Richmond Ballet
2012-2013 Season: Now and Then
After triumphant performances at The Royal Opera House in London this past June, Richmond Ballet has returned home. Richmond Ballet has returned home and is preparing a spectacular array of contemporary and classic ballets for its 2012-2013 Season. Season programming includes works by George Balanchine and Agnes DeMille, the return of the beloved classic Swan Lake, and world premieres of new works created for the Company as part of its ambitious, ongoing commissioning initiative.
“Ballet is an art that builds on its past, and imagines a limitless future,” said Richmond Ballet Artistic Director Stoner Winslett. “Our 2012-2013 season will showcase exciting new works and the best of our past–season-long celebration of our dancers and the great choreographers, past and present, who fuel our passion for ballet.”
Highlights of the season include:
- The Company Premiere of Balanchine’s Duo Concertant, with the Stravinsky score performed live on stage with the dancers;
- A New Works Festival featuring four world premieres, all commissioned by Richmond Ballet;
- Revivals that show off the company at its best: Colin Connor’s heart-pounding Streets and Legends and Agnes de Mille’s poignant A Rose for Miss Emily;
- The company’s signature staging of one of the great classics of ballet, Swan Lake;
- And the return of the holiday favorite, The Nutcracker.
To cap the season, Richmond Ballet has been invited to perform at the Kennedy Center in June 2013 as part of the Center’s Ballet Across America III series created to showcase the brilliance and vitality of American ballet companies.
Founded in 1957, and designated The “State Ballet of Virginia” in 1990, Richmond Ballet plays a key role in the arts in the city and across Virginia. Presenting more than 50 performances each season, and offering unique education and community outreach programs, Richmond Ballet reaches tens of thousands of patrons annually.
Season ticket packages for Richmond Ballet 2012-2013 season are available now, and can be ordered by phone at (804) 344-0906, ext 224, by fax (804) 344-0901, by mail or in person at the Box Office, 407 E. Canal Street, Richmond, Virginia, 23219. Single tickets for individual performances go on sale August 27, 2012.
Richmond Ballet, the State Ballet of Virginia, is also excited to announce the addition of a second company, Richmond Ballet II (RB II), for the 2012-2013 Season. It has long been the mission of Richmond Ballet to awaken and uplift the human spirit and by adding another company, Richmond Ballet will better achieve its mission and deepen the organization’s impact in the community.
RB II is an elite group of ten professional dancers led by Richmond Ballet’s highly esteemed Igor Antonov. The small size of the group and versatility of repertory will allow RB II to perform in communities that might not otherwise see ballet. The repertory selections and production requirements are designed to adjust to each individual venue while offering an affordable option to presenters, making this group ideal for tour stops throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia.
RB II will also serve as the ambassadors of Richmond Ballet’s outreach and education programs by performing lecture demonstrations and youth performances in Virginia schools.
Support for Richmond Ballet:
Richmond Ballet 2012-2013 Studio Series is generously sponsored by Altria Group.
Richmond Ballet’s production of The Nutcracker is sponsored by Dominion Resources, with additional major support from Richard S. Reynolds Foundation.
A grant from E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation supports live music accompaniment for selected Richmond Ballet productions.
Richmond Ballet also receives support from the Arts and Cultural Funding Consortium (City of Richmond, Hanover County and Henrico), the Virginia Commission for the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts, which believes a great nation deserves great art.
The Crowne Plaza, Downtown Richmond is the official hotel of Richmond Ballet.
A more detailed description of season performances follows:
Richmond Ballet 2012-2013 Season
September 27-October 7, 2012
STUDIO 1
The season begins with the return of two favorites. Colin Connor’s Streets and Legends is a celebration of the soul of the Scot, in all its fierce passion and wry wit. Kitted out in tartan kilts and tattoos, the dancers fly through choreography that is alternately explosive and poignant, set to the brilliant music of fiddlers Alasdair Fraser and Ashley MacIsaac. Also on this opening program is the world premiere of a
newly commissioned work by Richmond native, former New York City Ballet star (and School of Richmond Ballet alumnus) Philip Neal.
November 1-11, 2012
STUDIO 2
Choreographer George Balanchine and composer Igor Stravinsky collaborated over the course of six decades, creating works that ushered in a new era in both music and dance. Duo Concertant exemplifies the interaction between the choreographer and composer: the dancers perform on stage with the musicians, at times pausing to listen to the music between intricate passages in which their movements mirror the music and each other. In the starkly beautiful final movement, the dancers perform within individual circles of light, alone with the music, leaving a final, crystalline image that lingers in the memory. These performances mark the Company premiere of this landmark Balanchine ballet. This must-see program includes A Rose for Miss Emily, a masterwork that melds the gifts of Nobel Prize-winning author William Faulkner and the grande dame of American dance, Agnes de Mille. The ballet weaves a tale of a mysterious, wealthy woman at the center of Southern small town society, whose tragic and twisted life is only fully revealed upon her death. Studio 2 also welcomes the return of a company favorite, choreographer Jessica Lang, with Richmond Ballet’s first performances of Solo in Nine Parts, set to music by Vivaldi.
December 14-23, 2012
THE NUTCRACKER
“Perfect…In my dream version of America, every state has a Nutcracker this good” (Alastair Macaulay, The New York Times). Richmond Ballet Artistic Director Stoner Winslett’s staging of The Nutcracker is full of whimsy, sparkling with dancing that delights, and vivid sets and costumes that transport the audience to the world of Clara’s dreams. With 13 performances in the grand Carpenter Theatre, there’s a magical Nutcracker moment for everyone.
February 8-10, 2013
SWAN LAKE
For many, Swan Lake defines the very art of ballet: the lush Tchaikovsky score, the moonlit images of impossible grace, the story of magic, mystery and transformation. In the tradition of ballet passed down from choreographer to dancer, generation to generation, Richmond Ballet’s production of Swan Lake shares lineage with the definitive 1895 staging by the legendary Marius Petipa: it was set on the company by Nicholas “Papa” Berizoff, who learned the Petipa version directly from a student of Petipa.
April 4-14, 2013
STUDIO 3
New Works Festival
Nurturing new works, taking ballet in new directions, enabling audiences to discover new talents: these are vital to Richmond Ballet’s mission. The New Works Festival will showcase new ballets by four innovative choreographers.
May 9-19, 2013
STUDIO 4
The centerpiece of the season’s final program will be Ershter Vals, created for the company by award-winning choreographer Ma Cong. The work was selected by the Kennedy Center for performance in Ballet Across America III series, designed to showcase the spectacular vitality of American ballet. Inspired by Hollywood’s World War II films and the sounds of Klezmer music, Ershter Vals’ poignant imagery of dance in the Jewish ghetto celebrates the triumph of the human spirit. This program also brings the return of a frequent company collaborator, New York choreographer William Soleau, whose newest work created for Richmond Ballet is whimsically and appropriately titled Chasing Cello. In this innovative neo-classic ballet, dancers interact with shadows, moving walls, and a cellist performing onstage.
