Pennsylvania Ballet To Conclude The 2018-2019 Season With Two Spring Programs

This spring Pennsylvania Ballet will celebrate one of the 20th century's most famous composers, Igor Stravinsky, in an All Stravinsky program April 4-7 at the Merriam Theater. The season will then wrap with an exciting line-up of Christopher Wheeldon's DGV: Danse à Grande Vitesse, a world premiere by Jorma Elo, and company premiere Jerome Robbins' Glass Pieces May 9 - 12 at the Academy of Music.

"We're excited to end the season with two mixed bill programs this spring," said Pennsylvania Ballet Artistic Director Angel Corella. "The Stravinsky program is a wonderful celebration of the brilliant composer Igor Stravinsky and serves as a remarkably demanding program for our dancers, while our triple bill in May perfectly showcases our dancers' range of talent."

All Stravinsky Running April 4-7 Features Works from Igor Stravinsky

Pennsylvania Ballet's All Stravinsky program will feature four ballets set to the famed Russian-born Igor Stravinsky's music. Apollo, the story of the Greek god of music, poetry and prophecy, was the first major collaboration between George Balanchine and Stravinsky and remains a timeless embodiment of neoclassical music. The ballet portrays the young god as he comes of age led by his half-sisters Calliope, Polyhymnia, and Terpsichore. Following Apollo will be a world premiere from Pennsylvania Ballet's critically acclaimed Choreographer in Residence, Matthew Neenan. Neenan's, titled Deco, which is choreographed to Stravinsky's Sonata for Piano (1924) and Tango (1940).

"We are thrilled to present Neenan's first choreographic encounter with Stravinsky," said Beatrice Jona Affron, Pennsylvania Ballet's Music Director and Conductor. "Because Stravinsky's music is so completely engaging and thanks to his prolific partnership with Balanchine (who choreographed so much of our repertoire), we are all pushed to our limits, but not beyond.

The April program also includes Jerome Robbins' The Cage, a brilliantly grisly piece that plunges into the world of survival and instinct. Using Stravinsky's daring score, the ballet depicts a female born into a queen-led insect tribe whom succumbs to her murderous instincts towards male intruders. As shocking as the insect-creatures are, their chilling competence in killing is secondary to their tribal intimacy and intense solidarity.

Stravinsky Violin Concerto, another stunning Balanchine-Stravinsky collaboration, will close out the April program. Echoing Stravinsky's opinion that the relationship between music and dance should be a continuous struggle, critic Joseph Gale described the ballet as, "dazzlingly complex and uninterrupted...that eddy and flow about a counterpoint of dance, laid on-and often against-the music".

DGV, World Premiere, Glass Pieces Running from May 9-12

Pennsylvania Ballet's final program of the season is a trio of high-energy ballets starting with Christopher Wheeldon's DGV: Danse à Grande Vitesse. Set to Michael Nyman's MGV (Musique à Grande Vitesse) this ballet commemorates the French Train à Grande Vitesse and conveys the sense of movement and momentum of the high-speed train. Wheeldon has been hailed as, "the best thing to happen to ballet for 50 years" and Danse à Grande Vitesse is a prime example of why he has generated so much excitement.

Following DGV is an exhilarating world premiere from internationally renowned choreographer Jorma Elo. Known for his focus on speed, difficulty, athletic ability and physicality, Elo's ballet will feature spectacular choreography and a central, beautiful pas de deux. Ending the May program is a piece named by The New York Times as a work that "[takes] ballet into a brave new world." Jerome Robbins' Glass Pieces (company premiere) remains a fresh and contemporary piece more than 30 years after its debut. This ballet is set to three works by American minimalist composer Philip Glass: "Rubric" and "Façades" from Glassworks (1981), and "Funeral" from his opera Akhnaten, (1983).

"All Stravinsky" opens Thursday, April 4 at the Merriam Theater and the May program opens Thursday, May 9 at the Academy of Music. Purchase tickets for both programs online at paballet.org or call Ticket Philadelphia at 215-893-1999. Ticket prices range from $35 to $159.

All Stravinsky Performances at Merriam Theater:

• Thursday, April 4 at 7:30 p.m.
• Friday, April 5 at 7:30 p.m.
• Saturday, April 6 at 2 p.m.
• Saturday, April 6 at 8 p.m.
• Sunday, April 7 at 2 p.m.

May Program Performance at the Academy of Music:

• Thursday, May 9 at 7:30 p.m.
• Friday, May 10 at 7:30 p.m.
• Saturday, May 11 at 2 p.m.
• Saturday, May 11 at 8 p.m.
• Sunday, May 12 at 2 p.m.

Founded in 1963 by Balanchine student and protégée Barbara Weisberger, Pennsylvania Ballet is one of the nation's leading ballet companies. In its most diverse season yet, the Pennsylvania Ballet presents six programs featuring two full length classical ballets, Balanchine classics, contemporary works, world premieres, and the Philadelphia holiday tradition, George Balanchine's The Nutcracker. For more information, visit paballet.org, call 215.551.7000 or connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube to get a behind the scenes looks at our dancers in the studio and onstage.

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