Boston Ballet Announces New Season - North American Premiere, World Premiere, and More!

Boston Ballet Artistic Director Mikko Nissinen announces the programming for the 2016-2017 season at the Boston Opera House, to begin in October. The 53rd season will launch with Le Corsaire, a historically significant work in the world of ballet that originally premiered in Paris in 1856, followed by Mikko Nissinen's "dazzling, dreamy" The Nutcracker (Karen Campbell, The Boston Globe). The season continues with the North American Company premiere of William Forsythe's ARTIFACT, "a work that definitely shows this choreographer as the most influential practitioner of the art form since Balanchine" (Roslyn Sulcas, The New York Times). In April 2017, Marius Petipa's quintessential The Sleeping Beauty will return with soaring music by Tchaikovsky. The season will also include two mixed repertory programs with works by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Ji?í Kylián, and Alexander Ekman, as well as a world premiere by Resident Choreographer Jorma Elo. Additionally, Le Corsaire, The Nutcracker, and The Sleeping Beauty will offer Boston Ballet School students the unique opportunity to appear in Company productions.

"Boston Ballet's 2016-2017 season will be a cornucopia of incredible dance full of company premieres, world famous productions, several well-loved ballets, and a world premiere. I am thrilled to share it all with our audiences, and am particularly excited to bring a full-length work of William Forsythe's to Boston," explains Artistic Director Mikko Nissinen. "It is our goal at Boston Ballet to showcase the transformative power of art and give the audience a chance to be touched by a wide range of programming-this season will certainly do just that."

Ivan Liška's Le Corsaire, a 19th century French-Russian ballet, will kick off the season with adventure and romance October 27-November 6. Its best-known version, with choreography by Ballet Master Marius Petipa, premiered in St. Petersburg in 1863 by the Imperial Ballet. Boston Ballet will present Ivan Liška's production, created for the Bavarian State Opera Ballet in 2007, which is based on Petipa's choreological notation. The narrative follows a lovely slave girl, a wealthy aristocrat who is determined to add her to his harem, and a dashing pirate even more resolved to save her. In 1997, Boston Ballet became the first non-Russian ballet company to present the full-length ballet(The Pirate) Le Corsaire, with choreography by Konstantin Sergeyev (after Petipa). The Company will continue making strides in ballet by presenting the North American premiere of this version from Bayerisches Staatsballett. The ballet will feature a sweeping, romantic score by Adolphe Adam and Leo Delibes, performed by Boston Ballet Orchestra.

After a record-breaking run in 2015 and being named "the granddaddy of them all" by The Boston Globe's Karen Campbell, Mikko Nissinen's The Nutcracker will return November 25-December 31. 2016 will mark the 5-year anniversary of this adaptation with sets and costumes by Robert Perdziola. The "spectacular dancing" will again be illuminated by award-winning lighting designer Mikki Kuntti. More than 200 students from Boston Ballet School will join the cast of Company dancers.

Boston Ballet will become the first North American company to perform William Forysthe's ARTIFACT, on stage February 23-March 5. This four-act ballet, which Forsythe rarely grants permission for performances in its entirety, will feature more than 30 dancers who will be pushing the limits of their physicality to master his signature style. ARTIFACT, created in 1984, is the first full-length work Forsythe created while director of Ballett Frankfurt. According to dance critic Roslyn Sulcas, it was considered "radical in intention and effect 25 years ago" and is widely known as his ode to ballet, showing what ballet can achieve and how ballet technique can be used in various ways. ARTIFACTfeatures two actors and a solo pianist, a nice juxtaposition to the massed ranks of dancers transporting the audience with the architectural, dizzying choreography.

The 2017 spring season continues March 23-April 2, with a mixed repertory program entitled KYLIÁN/WINGS OF WAX. This triple-bill will feature George Balanchine's charming and spirited Donizetti Variations, which was first performed by Boston Ballet in 1964 at Boston Arts Festival-the Company's professional debut. Ji?í Kylián's seamless, organic Wings of Wax returns with a hauntingly beautiful score of selections by musical giants Philip Glass, Heinrich von Biber, John Cage, and Johann Sebastian Bach. The program ends with Alexander Ekman's surprising and witty Cacti, with live music by Boston Ballet Orchestra and a string quartet.

The coming-of-age fairy tale The Sleeping Beauty, by Marius Petipa with additional choreography by Sir Frederick Ashton, will awaken audiences April 28-May 25. Raved as the "best version" of the classic by critics and audiences alike and one of Boston Ballet's trademark works, this quintessential production features soaring music by Tchaikovsky and sumptuous sets and costumes by David Walker. After Boston Ballet's 2013 performances, Jared Bowen of WGBH exclaimed: "This is dance at its most perfect."

The 2016-2017 season closes May 5-27 with ROBBINS/THE CONCERT featuring a range of works to showcase the versatility of the Company. Stravinsky Violin Concerto, a historic collaboration between George Balanchineand Igor Stravinsky, will feature a violin soloist and 20 Company dancers. After it's Boston Ballet premiere in 2015, Jerome Robbins' comedic masterpiece The Concert (or the Perils of Everybody) brought audiences to its feet. Dance critic Marcia Siegel for The Arts Fuse described the work as "a sophisticated comment on musical and balletic conventions and one of the funniest ballets ever made." The final program of the season will also include a world premiere by groundbreaking Resident Choreographer Jorma Elo set to the music of Johann Sebastian Bach.

Tickets for The Nutcracker will go on sale to the public in mid-July. Tickets for the remainder 2016-2017 season will go on sale to the public on September 1. Current subscribers may renew now, and new subscribers can order early to guarantee the best seats at the best price starting March 17. For more information, visit www.bostonballet.org or call 617-695-6955.

All performances take place at the Boston Opera House (539 Washington St, Boston, MA 02111):

Le Corsaire • October 27-November 6, 2016

Choreography by Ivan Liška, after Marius Petipa

Music by Adolphe Adam / Léo Delibes u.a.

Full Orchestra

North American Premiere

The Nutcracker • November 25-December 31, 2016

Choreography by Mikko Nissinen

Music by P.I. Tchaikovsky

Full Orchestra

ARTIFACT • February 23-March 5, 2017

Choreography by William Forsythe

Music by Johann Sebastian Bach, Eva Crossman-Hecht

Live Music

North American Company premiere

KYLIÁN/WINGS OF WAX • March 23-April 2, 2017

Donizetti Variations

Choreography by George Balanchine

Music by Gaetano Donizetti

Full Orchestra

Wings of Wax

Choreography by Ji?í Kylián

Music by Heinrich von Biber, John Cage, Philip Glass, and Johann Sebastian Bach

Cacti

Choreography by Alexander Ekman

Music by Joseph Haydn, Ludwig Van Beethoven, Franz Schubert, Andy Stein, Gustav Mahler

Full Orchestra and string quartet on stage

The Sleeping Beauty • April 28-May 25, 2017

Choreography by Marius Petipa, with additional choreography by Sir Frederick Ashton

Music by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Full Orchestra

ROBBINS/THE CONCERT • May 5-27, 2017

Stravinsky Violin Concerto

Choreography by George Balanchine

Music by Igor Stravinsky

Live Music with solo violinist

Boston Ballet Premiere

The Concert (or the Perils of Everybody)

Choreography by Jerome Robbins

Music by Frédéric Chopin, arranged by Clare Grundman

Full Orchestra and Solo Pianist on stage

World Premiere

Choreography by Jorma Elo

Music by Johann Sebastian Bach

Live Music

About Boston Ballet

Since 1963, Boston Ballet's internationally acclaimed performances of classical, neo-classical, and contemporary ballets, combined with a dedication to world class dance education and community initiative programs, have made the institution a leader in its field, with a 52-year history of promoting excellence and access to dance.

Under the leadership of Artistic Director Mikko Nissinen and Executive Director Max Hodges, the Company maintains a diverse repertoire, ranging from full-length ballets to new works by some of today's finest choreographers. Boston Ballet's second company, Boston Ballet II, is comprised of dancers who gain experience by performing with the Company and independently, presenting special programs to audiences throughout the Northeast.

Programming for Boston Ballet's 2015-2016 season includes Third Symphony of Gustav Mahler: A Ballet by John Neumeier, making Boston Ballet the first North American Company to perform the work; captivating classical works such as John Cranko'sOnegin and Mikko Nissinen's Swan Lake; masterpieces by world-renowned choreographers such as George Balanchine and 20th century masters Leonid Yakobson and Léonide Massine; and two highly anticipated world premieres by Karole Armitage and Yury Yanowsky.

Boston Ballet School, the official school of Boston Ballet, has a long-standing dedication to excellence and access. Led by Director Margaret Tracey, the School reaches more than 5,000 students (toddler to adult) each year through Boston Ballet School classes, the Summer Dance Workshop, Pre-professional Summer Dance Program and the Pre-Professional Training held at three studio locations in Boston, Newton, and Marblehead.

Boston Ballet's nationally-acclaimed education programs include Citydance, Adaptive Dance, and ECI On Location. The programs are offered in partnership with the Boston Public Schools and in communities throughout the city and region.

For more information, please visit www.bostonballet.org.

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