Northrop Announces 2017-18 Dance Season

Northrop announces its 2017//2018 dance season featuring nine great dance companies, with three ballet presentations, four performances with live music, and vibrant contemporary dance. In addition to two story ballets, there are new Family and seasonal series packages and a family dance special.

Havana-based Malpaso Dance Company makes their Minnesota debut to kick off the 2017//2018 dance season on October 10 in an evening that celebrates international collaboration. The program includes Why You Follow, an Afro-Cuban work by Ronald K. Brown; the delicate Indomitable Waltz by Aszure Barton; and Artistic Director Osnel Delgado's Ocaso. Minneapolis-based Zenon Dance Company, hosts of Delgado's McKnight International Fellowship, will join the program to perform Coming Home, the baseball-inspired work he created just for them in 2014. (Malpaso Dance Company is an Associate Company of Joyce Theater Productions).

On October 28, New York City Ballet MOVES-a select group of 25 performers from New York City Ballet's outstanding roster of principals, soloists, corps, and musicians-performs a stunning program of four ballets by today's most important choreographers, all performed to live music. The program includes Jerome Robbins' In the Night, an enduring classic that encounters three contrasting sets of lovers; After the Rain Pas de Deux by Christopher Wheeldon, an abstract expression of tenderness and longing; Justin Peck's first piece for New York City Ballet, In Creases, showcasing his keen wit and musicality; and Alexei Ratmansky's Pictures at an Exhibition, a raw, wild, and soulful display of emotion.

Making their Northrop debut on November 2 is San Francisco's groundbreaking ODC/Dance in boulders and bones, a work inspired by environmental sculptor Andy Goldsworthy and set to an original live cello score by Zoë Keating . ODC/Dance is known for their innovative, exuberant, and fearless contemporary choreography as well as their intellectual spark. boulders and bones will combine music, dance, and cinematic scenic design in a dazzling multimedia orchestration of the chaos of creative process and the glory of nature.

Celebrating 40 years as a major force in American contemporary dance, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago's superlative dancers will return to Northrop January 27 with a program of highlights from the company's impressive history. Lou Conte's vision when he first established his dance school at LaSalle and Hubbard Street in the 1970s is honored with his joyous romp, The 40s. William Forsythe's One Flat Thing, reproduced hurtles us (and 20 metal tables) to the clatteringly contemporary present. The program also includes works by Nacho Duato, and the "sheer dance ecstasy" of Twyla Tharp's The Golden Section , "... a rush of pirouettes, spins, twirls, and gymnastic epiphanies" (Chicago Tribune).

Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo brings internationally acclaimEd French choreographer Jean-Christophe Maillot's Romeo and Juliet to Northrop for two performances on February 27 and 28. Maillot conveys all of the drama of this poignant, timeless masterpiece in his moving two-act version. Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo is in demand the world over for Maillot's iconic productions, and the glorious technique and impeccable artistry of its 50 exquisite dancers. The Northrop performances are their first ever in Minnesota. (Under the Presidency of H.R.H. The Princess of Hanover, Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo, Jean-Christophe Maillot)

Company Wang Ramirez, founded by German ballet dancer Honji Wang and French b-boy Sébastien Ramirez, make their Northrop debut on March 3 with Borderline. This dreamlike work combines hip-hop, contemporary dance, acrobatics, visual poetry, and the illusion of weightlessness. Aerial rigging gives the dancers new powers of movement, letting them defy gravity as they struggle against the forces of restraint. Set to original music by lacrymoboy , these stunning technicians burst out flurries of looping, spiraling shapes with fluid control. The dancers use each other's bodies as counterweights, balanced at impossible angles.

Houston Ballet, one of America's most highly regarded ballet companies, returns to Northrop on April 7 and 8 with Artistic Director Stanton Welch's sumptuous production of Swan Lake. A live orchestra brings to life Tchaikovsky's emotionally-charged score. Created especially for the company, Welch's choreography imbues his characters with psychological complexity and gives the work a 21st century pace. One of the greatest love stories in all of classical ballet, Swan Lake tells the story of Odette, a beautiful maiden transformed into a swan by an evil knight, and the Prince who swears his eternal love to her.

On April 14, Northrop celebrates Leonard Bernstein's 100th birthday in a program that features the University Symphony Orchestra and the dancers of KEIGWIN + COMPANY . Mark Russell Smith conducts a program of Bernstein's quintessential melodies from "On the Town," "On the Waterfront," and more, while Larry Keigwin's refreshing vision of dance-a blend of Broadway and club styles with contemporary wit, heart, and theatrical flair-is presented on stage with the orchestra. Together, the movement and music pay tribute to Bernstein's impact on American dance and culture.

Alonzo King LINES Ballet returns to Northrop on May 1 in an evening of mixed repertory including Alonzo King's Biophony, a fascinating investigation of life on earth. Called "riveting" by the San Francisco Chronicle, Biophony was created in collaboration with natural soundscape artist Bernie Krause and composer Richard Blackford, drawing its score from natural animal habitats in peril. King's visionary choreography, with its earthy and sensual approach to classical ballet as performed by the extraordinary LINES dancers, was last seen on the Northrop stage 13 years ago.

TWO SPECIAL EVENTS
On November 4 ODC/Dance will perform The Velveteen Rabbit, Margery Williams' classic tale of a well-worn stuffed rabbit brought to life through music, dance, and narration. ODC/Dance has created a family treat that has captivated San Francisco audiences for 30 years. Now, this evergreen classic-brimming with wit, festive costumes, and endearingly madcap characters-is presented at Northrop for the first time.

Northrop Dance Season subscribers can add one or both of the University of Minnesota's 56th Annual Marching Band Indoor Concerts on Nov 18 (alumni night) and 19 as a special event to their series package (group discounts and single tickets also available). The Marching Band, directed by Betsy McCann, performs halftime favorites and more showcasing music, tradition, and entertainment for the whole family. The Pride of Minnesota has been bringing spirit, color, and music to campus for over 125 years.

EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES
Northrop Dance Season events are enriched with related programming such as film screenings, master classes, and lectures that will be announced throughout the year. Free performance previews in the 4th floor Best Buy Theater before each event provide an in-depth exploration of the evening's programming by members of the company and/or artistic staff.

TICKETS
Series packages and group orders are on sale now, including a new Family Series and new Fall, Winter, and Spring series packages. These offer deeper discounts, the best seats, payment plans, easy parking reservations, and more. Information and online ordering is available on our website or 612-624-2345.

Single tickets go on sale to the public on June 5. Discounts and rush tickets are available. New this year are 50% off tickets for children 17 and under when purchased with at least one adult ticket.

The $30 Under 30 program continues for the 2017//18 season. Guests ages 18-30 can purchase two $30 tickets to any dance season show when purchased within 30 days of the performance date. Each ticket also comes with a free drink at Surdyk's Café and concessions at Northrop the night of the performance.

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