Boston Ballet Presents BB@yourhome: Celebrating Jorma Elo

Boston Ballet presents BB@yourhome: Celebrating Jorma Elo, a virtual program celebrating the evolution of Boston Ballet Resident Choreographer Jorma Elo and his 15 year career with Boston Ballet. Celebrating Jorma Elo will premiere on Thursday, February 25 and will be available until March 7. Subscribers will receive a streaming link prior to the premiere.

"Jorma has been a major part of the development and versatility of our company dancers, through his unique, individual movement vocabulary that bridges classical and contemporary ballet," said Artistic Director Mikko Nissinen. "Over 15 years of working closely with Boston Ballet, and with each new work for the Company, the relationship and process with our dancers grows deeper and deeper, enabling his work and artists to be personal, poignant, and vulnerable. Jorma has also been open to pivoting his style and in recent years he has incorporated more neo-classical elements, which serves the Company and repertoire really well."

The program features Elo's brand-new work Story of a Memory performed by Principal Dancers Viktorina Kapitonova and Tigran Mkrtchyan. The program will also feature new live capture footage of Elo's smash hit Plan to B and a pas de deux from Bach Cello Suites. Elo created and titled Plan to B to reflect his career change from dancer to choreographer. Boston Ballet has also performed the high velocity work on several tours, including London, New York's Koch Theatre, and Helsinki Finland. Set to music by Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber for six dancers, Boston Ballet premiered Plan to B in 2004. Bach Cello Suites, which Boston Ballet premiered in 2015, is set to Johann Sebastian Bach's Cello Suites Nos. 1 & 2, with a solo cellist performing onstage. Principal Dancers Lia Cirio and Paulo Arrais will perform the pas de deux alongside Boston Ballet Orchestra cellist Ron Lowry. In addition to new footage, Celebrating Jorma Elo will explore many of his other works with archival footage, including C. to C. (Close to Chuck), Sharper Side of Dark, Creatures of Egmont, and Fifth Symphony of Jean Sibelius.

"I am thrilled to have the opportunity to showcase my work in this BB@yourhome program," said Elo. "Working with the talented Boston Ballet artists who bring my choreographic visions to life is a great honor, and I am proud of the work we have accomplished over the past 15 years."

Finnish-born Jorma Elo was appointed Resident Choreographer of Boston Ballet in 2005. He has created more than 60 works for over 30 companies worldwide, including New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, San Francisco Ballet, and National Ballet of Canada. Elo danced professionally with Finnish National Ballet and Cullberg Ballet, and joined Netherlands Dance Theater in 1990, where he enjoyed a 15-year career. Elo was awarded the Pro Finlandia Medal of the Order of the Lion of Finland, one of Finland's highest honors, in 2015. He was awarded Moscow's prestigious Benois de la Danse prize for best choreography in 2011 for his production of A Midsummer Night's Dream and Slice to Sharp.

Boston Ballet's virtual season features new creations, signature works, and classical ballet favorites captured live in-studio. Dancers have been rehearsing under a new health and safety plan, which was developed in partnership with a team of medical professionals and infectious disease specialists.

For more information on BB@yourhome, please visit bostonballet.org.

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