire, ABT has commissioned works by all of the great choreographic geniuses of the 20th century: George Balanchine, Antony Tudor, Jerome Robbins, Agnes de Mille and Twyla Tharp, among others.

In 1980, Mikhail Baryshnikov became Artistic Director of American Ballet Theatre, succeeding Lucia Chase and Oliver Smith. Under his leadership, numerous classical ballets were staged, restaged and refurbished, and the Company experienced a strengthening and refining of the classical tradition. In 1990, Jane Hermann and Oliver Smith succeeded Baryshnikov and immediately established an agenda that was dedicated to maintaining the great traditions of the past while aggressively pursuing a vital and innovative future.

In October 1992, former American Ballet Theatre Principal Dancer Kevin McKenzie was appointed Artistic Director. McKenzie, steadfast in his vision of ABT as 'American', is committed to maintaining the Company's vast repertoire, and to bringing the art of dance theater to the great stages of the world.

American Ballet Theatre has appeared in a total of 132 cities in 42 countries, as well as in all fifty states of the United States. ABT has recently enjoyed triumphant successes with engagements in Tokyo, London, Moscow, Beijing and Seoul. In November 2010, American Ballet Theatre appeared at the Havana International Festival celebrating Alicia Alonso's 90th birthday. This was the Company's first visit to Cuba since 1965.

On April 27, 2006, by an act of Congress, American Ballet Theatre became America's National Ballet Company.

Tickets for Mixed Repertory - American Ballet Theatre are Available now!