ATLANTA (March 21, 2019) – As Atlanta Ballet approaches its 90th anniversary, Artistic Director Gennadi Nedvigin has announced an exciting 2019|2020 performance season featuring a mix of renowned classics, newer works and world premieres created by a diverse group of both rising and established contemporary choreographers from around the world.

By focusing on Atlanta Ballet’s tradition of versatility, excellence and commitment to introducing audiences to a wide variety of dance styles, Nedvigin continues to build on the foundation created by the three artistic directors who preceded him throughout the company’s 90-year history. Dorothy Moses Alexander was a pioneer who founded Atlanta Ballet in 1929 and kept it alive through the Depression, making Atlanta Ballet the oldest professional ballet company in the United States. When Robert Barnett took over the Company in 1963, he elevated Atlanta Ballet’s reputation by becoming the first company outside of New York City Ballet to gain the rights to perform the works of George Balanchine. Beginning in 1994, John McFall’s imagination and innovative vision brought contemporary modern dance and distinctive new ballets to the stage. His pioneering spirit and commitment to our youth led to establishing the Atlanta Ballet Centre for Dance Education, which has become one of the top ten dance education facilities in the country.

“I am deeply inspired by Atlanta Ballet’s rich history, and feel honored to have the opportunity to assemble a performance season that reflects the Company’s many accomplishments as we celebrate its 90th anniversary,” says Nedvigin. “Dorothy Alexander had a dream of bringing quality ballet to the Atlanta community, and that dream is instilled in me, as well. With such a wide range of genres and dance styles performed by our immensely talented dancers, I hope she would be proud of what I have planned for Atlanta Ballet’s season-long 90th birthday celebration.”

The season will kick off in September with a program featuring a collection of emotionally-charged and intoxicatingly beautiful works. Following his well-received world premiere of The Premiere in Atlanta Ballet’s 2017|2018 Season, Brazilian choreographer Ricardo Amarante returns to the Company, this time with his Love Fear Loss. After its 2017 North American premiere with Atlanta Ballet, famed British choreographer Liam Scarlett’s hypnotic and alluring Vespertine returns to thrill audiences with its sensuality and musicality. Additionally, Atlanta Ballet has commissioned rising, New York-based choreographer Claudia Schreier to create a world premiere on the Company to accompany the fall lineup. A recent Princess Grace Award recipient for choreography, Schreier’s neoclassical style is rooted in contemporary ballet concepts with her work offering a grounded intimacy. The program will also include a special guest performance by Complexions Contemporary Ballet before the company’s director, Dwight Rhoden, returns in February to present a world premiere on Atlanta Ballet.

Following a triumphant world premiere at Atlanta’s Fox Theatre in December 2018, The Nutcracker will return to the Fox Theatre to delight Atlanta audiences. The production features stunning choreography by Yuri Possokhov, San Francisco Ballet’s acclaimed in-house choreographer, and harkens closely to E.T.A. Hoffmann’s original 1816 tale. Performed with the Atlanta Ballet Orchestra to Tchaikovsky’s timeless score, the production includes 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.

Sweeping rhythms and the infectious energy of jazz music intertwine the three works making their Atlanta Ballet debuts in February. Lar Lubovitch’s Elemental Brubeck, a toe tapping good time, provides “a festive, knockout display, joyously evoking some of the greatest moments of American dance on film...” (The San Francisco Chronicle). Acclaimed choreographer and former principal with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Dwight Rhoden will create a world premiere contemporary ballet on the Company artists set to powerful melodies. Finally, Alexander Ekman’s Tuplet completes the triple bill. As the dancers’ use their bodies as percussion instruments, they create their own driving tempos that, when intermixed with popular jazz standards and an original electronic track, create an immersive, multisensory experience.

Also in February, Atlanta Ballet 2 will present the world premiere of Swan Lake with choreography by Bruce Wells. This production features all of the mystery and magic of the beloved classic, but fits the treasured story into a one-hour format that serves as a perfect introduction to ballet.

In March, the Company will present Giselle, an enrapturing masterwork that remains one of the most romantic ballets of all time.

Atlanta Ballet will close out its 90th anniversary season with the seminal classic – Yuri Possokhov’s Firebird performed to Igor Stravinsky’s striking score. Returning after its 2018 Atlanta Ballet debut, Australian choreographer Craig Davidson’s sublime Remembrance/Hereafter explores the memories we hold after people pass on, the imprints they leave behind. As part of Nedvigin’s continued support of commissioning new works, the May program will also include a world premiere from Juliano Nuñes, a budding Brazilian choreographer and current dancer with the Royal Ballet of Flanders. With his nascent, unique style, Nuñes focuses on creating imaginative and unexpected configurations of the body formed through the ebbing and flowing movement.

For detailed description of each of the programs that make up Atlanta Ballet’s 2019|2020 season, please see below. For more information on Atlanta Ballet’s 2018|2019 season, please call 404.892.3303 or visit www.atlantaballet.com/subscribe. Subscription packages are available for purchase now and single tickets will go on sale late summer 2019.

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ATLANTA BALLET’S 2019|2020 PERFORMANCE SEASON [SEPTEMBER PROGRAM] – September 20-22, 2019

Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre

To kick off the 90th anniversary season, Atlanta Ballet has assembled a program of emotionally- charged and intoxicatingly beautiful works.

Inspired by the poignant personal life of French singer Edith Piaf and her music, Brazilian choreographer Ricardo Amarante’s Love Fear Loss follows the love story of the late songstress through her classic works. Exploring the arc from the high of new love, through the fear of waning intimacy, to the ultimate tragic loss of her great love, Amarante’s work is a touching tribute that is both dazzling and heartbreaking. Ultimately, it is a celebration of the human condition and the beauty that arises from even the darkest moments in life.

After its 2017 North American debut in Atlanta, famed British choreographer Liam Scarlett’s Vespertine returns. This sensual powerhouse production incited audible gasps of delight from the audience from the moment the curtain rose on the arresting tableau. Hypnotic and alluring, it will thrill once again this fall.

Atlanta Ballet has commissioned rising, New York-based choreographer Claudia Schreier to create a world premiere on the Company to accompany the fall lineup. A recent Princess Grace Award recipient for choreography, Schreier’s neoclassical style is rooted in contemporary ballet concepts with her work offering a grounded intimacy. The couple’s bodies yield to one another, morphing them into one form as limbs lock in sinuous embrace. (This work was commissioned by the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation.)

The program will also include a special guest performance by Complexions Contemporary Ballet before the company’s director, Dwight Rhoden, returns in February to create a world premiere on Atlanta Ballet.

[THE NUTCRACKER] – December 7-24, 2019

The Fox Theatre With the Atlanta Ballet Orchestra

After a triumphant premiere last year and a recently announced engagement at the Kennedy Center in November 2019, Atlanta Ballet’s reimagined production of The Nutcracker returns to the Fox Theatre this holiday season. Join us for a thrilling journey through space and time, where everyday objects grow in extraordinary size and the pages of E.T.A. Hoffmann’s beloved story come alive before your very eyes. Add some splendor and world-class enchantment to your family’s holiday with Atlanta Ballet this December.

[FEBRUARY PROGRAM] – February 7-15, 2020

Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre

Sweeping rhythms and the infectious energy of jazz music intertwine the three works making their Atlanta Ballet debuts in February. Lar Lubovitch’s Elemental Brubeck, a toe tapping good time, provides “a festive, knockout display, joyously evoking some of the greatest moments of American dance on film...” (The San Francisco Chronicle). Dwight Rhoden, “one of the most sought out choreographers of the day” (The New York Times) and former principal with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater will create a world premiere contemporary ballet on our Company artists set to powerful melodies. Alexander Ekman returns with Tuplet, an explosive and inventive work. Using the dancers’ bodies as percussion instruments, they create their own driving tempos that, when intermixed with popular jazz standards and an original electronic track, create an immersive, multisensory experience.

[ATLANTA BALLET 2 PRESENTS SWAN LAKE] – February 13-16, 2020

Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre

This world premiere production of Swan Lake features all of the mystery and magic of the beloved classic but fits the treasured story into a one-hour format that serves as a perfect introduction to ballet. Will Prince Siegfried be able to save Odette, the beautiful swan princess, from the reaches of the wicked Von Rothbart? Our one-hour family ballet may be designed for our youngest audience members, ages 12 and under, but this dazzling production can be enjoyed by children and adults alike.

[GISELLE] – March 27-29, 2020

Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre With the Atlanta Ballet Orchestra

Achingly beautiful and tragic, Giselle is an enrapturing masterwork that remains one of the most enduring romantic ballets of all time. After a young peasant girl named Giselle is deceived by her true love, Albrecht, she falls into a fit of despair and dies of a broken heart. A woman scorned, she is destined to rise from the grave with the vengeful otherworldly beauties known as the Willis, entrapping men who unwittingly cross their paths. At once beguiling and maleficent, the Willis capture Albrecht and condemn him to dance until his death, but the power of Giselle’s enduring love protects him and ultimately sets them both free.

[MAY PROGRAM] – May 15-27, 2020

Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre With the Atlanta Ballet Orchestra

Atlanta Ballet will close out its 90th anniversary season with the seminal classic – Yuri Possokhov’s Firebird performed to Igor Stravinsky’s striking score. Visually and musically arresting, Firebird is an explosive production not to be missed that can also be enjoyed by all ages.

Returning after its 2018 Atlanta Ballet debut, Australian choreographer Craig Davidson’s sublime Remembrance/Hereafter explores the memories we hold after people pass on, the imprints they leave behind. Contemplative yet celebratory, it is complemented by a live quartet performing Franz Schubert's dramatic "Death and the Maiden."

As part of Artistic Director Gennadi Nedvigin’s continued support of commissioning new works, the May program will also include a world premiere from Juliano Nuñes, a budding Brazilian choreographer and current dancer with the Royal Ballet of Flanders. With his nascent, unique style, Nuñes focuses on creating imaginative and unexpected configurations of the body formed through the ebbing and flowing movement.

Media Contact:

Julia Berg, Director of Public Relations
(o) 404.873.5811 x1203
(c) 404.226.1127
jberg@atlantaballet.com