New York City Ballet Opens 2015 Season With Ballets By George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, and Peter Martins

New York City Ballet will open its 2015 Winter season on Tuesday, January 20, with a week of ballets by the Company's co-founding choreographers George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins, and current Ballet Master in Chief Peter Martins. Included are two all-Balanchine programs -- one consisting of Serenade, Agon, and Symphony in C; and one consisting of Donizetti Variations, La Valse, and Chaconne. A third program of all-Russian music will include Symphonic Dances by Martins, The Cage and Andantino by Robbins, and Cortège-Hongrois by Balanchine.

The winter season will also include the return of Robbins' The Goldberg Variations, last performed by NYCB in 2008, on Thursday, January 29. The ballet, which was created in 1971 and is set to Bach's eponymous score, will be performed on a program with Balanchine's Concerto Barocco, which is also set to Bach's music. 2015 will mark the 330th anniversary of Bach's birth.

Other highlights of the winter season include the return of Peter Martins' full-length production of Romeo + Juliet, which will be given nine performances beginning Friday, February 13, including a special added Sunday evening performance on February 17 at 7:30 p.m. The season will also feature the return of George Balanchine's delightful Harlequinade, which will be performed in repertory with the choreographer's Square Dance, for five performances only, beginning Wednesday, February 18.

SATURDAY AT THE BALLET WITH GEORGE, January 24
The opening week of the winter season will feature NYCB's fifth annual birthday celebration for George Balanchine, Saturday at the Ballet with George, on Saturday, January 24. It will feature all-Balanchine programming at the 2:00 p.m. matinee and 8:00 p.m. evening performances, as well as a series of pre-performance events at the David H. Koch Theater to honor the anniversary of Balanchine's birth. Balanchine, who co-founded NYCB with Lincoln Kirstein in 1948, was born in St. Petersburg, Russia on January 22, 1904.
Saturday at the Ballet with George will begin at 10:30 a.m. with Ballet Essentials, a 75- minute adult movement workshop led by NYCB dancers intended for adults with little or no dance training (please note this event is sold out). A Children's Workshop for younger guests (ages 5-8) will follow at 12:45 p.m. exploring the music, movement, and themes of Balanchine's Donizetti Variations.

Prior to the evening performance, at 7:40 p.m. there will be a free First Position Discussion on the theater's Fourth Ring, open to all ticket holders for the evening performance, with NYCB docents sharing details about ballets on the program, including insights into the music and George Balanchine's choreographic process.
Both the matinee and evening performances will feature live music on the theater's Promenade one hour before curtain, performed by members of the NYCB Orchestra. The matinee program will consist of Balanchine's Donizetti Variations, La Valse, and Chaconne and the evening program will feature Serenade, Agon, and Symphony In C. Tickets for the Children's Workshop and both performances can be obtained at the theater's box office, at www.nycballet.com, and by phone at 212-496-0600. For more information and a detailed schedule of events for Saturday at the Ballet with George visit www.nycballet.com/george.

WORLD PREMIERE BY JUSTIN PECK
The winter season will also include a World Premiere by NYCB Soloist and Resident Choreographer Justin Peck, which will premiere as part of the Company's annual New Combinations Evening on Wednesday, February 4. Set to Aaron Copland's symphonic score, Four Dance Episodes from Rodeo, the work will feature costumes co-designed by Reid Bartelme, Harriet Jung, and Peck with lighting by Brandon Stirling Baker. The premiere will be Peck's eighth work for NYCB in three years. His previous works for the Company include In Creases (2012), Year of the Rabbit (2012), Paz de la Jolla (2013), TakeOffs and Landings (NYCB MOVES, 2013), Capricious Maneuvers (2013), Everywhere We Go (2014), and Belles Lettres (2014). Peck was named NYCB Resident Choreographer in July 2014, the second in the Company's history. In addition to his choreographic work with NYCB, Peck has also created ballets for the School of American Ballet, the Miami City Ballet, L.A. Dance Project, the Pacific Northwest Ballet, the Guggenheim Museum, New York Fall For Dance, and the
Nantucket Atheneum Dance Festival, among others. Peck is also the subject of the documentary film Ballet 422, which was directed by Jody Lee Lipes, and follows Peck as he creates New York City Ballet's 422nd new work, Paz de la Jolla, during the Company's 2013 winter season. The film premiered at the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival
and will be released by Magnolia Pictures in theaters on February 6, 2015. In New York City, the film will be shown at the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center at Lincoln Center (144 West 65th Street, New York, NY 10023) and at the Landmark Sunshine Cinema 5 (143 East Houston Street, New York, NY 10002). For additional information about the film and national screening locations visit magpictures.com/ballet422.

TICKET PURCHASES
Create-Your-Own subscriptions for the 2014-2015 Season, which provide savings of up to 20% off single ticket prices, are available by phone at 212-496-0600, and online at www.nycballet.com. Single tickets for the winter repertory performances start at $29. Tickets for all performances and events can be obtained at the theater's box office, at www.nycballet.com and by phone at 212-496-0600.

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