World premieres, returning favorites and instant classics: the 2013-2014 season promises a fitting tribute to Christopher Stowell’s era as Artistic Director and the fertile repertoire that will be his lasting legacy.

• World premieres by Interim Artistic Director, Anne Mueller and Christopher Stowell.
• The return of masterpieces from four tremendous contemporary choreographers, including audience favorites Bolero and
  The Lost Dance.
• In the Works, a new element to our season, invites the audience to a very intimate look at the creative process. Part bare bones performance, part discussion, this evening of dance will draw back the curtain and invite the audience along on the creative journey.
  Add it to your subscription for only $20.

When you subscribe by 3/15 you'll also receive one Wild Card Ticket Voucher good for a complimentary seat to share with a friend at any 2013/2014 season performance (not valid for In the Works due to limited capacity.)

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PROGRAM 1:

A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Felix Mendelssohn / Christopher Stowell
Le Corsaire Pas de Deux
Adolphe Adam / Marius Petipa
A World Premiere Work by Anne Mueller

We open the season with Christopher Stowell’s witty and tender tale of enchanted love, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, set in the glow of Oregon’s old-growth forest. As a tribute to virtuoso male dancing, we include the flashy and fiery Pas de Deux from Le Corsaire, among the most technically daring duets in ballet. To round out the program, we are pleased to present a world premiere from Interim Artistic Director Anne Mueller. Her new work for the company launches the next era for OBT.

PROGRAM 2:

Create memories that last a lifetime
at George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker.

Light the fire in a child’s heart (and spark your own childhood wonder) with this beloved trip into a land where toy soldiers fight rat armies, snowflakes come dancing to life and the sugarplum fairy presides over it all with the wave of a wand. Each year George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker sets the season a-sparkle, creating memories your family will cherish forever. OBT remains the only company west of the Mississippi licensed to perform Balanchine’s version.

PROGRAM 3:

Bolero
Maurice Ravel / Nicolo Fonte
Almost Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart / James Kudelka
Liturgy
Arvo Pärt / Christopher Wheeldon
A World Premiere Work by Christopher Stowell

From Bolero’s “raw power ” and Liturgy’s “sublime meditation” to Almost Mozart’s “bursts of accidental beauty,” these works confirm that the language of classical ballet still captivates. These favorites by Fonte, Wheeldon, and Kudelka illuminate the legacy of top choreographers enticed to OBT over the last decade. How fitting, then, that the program features a world premiere by Christopher Stowell as well.

PROGRAM 4:

Adin
Sergey Rachmaninov / Christopher Stowell
The Lost Dance
Owen Belton / Matjash Mrozewski
A New Work Selected by the New Artistic Director

In the beginning there was Adin, the first ballet Christopher Stowell created at OBT and the first world premiere of his tenure. It’s a necklace of duets, jewels strung on Rachmaninov melodies. One is smooth and sinuous, one angular and quick, another as romantic as its song. Matjash Mrozewski’s The Lost Dance was the smash hit of OBT’s 2011-12 season. It’s as smoky and sultry as its nightclub setting. “Clear, complex and riveting,” said Oregon Arts Watch. All season we’ve honored the fertile repertoire of OBT’s Stowell era and now, with a work selected by our new Artistic Director, we embrace OBT’s future. We invite you to join us.

ADD ON:

We inaugurate a new element to our season, an intimate look at the creative impulses of the artists of the company as they delve into chosen excerpts and generate new work. Experience the creative process and bare bones performance, before lighting, costumes or scenic elements are added. Part performance, part artist talk, In the Works includes discussion with the choreographers and dancers about their process and socializing with the artists afterwards. Limited capacity.
Add to your subscription for only $20.

 

Video Credits: Video trailer by Patrick Weishampel. Music by Owen Belton for Matjash Mrozewski’s The Lost Dance. Video footage courtesy of Ed Mellnik, EMA Video. Photography by Blaine Truitt Covert.

Photo Credits, Clockwise: Former Principal Dancers Kathi Martuza and Ronnie Underwood in James Kudelka’s Almost Mozart. Principal Dancers Haiyan Wu & Chauncey Parsons. Soloist Javier Ubell in Christopher Stowell’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.Soloist Julia Rowe in George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker. Principal Dancer Alison Roper and former Principal Dancer Artur Sultanov in Nicolo Fonte’s Bolero. Company Artist Makino Hayashi in Matjash Mrozewski’s The Lost Dance. Soloist Brian Simcoe with choreographer Nicolo Fonte. Former Principal Dancer Anne Mueller and former Soloist Adrian Fry. All photos by Blaine Truitt Covert.