Louisville Ballet returns to the stage to celebrate 70 years of making moving art.
The Company celebrates 70 years of making moving art by welcoming audiences back to experience five in-person, innovative ballet productions, starting November 2021.
LOUISVILLE, KY, Thursday, June 17, 2021 – Louisville Ballet is thrilled to announce the Company’s return to live performances for its 2021/2022 70th Anniversary Season. Opening with an updated version of Artistic Director Robert Curran’s original, futuristic “Swan Lake,” featuring iconic works by American ballet luminaries George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins, and with two world premieres that include a reimagined “Sleeping Beauty” by Resident Choreographer Adam Hougland, Louisville Ballet’s 70th Anniversary Season once again demonstrates the Company’s depth of artistic talent, collaborative spirit, commitment to the artform, and willingness to push its creative boundaries toward innovation and growth.
Additional highlights also include the return of Louisville Ballet’s holiday favorite, “The Brown-Forman Nutcracker,” a world-premiere piece created in collaboration with with Louisville-based jazz musician and composer, Dick Sisto, and the community favorite, in-studio production, “ChorShow,” created by and for Louisville Ballet Artists.
“As one of the oldest, continuously operating ballet companies in the country, I’m incredibly proud that we are reaching this milestone — especially as we emerge from an historically challenging time,” explains Robert Curran.
“I’ll be entering my eighth year as Artistic Director knowing that while this Company’s resilience and creativity have been put to the test, we’ve been transformed by the incredible support we’ve received from our community and friends, both next door and across the globe. The connections we’ve found and maintained through this past year’s entirely distant, digital season have grown and sustained us. I am so eager to offer up the gift of our 70th Anniversary and the invitation to celebrate Louisville Ballet with us, in-person, by experiencing our vital, dynamic 2021/2022 Season of performances.”
2021/2022 Season subscriptions are available for purchase now via the Louisville Ballet website.
Single ticket on-sale dates will be announced soon.
Louisville Ballet’s 70th Anniversary Season*
SWAN LAKE
November 11-13, 2021 | The Brown Theatre
Choreography by Robert Curran | Music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Featuring a scenic environment created with laser technology, transporting audiences to a futuristic world, this original production premiered in 2016. Working with original laser scenic designers, Ryan Daly and Garrett Crabtree, and with costume designer Tiffany Woodard, this Season’s “Swan Lake” includes updated sets and costumes that challenge concepts of light and dark, uniformity, and the meanings we attach to both.
THE BROWN-FORMAN NUTCRACKER
December 11-23, 2021 | Whitney Hall, Kentucky Center
Choreography by Val Caniparoli | Music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
This Louisville Ballet holiday classic returns to the stage, bringing back Sugar Plum Fairy magic to delight audiences of all ages.
CHORSHOW
January 12-16, 2022 | Louisville Ballet Studios
This community favorite production features new works by Guest Choreographer Yoshito Sakuraba and Louisville Ballet Artists, performed inside Louisville Ballet’s Main Street Studios.
SPOTLIGHT SERIES: IMPRESSIONISM TO JAZZ
March 3-5, 2022 | The Brown Theatre
Launching Louisville Ballet’s new mixed repertory Spotlight Series by marking the musical connections between Impressionism and Jazz with iconic American ballet works combined with an exciting world premiere, featuring music by Louisville-based Jazz musician and composer, Dick Sisto.
Emeralds
Choreography by George Balanchine
Music: “Pelléas et Mélisande” + “Shylock” by Gabriel Fauré
In G Major
Choreography by Jerome Robbins
Music: “Piano Concerto in G Major” by Maurice Ravel
World Premiere Work
With Music by Louisville-based Jazz Composer and Musician, Dick Sisto
SLEEPING BEAUTY
March 31- April 2, 2022 | The Brown Theatre
World Premiere
Choreography by Adam Hougland | Music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Working alongside frequent collaborator and scenic designer Marion Williams, Louisville Ballet Resident Choreographer Adam Hougland brings a vibrant, reimagined vision to this ballet classic.
*More information about the 2021/2022 70th Anniversary Season, including details about Company and Studio Company Artists, collaborating artists, and choreographers will be announced in early fall 2021.
ABOUT LOUISVILLE BALLET
Louisville Ballet makes moving art that respects tradition, encourages innovation, and fosters life-long learning. We inspire connection, conversation and a profound sense of community, by striving for bold collaborations, by nurturing the next generation of artists, by celebrating diversity, and by creating access for all. With a vision currently led by Artistic Director Robert Curran, Louisville Ballet is committed to boldly and beautifully communicating artistic stories both classic and new. We exist to move, evoke emotion, provoke thought, challenge perceptions, and to connect. We are artists, athletes, activists, inventors, and inspirers. Louisville Ballet has been one of the nation’s leading regional ballet companies since 1952. As the Official State Ballet of Kentucky, Louisville Ballet has worked with some of ballet’s brightest lights including Mikhail Baryshnikov, Twyla Tharp, and Wendy Whelan, performed for tens of thousands of people, collaborated with local artists, and reached over 20,000 students throughout the Commonwealth and with educational programs annually.
For more information about Louisville Ballet’s 2021/2022 70th Anniversary Season, including scheduling interviews, please contact Director of Marketing, Natalie Harris at nharris@louisvilleballet.org.