Segerstrom Center Welcomes West Coast Debut of Royal Swedish Ballet's JULIET AND ROMEO Today

The Royal Swedish Ballet, one of Europe's first and most revered ballet companies, returns to Segerstrom Center for the Arts today, June 10 through June 12 with the West Coast debut of Juliet and Romeo by choreographer Mats Ek.

This production provides a contemporary twist and retelling of Shakespeare's most treasured and tragic love story (Romeo and Juliet). Juliet and Romeo was created in honor of the Royal Swedish Ballet's 240th anniversary in 2013 and garnered the 2015 Olivier Award winner for Best New Dance Production. This tour marks the company's second visit to the Center, they last performed here in 1999. Pacific Symphony will perform, conducted by Eva Ollikainen, who conducts for the Royal Swedish Ballet and many other orchestras and opera companies in Europe.

Swedish choreographer Mats Ek is a master of interpreting beloved classics in bold and insightful new ways through contemporary dance. He has also received great acclaim with his daring productions of Swan Lake and The Sleeping Beauty. His latest work, Juliet and Romeo, is performed to rearranged extracts from Tchaikovsky's score, and is minimally set with stark staging that imparts a gritty and urban feel. The 32 dynamic dancers don Renaissance-meets-Street style costumes, including jeans, hoodies and metallic materials meant to evoke the themes of conflict and war.

Tickets for Royal Swedish Ballet start at $29 and may be purchased online at SCFTA.org, at the Box Office at 600 Town Center Drive in Costa Mesa or by calling (714) 556-2787. For inquiries about group ticket savings for 10 or more, call the Group Services office at (714) 755-0236. Free Preview Talks by members of the Ballet will take place one hour prior to curtain. The Friday, June 10 Preview Talk will be sign-language interpreted. Artists and program are subject to change.

There are only three older ballet companies in the world, those of Paris, Copenhagen and St. Petersburg. Sweden gained its first professional ballet company when King Gustaf III founded a Swedish Opera in Stockholm in 1773. Theatre was the king's great passion, and he loved acting and writing his own plays. In only a few months after the Opera's opening the French ballet master Louis Gallodier had managed to summon an ensemble of 30 dancers.

In modern times, the Swedish dancers' particular talent for dramatic ballet has been utilized not only by national chorographers, but also by many internationally renowned artists, ranging from Antony Tudor to Jiri Kylian and John Neumeier. The full-length narrative ballets by Kenneth MacMillan and John Cranko have also suited the company to perfection, as have the modern styles of movement by, for example, Glen Tetley or William Forsythe.

The versatility of today's Royal Swedish Ballet is the vision that Artistic Director Johannes O?hman, who was appointed in 2011, and that has become a signature for the Royal Swedish Ballet. Whether mastering 19th century full-length classics such as Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliet, Onegin, Giselle, Sleeping Beauty, Don Quixote to performing Mats Ek versions of Swan Lake and Juliet and Romeo, to exploring the worlds of Alexander Ekman, Johan Inger, Pontus Lidberg and further on to works by Sasha Waltz, Sharon Eyal, Emanuel Gatt and Roy Assaf.

Segerstrom Center's International Dance Series is made possible by: Audrey Steele Burnand Endowed Fund for International Dance, The Segerstrom Foundation Endowment for Great Performances and the Barbara Steele Williams Designated Agency Endowment. This engagement is presented with special underwriting from Mary and Richard Cramer. Segerstrom Center for the Arts applauds Kia, the Official Automotive Partner of the Center and United Airlines is the Official Airline of the Center. Classical KUSC and COAST Magazine are Media Partners of the International Dance Series.

Segerstrom Center for the Arts is an acclaimed arts institution as well as a beautiful multi-disciplinary cultural campus. It is committed to supporting artistic excellence on all of its stages, offering unsurpassed experiences, and to engaging the entire community in new and exciting ways through the unique power of live performance and a diverse array of inspiring programs.

Previously called the Orange County Performing Arts Center, Segerstrom Center is Orange County's largest non-profit arts organization. In addition to its six performance venues, Segerstrom Center is also home to the American Ballet Theatre William J. Gillespie School, where students ages 3 - 14 are taught by acclaimed teachers utilizing the renowned ABT National Training Curriculum in studios utilized by the world's greatest dancers and choreographers.

The Center presents a broad range of programming for audiences of all ages, including international ballet and dance, national tours of top Broadway shows, intimate performances of jazz and cabaret, contemporary artists, classical music performed by renowned chamber orchestras and ensembles, family- friendly programming, free performances open to the public from outdoor movie screenings to dancing on the plaza and many other special events.

The Center's education programs are designed to inspire young people through the arts and reach hundreds of thousands of students each year. In addition to the presenting and producing institution Segerstrom Center for the Arts, the 14-acre campus also embraces the facilities of two independently acclaimed organizations: Tony Award®-winning South Coast Repertory and a site designated as the future home of the Orange County Museum of Art.

Segerstrom Center for the Arts is also proud to serve as the artistic home to three of the region's major performing arts organizations: Pacific Symphony, the Philharmonic Society of Orange County and the Pacific Chorale, who contribute greatly to the artistic life of the region with annual seasons at Segerstrom Center for the Arts.

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