In 1972, New York City Ballet premiered this version of Mikail Fokine’s Les Sylphides, widely thought to be the first ballet about solely mood and dance. Restaged by Russian-born prima ballerina Alexandra Danilova to the music of Chopin, its sleek and minimalist aesthetic showcases numerous woodland nymphs, or sylphs, dancing in the moonlight.
Allegro Brillante George Balanchine
Balanchine described this work set to the strains of Tchaikovsky as “Everything I know about ballet in 13 minutes.” The leading bravura role of this joyful piece that challenges the dancers’ technical prowess at every level was created on Maria Tallchief, the first significant American prima ballerina and the first Native American to attain that status.
This Bitter Earth Christopher Wheeldon
A beautiful and poignant pas de deux from Christopher Wheeldon’s Five Movements, Three Repeats. The music, originally mixed by Robbie Robertson for Martin Scorsese’s Shutter Island, layers Dinah Washington’s evocative rendition of Clyde Otis’s “This Bitter Earth” over the strings of Max Richter’s “On the Nature of Daylight,” creating a haunting soundscape for the dancers.
Strauss 200 Gianna Reisen
Gianna Reisen is the youngest person in history to have been commissioned to choreograph for the storied New York City Ballet. She will bring her unique artistic vision to Jacobs for several weeks to create her latest work, with the students of the IU Ballet Department to music by Johann Strauss II.
Artistic Staff
Conductor Wei-Chung Chen
2025 Performances
Oct. 24, 25 Musical Arts Center 7:30 PM
Oct. 25 Musical Arts Center 2 PM
Explore our IU Jacobs School of Music Opera and Ballet Theater archive.
Join choreographer Gianna Reisen on Backstories as she discusses her creative journey—from training at the School of American Ballet and becoming the youngest choreographer commissioned by New York City Ballet to her evolving process and inspiration behind her new work for the Jacobs School of Music’s Fall Ballet.
Choreographers
Born in St. Petersburg, Russia, George Balanchine is regarded as the foremost contemporary choreographer in the world of ballet. He came to the United States in late 1933, at the age of 29, accepting the invitation of the young American arts patron Lincoln Kirstein (1907-96), whose great passions included the dream of creating a ballet company in America. At Balanchine’s behest, Kirstein was also prepared to support the formation of an American academy of ballet that would eventually rival the long-established schools of Europe. This was the School of American Ballet, founded in 1934, the first product of the Balanchine-Kirstein collaboration. Several ballet companies directed by the two were created and dissolved in the years that followed, while Balanchine found other outlets for his choreography. Eventually, with a performance on October 11, 1948, New York City Ballet was born. Balanchine served as its ballet master and principal choreographer from 1948 until his death in 1983. Balanchine’s more than 400 dance works include Serenade (1934), Concerto Barocco (1941), Le Palais de Cristal, later renamed Symphony in C (1947), Orpheus (1948), The Nutcracker (1954), Agon (1957), Symphony in Three Movements (1972), Stravinsky Violin Concerto (1972), Vienna Waltzes (1977), Ballo della Regina (1978), and Mozartiana (1981). His final ballet, a new version of Stravinsky’s Variations for Orchestra, was created in 1982. He also choreographed for films, operas, revues, and musicals. Among his best-known dances for the stage is “Slaughter on Tenth Avenue,” originally created for Broadway’s On Your Toes (1936). The musical was later made into a movie. A major artistic figure of the twentieth century, Balanchine revolutionized the look of classical ballet. Taking classicism as his base, he heightened, quickened, expanded, streamlined, and even inverted the fundamentals of the 400-year-old language of academic dance. This had an inestimable influence on the growth of dance in America. Although at first his style seemed particularly suited to the energy and speed of American dancers, especially those he trained, his ballets are now performed by all the major classical ballet companies throughout the world.
Born in St. Petersburg, Russia, Michel Fokine was one of ballet’s most visionary choreographers. A graduate of the Imperial Ballet School, he joined the Mariinsky Theatre as a soloist, where he often partnered Anna Pavlova. Disenchanted with the rigid traditions of classical ballet, Fokine became a pioneering reformer. He championed the idea that dance, music, and design should work together to express a unified artistic vision—rather than serve as mere display. In 1905, he created The Dying Swan for Pavlova and soon after, achieved international acclaim through his collaboration with Serge Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes. Among his most celebrated works are Les Sylphides (also known as Chopiniana), Scheherazade, The Firebird, and Petrouchka—ballets that revolutionized the art form through expressive movement and dramatic coherence. After emigrating to the United States in 1919, Fokine continued to teach and choreograph, helping to establish a foundation for American ballet. He later became a founding choreographer of American Ballet Theatre, where Les Sylphides opened the company’s first season in 1940. Over his lifetime, Fokine created more than 80 ballets and forever transformed the language of classical dance. His influence continues to inspire choreographers and audiences worldwide.
Gianna Reisen is a choreographer based in New York City. Her journey began as a student at the School of American Ballet (SAB), where she studied the Balanchine technique for seven years. Her passion for choreography developed during SAB’s Student Choreographic Workshop. Soon after showcasing her work at the school, she was invited to participate in the Fall Session of the New York Choreographic Institute, where she presented her first ensemble ballet. After graduating from SAB in 2017, Reisen became the youngest choreographer ever commissioned by New York City Ballet (NYCB), creating Composer’s Holiday for the company’s Fall Fashion Gala. Following its premiere at Lincoln Center, the work was later performed at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center and the Kennedy Center. To date, she has choreographed four works for NYCB, collaborating with artists such as Virgil Abloh, Alejandro Gómez Palomo, and Solange Knowles. Beyond NYCB, Reisen has created work for Los Angeles Dance Project, Carolina Ballet, Vail Dance Festival, Columbia University, Indiana University, and SAB. Her first full-length narrative ballet, Alice, premiered at Carolina Ballet in 2025. She has also directed and choreographed two short films for the School of American Ballet and has since worked as a movement director on several music videos, narrative shorts, editorials, and fashion campaigns. As a professional dancer, Reisen performed with SemperOper Ballet in Dresden, Germany, and later with Los Angeles Dance Project (LADP). While with LADP, she toured internationally and expanded her range in modern dance, performing works by Benjamin Millepied, Martha Graham, Bella Lewitzky, Kyle Abraham, and others.
Christopher Wheeldon, OBE, trained at The Royal Ballet School and joined The Royal Ballet in 1991. In 1993, he joined New York City Ballet (NYCB) and was promoted to soloist in 1998. He was named NYCB’s first resident choreographer in July 2001. Since then, Wheeldon has created and staged productions for the world’s major ballet companies. He is artistic associate of The Royal Ballet, where he has created many works, including Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and The Winter’s Tale, both of which were coproductions with The National Ballet of Canada. He has also choreographed for the Metropolitan Opera, created ballet sequences for the feature film Center Stage (2000) and Sweet Smell of Success on Broadway (2002), created a special excerpt for the closing ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics, and was artistic director for Les Arts Decoratif’s Fashion Forward exhibit in Paris (2016). In 2014, Wheeldon directed and choreographed the musical version of An American in Paris, with performances in Paris, on Broadway, and in London. Most recently, he directed and choreographed MJ The Musical (2022). Both productions won four Tony Awards, including Best Choreography, and the latter is currently on Broadway, touring in America, and playing in London’s West End (Olivier Award for Best Theatre Choreographer), Hamburg, and Australia. His many other awards include an Outer Critics Award for Best Choreography and Direction, the Martin E. Segal Award from Lincoln Center, American Choreography Award, Dance Magazine Award, multiple London Critics’ Circle Awards, Leonard Massine Prize, Benois de la Danse, and an Olivier Award. In 2016, Wheeldon was named an officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) and was made an honorary fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Artistic Staff
Wei-Chung Chen, a Taiwanese conductor, holds a bachelor’s degree in clinical laboratory sciences and medical biotechnology from National Taiwan University and a master’s degree in orchestral conducting from National Taiwan Normal University. After receiving the scholarship from the Ministry of Education, Taiwan, Chen began his Doctor of Music studies in orchestral conducting at Indiana University in 2022, where he studies under Arthur Fagen, Jeffery Meyer, and Thomas Wilkins. Chen currently serves as music director of the Bloomington Bridges MAYO Philharmonic Orchestra. During his time in the United States, he was invited by the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra to serve as assistant conductor to Fabien Gabel and was twice selected for master classes with Robert Spano and Jun Märkl. Since 2023, he has guest conducted the Bloomington Symphony Orchestra multiple times. In 2023, he won first prize in the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra’s (NTSO) International Music Talent Elite Program and was invited to guest conduct both the NTSO Youth Symphony Orchestra and the NTSO Taiwan Wind Orchestra. From 2023 to 2025, he was selected three times for Lü Shao-Chia’s conducting master class, where he conducted the TNUA Department of Music Symphony Orchestra in concert. Between 2016 and 2022, he served as conductor of the Chien-Kuo High School Marching Band, leading the ensemble to numerous awards in domestic and international competitions. At the Jacobs School, Chen has conducted numerous performances, including the 2024 Fall Ballet and MCCSC children’s concerts, and has participated in various opera productions, such as Puccini’s Suor Angelica, Mozart’s La Finta Giardiniera, Chabrier’s L’Étoile, and Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti. He has also participated in How to Train Your Dragon in concert and Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 and will conduct Stravinsky’s The Soldier’s Tale on November 2 at Jacobs. In 2026, Chen will guest conduct the Budafok Dohnányi Orchestra in Budapest.
Christian Claessens is lecturer in ballet at the IU Jacobs School of Music. He began his ballet training at the Conservatoire de la Monaie. In 1978, he came to New York on scholarship to the School of American Ballet and the American Ballet Theatre School. After graduating, he performed with the Kansas City Ballet and Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre. In 1984, he returned to Europe as a member of the Dutch National Ballet. As a soloist, Claessens toured internationally with Stars of the American Ballet, Stars of the New York City Ballet, Stars of the Hong Kong Ballet, and Kozlov and Friends. In 1991, he cofounded the Scarsdale Ballet Studio with Diana White. In 1999, he codirected the International Ballet Project with Valentina Kozlova and White, both of New York City Ballet. In 1998, he took over the directorship of the Purchase Youth Ballet. He was the director of La Leçon: Christian Claessens School of Ballet in Westchester, New York.
Michele Gifford grew up in Dallas, Texas. She began her training with Ann Etgen and Bill Atkinson at the Dallas Metropolitan Ballet. At the age of 16, she moved to New York City to attend the School of American Ballet on full scholarship. Two years later, she became a member of New York City Ballet. In her 12-year tenure there, she performed many soloist and principal roles, including in Balanchine’s Apollo, Rubies, Agon, Symphony in Three Movements, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Stars and Stripes, to name a few. She also originated many roles, including in Jerome Robbins’ West Side Story Suite, Peter Martins’ Echo, Christopher Wheeldon’s Slavonic Dances, and David Parsons’ Touch. In 2000, Gifford joined Texas Ballet Theater under Ben Stevenson. While there, she performed several principal roles, including in Ben Stevenson’s Copéllia, Four Last Songs, Dracula, and Peer Gynt, along with Balanchine’s Allegro Brillante and The Four Temperaments. Gifford has also made several guest artist appearances, including in Tchaikovsky’s “Pas de Deux,” “Who Cares?,” Barber’s Violin Concerto, Carmina Burana, and Rubies, later joining Bruce Wood Dance Company, where she was also company manager. She has taught throughout the country, including at Ballet West, Boston Ballet, Next Generation Ballet, Mejia International Ballet, and Indiana University, among others. Besides teaching, Gifford is a repetiteur for the Balanchine Trust as well as choreographer Christopher Wheeldon. Throughout her 29-year performing career, she has taught and owned her own Gyrotonic studio, Studio G, passing on her knowledge of movement to people from all walks of life. Most recently, Gifford has taken on the position of assistant rehearsal director at Ballet West under artistic director Adam Sklute.
Sasha Janes is associate professor of ballet at the IU Jacobs School of Music. He was born in Perth, Australia, and received his formal dance training from the Australian Ballet School. He has danced professionally with West Australian Ballet, Australian Ballet, Hong Kong Ballet, and Dayton Ballet, performing principal roles in works by Jiří Kylián, George Balanchine, Nacho Duato, Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux, Marius Petipa, Septime Webre, Anthony Tudor, Dwight Rhoden, Alonzo King, Twyla Tharp, Alvin Ailey, and many others. At the invitation of Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux and associate artistic director Patricia McBride, Janes joined Charlotte Ballet in 2003. In 2006, he was commissioned to choreograph his first ballet, Lascia la Spina, Cogli la Rosa, and has since choreographed several ballets for Charlotte Ballet, including Carmen, Dangerous Liaisons, We Danced Through Life, Last Lost Chance, Shelter, At First Sight, Loss, The Four Seasons, The Red Dress, Utopia, Playground Teasers, The Seed and the Soil, Chaconne, Queen, Sketches from Grace, and Rhapsodic Dances, which was performed as part of the Kennedy Center’s Ballet Across America series in June 2013. The Washington Post called Janes “a choreographer to watch.” He was a participant in New York City Ballet’s Choreographic Institute and has been a guest choreographer for Richmond Ballet’s New Works Festival. He was a principal dancer with Charlotte Ballet for eight seasons before being named rehearsal director in 2007 then associate artistic director in 2012 and adding the title resident choreographer in 2013. In fall 2016, Janes premiered his ballet Saudade for the Jacobs School of Music, where he served as guest faculty. In spring 2017, he premiered his Wuthering Heights for Charlotte Ballet, inspired by Emily Bronte’s classic novel. In fall 2020, he premiered the first two movements of 19 at the Jacobs School.
Elizabeth Licata is an award-winning costume artist and head of costumes at IU Jacobs School of Music Opera and Ballet Theater. Previously, she worked for the Santa Fe Opera, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Constellation Stage & Screen, and the Chicago Shakespeare Theater. She was an M.F.A. student under Heather Milam, head of the Costume Technology program at IU. Additionally, she has studied haute couture at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York and embroidery from the London School of Embroidery and at Chanel’s École Lesage in Paris. Licata earned a B.A. from Dartmouth and an M.A. from Stanford.
Russell Long is the lighting specialist for the Musical Arts Center, where he has designed lights for Carmen, Suor Angelica, Trouble in Tahiti, Silence, Die Fledermaus, Eugene Onegin, An American Dream, Autumnsong, Roméo et Juliette, La Finta Giardiniera, and The Merry Widow. Long’s most recent regional design credits include Jersey Boys (QCT), High School Musical Jr. (SYP), Dial M for Murder, Forever Plaid (IUST), Newsies (QCT), The Music Man (QCT), Lunch Bunch (Clubbed Thumb), 45 Seconds from Broadway (Hudson Guild), and Aladdin Jr. (SYP). He has also worked as the lighting supervisor/resident lighting designer for Aspen Music Festival and School, where he designed lights for Uncommon Ritual (Béla Fleck, Edgar Meyer, and Mike Marshall), ¡De Colores!, and Mathew Whitaker. Originally from Southern Arizona, Long studied at Pima Community College and Northern Arizona University and has worked with Arizona Theatre Company, Peaks Productions, University of Arizona Opera, Aspen Opera, and Vail Ballet Festival. He has also toured nationally as a lighting director, lighting designer, and production manager. He earned an M.F.A in Lighting Design from the IU Department of Theatre, Drama, and Contemporary Dance.
Glenda Lucena is a world-renowned professional ballet teacher and repetiteur. She brings her insight, excellence, and spirituality into every studio. She has served as ballet master at Miami City Ballet, taught consistently for the Chautauqua Institution, and served as both faculty and repetiteur for the Jacobs School of Music Ballet Department.
Hailing from Concord, California, Zak Mustille is in his third year of studies pursuing a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance at the Jacobs School of Music under the tutelage of Dinara Klinton. He previously studied with Edward Auer, Bruce Cook, and Machiko Kobialka. A graduate of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Pre-College, Mustille has garnered top honors in piano competitions throughout the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond, including second prize in the 7th Edition of the ENKOR International Music Competition, first place in the 2021 United States Open Music Competition, the Young Artist Award in the 2020 Ross McKee Piano Competition, and second place in the 2019 CAPMT State Finals of the Contemporary Music Competition. He has performed multiple piano concertos with the Diablo Valley College Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Owen Lee, including Listz’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in A Major. Throughout his years of study, Mustille has played in piano master classes with Hans Boepple, Omri Shimron, Garrick Ohlsson, Ruth Slenczynska, Frank Wiens, Peter Mack, Dennis Alexander, and Craig Richey. He is also working toward a minor in composition at Jacobs as well as a Certificate in Music Scoring for Visual Media.
Kyra Nichols is professor of ballet at the IU Jacobs School of Music, where she holds the Violette Verdy and Kathy Ziliak Anderson Chair in Ballet. Nichols began her early training with her mother, Sally Streets, a former member of New York City Ballet (NYCB). Nichols became an apprentice and then a member of the corps de ballet at NYCB in 1974 and was promoted to soloist in 1978. In 1979, George Balanchine promoted her to principal dancer, and she worked closely with both Balanchine and Jerome Robbins. She performed numerous leading roles in the NYCB repertoire, including Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto Number 2, Stars and Stripes, Liebeslieder Walzer, and Davidsbündlertänze. She has worked with an extensive list of choreographers, including William Forsythe, Susan Stroman, Christopher Wheeldon, Jacques D’Amboise, Robert La Fosse, and Robert Garland. Nichols retired from New York City Ballet in June 2007 after 33 years with the company, the longest-serving principal dancer in the company’s history. Immediately prior to joining the Jacobs School, she was ballet mistress at Pennsylvania Ballet.
Irina Ter-Grigoryan received her degrees of piano performance, pedagogy, and accompaniment in the former Soviet Union. She served as a faculty member at the Baku State Conservatory and as an accompanist for the Azerbaijan State Theater Opera and Ballet. She was selected from a small pool of musicians to accompany international and regional competitions representing the Soviet Union. During her time in the United States, she has continued her work as an accompanist with the Temple Square Concert Series Recitals in Salt Lake City, Utah; University of Utah; and Ballet West Co.; and as a collaborative pianist at DePauw University. She currently holds the position of accompanist and music director with the IU Jacobs School of Music Ballet Department.
Sarah Wroth is chair of the Ballet Department and associate professor of ballet at the IU Jacobs School of Music. She began her training at the Frederick School of Classical Ballet in Frederick, Maryland. In 2003, she earned a Bachelor of Science in Ballet Performance with an Outside Field in Education from the Jacobs School of Music. That same year, she joined Boston Ballet as a member of the corps de ballet. With the company, Wroth performed principal roles in works by William Forsythe, Jiří Kylián, Marius Petipa, Jerome Robbins, Helen Pickett, and Mikko Nissinen, and soloist roles in ballets by Sir Frederick Ashton, George Balanchine, and August Bournonville. She has performed with Boston Ballet internationally in Spain, England, South Korea, and Finland. In 2009, she was awarded the E. Virginia Williams Inspiration Award for her unwavering dedication to ballet and the Boston Ballet Company. Wroth earned a Master of Science in Nonprofit Management from Northeastern University in 2015 and retired from Boston Ballet in May 2017.
Friday, October 24, 2025
Choreography by Michel Fokine Music by Fryderyk Chopin Selected and orchestrated by Alexander Glazunov Arranged by Benjamin Britten Prélude (Op. 28 No. 7) Nocturne (Op. 32 No. 2) Valse (Op. 70 No. 1) Mazurka (Op. 33 No. 2) Mazurka (Op. 33 No. 3) Prélude (Op. 28 No. 7) Valse (Op. 64 No. 2) Grande valse brillante (Op. 18 No. 1)
Premiere: February 23, 1907 | Mariinsky Theatre St. Petersburg, Russia
Staged by Christian Claessens, Kyra Nichols, and Sarah Wroth Wei-Chung Chen, Conductor
Russell Long, Lighting Designer
Marie: Annaliesa Gowe Poet: Bryan Gregory Prelude: Lillian Smith Waltz: Claire Bowers Mazurka: Maya Jackson Demis: Ava Juleen, Delaine Tyler Corps: Eva Bendesky, Brianna Fuller, Cordelia Leff, Hazel Lindquist, Lola Mayo, Maddie Muth, Mia Nelson, Catherine Payson, Julia Pellon, Ella Sperry, Nora Thorne, Mia Vinick, Rebekah WolfsonKilayko, Sarah Yoak with Luke Derksen, Graham Wissinger
Chopiniana is the original 1907 name of the ballet Les Sylphides, which premiered at the Ballet Russes’ opening season at the Théâtre du Châtelet in 1909. Michel Fokine’s choice to present a plotless romantic work, with its poetry and fantasy, would forever revolutionize the art form. Ballet is presented with purity and maturity in this work that challenges the dancers onstage to interpret the intricate choreography through the language of sylphs and poets.
Performed with the permission of the FOKINE ESTATE-ARCHIVE.
Choreography by George Balanchine* Music by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 3 in E-Flat Major, Op. 75 (posth.)
Premiere: March 1, 1956 | New York City Ballet City Center of Music and Drama, New York, New York
Staged by Kyra Nichols Wei-Chung Chen, Conductor Zak Mustille, Piano Christian Claessens, Ballet Master
Russell Long, Lighting Designer
Stanley Cannon and Emma Dorrler Luke Alcaraz, Trey Ferdyn, Kale Jette Arnon Gafni-Kane, Elly O’Connell, Anjuli Paul Luci Radke, Tiffany Yang
Allegro Brillante was created by George Balanchine for New York City Ballet in 1956. Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 3 sets a thrilling pace for the dancers, and the intricately musical choreography challenges their timing, precision, and technical ability. Balanchine said of this work, “It contains everything I know about the classical ballet in 13 minutes.”
Choreography by Christopher Wheeldon Music by Max Richter and Clyde Otis Performed by Max Richter and Dinah Washington
Premiere: August 6, 2012 | Vail International Dance Festival | Vail, Colorado
Staged by Michele Gifford Sasha Janes, Ballet Master
Katy Freeman, Costume Designer Russell Long, Lighting Designer
Bryan Gregory and Maya Jackson
This Bitter Earth is a weighty pas de deux that was created by Christopher Wheeldon for the Vail International Dance Festival in 2012. The piece, originally created as part of a larger work titled Five Movements, Three Repeats, has become a stand-alone work of great acclaim for Wheeldon. The intricacy of Wheeldon’s partnering work brings drama to the musical remix of Dinah Washington’s “This Bitter Earth” recording and Max Richter’s “On the Nature of Daylight.”
Choreography by Gianna Reisen Music by Johann Strauss II Overture to Die Fledermaus Annen-Polka, Op. 117 Pizzicato Polka Frühlingsstimmen (Voices of Spring), Op. 410
Staged by Gianna Reisen Wei-Chung Chen, Conductor Glenda Lucena, Ballet Master Sarah Wroth, Ballet Master
Elizabeth Licata, Costume Designer Russell Long, Lighting Designer
Luke Alcaraz and Hannah Reiff Cordelia Leff, Jacob Shapiro, Ella Sperry Claire Bowers, Emily Vlasnik Trey Ferdyn, Oscar Lewis Ava Juleen, Nora Thorne, Tiffany Yang, Sarah Yoak Kaito Aihara, Luke Derksen, Arnon Gafni-Kane, Henry Hoffman, Lola Mayo, Maddie Muth, Mia Nelson, Elly O’Connell, Anjuli Paul, Julia Pellon, Luci Radke, Graham Wissinger
Gianna Reisen has a knack for using the medium of dance to paint the music of her ballets across the stage. This is her second world premiere for IU Jacobs Ballet Theater. This ballet was created to commemorate the two-hundredth birthday of Johann Strauss II. In creating the work, Reisen encouraged the dancers to move their bodies as much as possible, expressing the fun of ballet and the joy of Strauss’s music.
Saturday, October 25, 2025
Les Sylphides (Chopiniana) Choreography by Michel Fokine Music by Fryderyk Chopin Selected and orchestrated by Alexander Glazunov Arranged by Benjamin Britten Prélude (Op. 28 No. 7) Nocturne (Op. 32 No. 2) Valse (Op. 70 No. 1) Mazurka (Op. 33 No. 2) Mazurka (Op. 33 No. 3) Prélude (Op. 28 No. 7) Valse (Op. 64 No. 2) Grande valse brillante (Op. 18 No. 1)
Premiere: February 23, 1907 | Mariinsky Theatre St. Petersburg, Russia
Staged by Christian Claessens, Kyra Nichols, and Sarah Wroth Wei-Chung Chen, Conductor
Russell Long, Lighting Designer
Poet: Joshua Randall Prelude: Emily Hain Waltz: Hannah Reiff Mazurka: Emily Vlasnik Demis: Stella Fraser, Sarah Wilkinson Corps: Margaux Beller, Ellynn Barral Floc’h, Lauryn Carr, Luke Derksen, Emily Joseph, Hazel Lindquist, Mia Nelson, Julia Pellon, Scarlett Starkey, Lizzy Steward, Nora Thorne, Mia Vinick, Rebekah WolfsonKilayko, Sarah Yoak
Chopiniana is the original 1907 name of the ballet Les Sylphides, which premiered at the Ballet Russes’ opening season at the Théâtre du Châtelet in 1909. Michel Fokine’s choice to present a plotless romantic work, with its poetry and fantasy, would forever revolutionize the art form. Ballet is presented with purity and maturity in this work that challenges the dancers onstage to interpret the intricate choreography through the language of sylphs and poets.
Performed with the permission of the FOKINE ESTATE-ARCHIVE.
Choreography by George Balanchine* Music by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 3 in E-Flat Major, Op. 75 (posth.)
Premiere: March 1, 1956 | New York City Ballet City Center of Music and Drama | New York, New York
Staged by Kyra Nichols Wei-Chung Chen, Conductor Zak Mustille, Piano Christian Claessens, Ballet Master
Russell Long, Lighting Designer
Kate Deshler and Graham Wissinger Kaito Aihara, Josie Kirk, Oscar Lewis Lilly Mozie, Josh Page, Jacob Shapiro Lucy Shultz, Keiran Wood
Allegro Brillante was created by George Balanchine for New York City Ballet in 1956. Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 3 sets a thrilling pace for the dancers, and the intricately musical choreography challenges their timing, precision, and technical ability. Balanchine said of this work, “It contains everything I know about the classical ballet in 13 minutes.”
Choreography by Christopher Wheeldon Music by Max Richter and Clyde Otis Performed by Max Richter and Dinah Washington
Premiere: August 6, 2012 | Vail International Dance Festival | Vail, Colorado
Staged by Michele Gifford Sasha Janes, Ballet Master
Katy Freeman, Costume Designer Russell Long, Lighting Designer
Stanley Cannon and Eva Bendesky
This Bitter Earth is a weighty pas de deux that was created by Christopher Wheeldon for the Vail International Dance Festival in 2012. The piece, originally created as part of a larger work titled Five Movements, Three Repeats, has become a stand-alone work of great acclaim for Wheeldon. The intricacy of Wheeldon’s partnering work brings drama to the musical remix of Dinah Washington’s “This Bitter Earth” recording and Max Richter’s “On the Nature of Daylight.”
Choreography by Gianna Reisen Music by Johann Strauss II Overture to Die Fledermaus Annen-Polka, Op. 117 Pizzicato Polka Frühlingsstimmen (Voices of Spring), Op. 410
Staged by Gianna Reisen Wei-Chung Chen, Conductor Glenda Lucena, Ballet Master Sarah Wroth, Ballet Master
Elizabeth Licata, Costume Designer Russell Long, Lighting Designer
Luke Alcaraz and Hannah Reiff Brianna Fuller, Catherine Payson, Jared Zeltner Grace Price, Sarah Wilkinson Arnon Gafni-Kane, Kale Jette Lilly Mozie, Mia Nelson, Nora Thorne, Tiffany Yang Ellynn Barral Floc’h, Jonah Braun, Luke Derksen, Stella Fraser, Tobias Mattingly, Elly O’Connell, Josh Page, Ella Snavely, Delaine Tyler, Mia Vinick, Rebekah WolfsonKilayko, Keiran Wood
Gianna Reisen has a knack for using the medium of dance to paint the music of her ballets across the stage. This is her second world premiere for IU Jacobs Ballet Theater. This ballet was created to commemorate the two-hundredth birthday of Johann Strauss II. In creating the work, Reisen encouraged the dancers to move their bodies as much as possible, expressing the fun of ballet and the joy of Strauss’s music.
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