ATLANTA (April 15, 2020) – After having to cancel the final programs of Atlanta Ballet’s 2019|2020 performance season in response to COVID-19, Artistic Director Gennadi Nedvigin has announced an exciting 2020|2021 performance season featuring a mix of classics, contemporary works and world premieres – including some that were meant to be seen in the previous season. Additionally, Nedvigin has named Claudia Schreier as Atlanta Ballet’s resident choreographer, whose first commission of the three-year commitment in her new role with the company will be a world premiere for Atlanta Ballet 2.

“We are disappointed that the dancers’ artistry will not be seen on stage this spring, but thrilled that we are able to work Giselle and some of the pieces that were set to make up the May 2020 program into next season’s lineup,” says Nedvigin. “We hope that news of our upcoming season will give ballet enthusiasts and arts lovers something to look forward to during this time of distance and uncertainty.”

Atlanta Ballet’s 2020|2021 Performance Season at Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre:

[SEPTEMBER 18-20, 2020]

The season will kick off in September with a collection of powerful and energetic works. Audiences will finally have the opportunity to enjoy Yuri Possokhov’s sensational Firebird performed live with the Atlanta Ballet Orchestra, and a world premiere by Brazilian choreographer Juliano Nunes – two pieces meant to be part of Atlanta Ballet’s 2019|2020 performance season finale. The fall program will also feature the Atlanta premiere of Concerto Grosso by San Francisco Ballet artistic director and esteemed choreographer Helgi Tomasson – an elegantly powerful quintet that will showcase the prowess and finesse of the Company’s men.  A special collaboration between Atlanta Ballet and Atlanta Opera will complete the program with the final movement of Alonzo King’s Art Songs, a dynamic and visceral pas de deux set to “Dido’s Lament” aria from Henry Purcell’s “Dido and Aeneas.”

[DECEMBER 5-30, 2020]

In December, Atlanta Ballet will present Yuri Possokhov’s The Nutcracker at Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre for the first time. Described as “one of the most entertaining [Nutcrackers] out there” by The Washington Post following last year’s Washington D.C. debut at The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, this innovative production features larger-than-life sets and bold costumes enhanced by striking video projections, created by a world-class creative team that includes Tony Award-winning and -nominated designers. As one of the top major performing arts facilities in the metro Atlanta Area, Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre is the perfect fit for this ultra-high-tech production.

[FEBRUARY 12-20, 2021]

Almost a year after its originally-planned opening date, the Atlanta Ballet dancers will have the chance to perform Giselle for two weekends in February. Achingly beautiful and tragic, Giselle is an enrapturing masterwork that remains one of the most enduring romantic ballets of all time.

 Adding to the excitement of the 20|21 season, Atlanta Ballet is pleased to announce that it has named Claudia Schreier as the organization’s resident choreographer – a three-year commitment that includes world premieres for the Company and Atlanta Ballet 2. Her first commission will be a one-hour family ballet, which will debut in February 2021.

“I was impressed by Claudia’s sense of musicality and structure in her first work for Atlanta Ballet – First Impulse,” says Nedvigin. “I was intrigued by the choices she made and the way she prepared for the creation, and I look forward to seeing her develop even further while working with our dancers. Getting to know them on a deeper level will allow her to expand her own creative boundaries. I am excited to go on this artistic journey together.”

Schreier’s world premiere for Atlanta Ballet, First Impulse, was named a Standout Performance of 2019 by Pointe Magazine. A Princess Grace Award for Choreography recipient, Schreier is praised for her distinctive choreographic voice, which fuses neoclassical technique with a contemporary vocabulary. She has choreographed over 30 ballets and has been commissioned by companies and organizations including Dance Theatre of Harlem, Miami City Ballet, Vail Dance Festival, American Ballet Theatre Studio Company, Juilliard Opera, New York Choreographic Institute and Joffrey Winning Works. For a more detailed look at Schreier’s incredible resume, please visit here.

[MARCH 19-21, 2021]

In March, audiences will be awed by the beauty of movement and elegance of expression. Internationally acclaimed choreographer Cathy Marston, who is known for her narrative approach to ballet and tremendous ability to tell stories through dancers’ bodies, will rework her Persisting Memory specifically on Atlanta Ballet. Through this reworking, audiences will experience Marston’s poetic response to Henryk Gorecki’s haunting and soulful “Kleines Requiem für eine Polka.” Ben Stevenson’s Three Preludes will add some romance to the evening. The gentle, loving pas de deux tells the story of two dancers who fall in love while working in the studio. The three movements – performed to selections of Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Preludes – develop in both speed and intensity as the emotion of the dancers evolves from flirtation to passion. As part of Nedvigin’s continued support of commissioning new works, the March program will also include a world premiere by Dutch National Ballet principal dancer and established choreographer Remi Wörtmeyer, whose optimistic energy and fluid movement will be brought to the stage through Atlanta Ballet dancers. Focused on three famous artist couples, and particularly the females of those relationships who pushed the limits of social conformity, Wörtmeyer’s thought-provoking world premiere aims to express the collaboration of wedded equals. A celebration of modern-day progression and equality,  this piece, titled Significant Others, will bear the underlying messages that more is achieved together, that love is complicated and powerful, and that, as equals, we are unstoppable.

[MAY 14-16, 2021]

The May program will be an exuberant celebration of American art, patriotism and passion. The Company will swing onto stage with Paul Taylor’s Company B – a “smash hit” ballet set to the terrific tunes of famed trio The Andrews Sisters (“Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” and  the Latin rhythms of “Rum and Coca-Cola”), and featuring social dances of that era, such as the polka, Lindy and jitterbug.

Concluding the season with an exuberant finale, the Company will showcase George Balanchine’s signature style with Stars & Stripes – an all-American masterpiece featuring five sections dubbed as “campaigns” set to John Philip Sousa’s marches, which will be performed with the Atlanta Ballet Orchestra.

For more information on Atlanta Ballet’s 2020|2021 performance season, please call 404-892-3303 or visit www.atlantaballet.com. Subscription packages are available for purchase now and single tickets will go on sale late summer 2020.

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About Atlanta Ballet:

Founded in 1929, Atlanta Ballet is one of the premier dance companies in the country and the official state Ballet of Georgia. Atlanta Ballet's eclectic repertoire spans ballet history, highlighted by beloved classics and inventive originals. After 90 seasons, Atlanta Ballet continues its commitment to share and educate audiences on the empowering joy of dance. In 1996, Atlanta Ballet opened its Centre for Dance Education, which is dedicated to nurturing young dancers while providing an outlet for adults to express their creativity. The Centre serves over 150,000 people in metro Atlanta each year. Atlanta Ballet's roots remain firmly grounded in the Atlanta community and continue to play a vital role in the city's cultural growth and revitalization. For more information, visit www.atlantaballet.com, follow us on Twitter @atlantaballet, and like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/atlantaballet.