The City Ballet of San Diego, accompanied by the City Ballet Orchestra, will perform “Balanchine and Beyond” at Spreckels Theatre on March 10-12. Artistic directors Steven and Elizabeth Wistrich offer San Diego a milestone – yet again – with performances formerly enjoyed only in major cities. Choreographed by industry legends, “Balanchine and Beyond” will present George Balanchine’s “La Source” and “Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux,” Jerome Robbins’ “Afternoon of a Faun” and Peter Martins’ “Hallelujah Junction.” The City Ballet of San Diego is in residence at the City Ballet School located in Pacific Beach. Celebrating 24 years under the direction of the Wistrich husband-and-wife team – former Boston Ballet and Stuttgart Ballet dancers – the world-class professional ballet company is a non-profit organization committed to “furthering the ballet art form.” Steven Wistrich described his dancers as professionals from the U.S., Japan, Canada, Mexico, and Russia, who spend 26 weeks of the year in San Diego dancing for a living.
“We’ve built an amazing repertoire of iconic ballets performed by dancers from all over the world based on our vision to create a world-class ballet company for the city of San Diego,” he explained. “We’re proud of our work. ‘Balanchine and Beyond’ is a milestone for our company and a major dance event for the city of San Diego.” Noted by critics for “polished, eye-catching, delightful, and highly-entertaining” productions, the company has hosted 19 George Balanchine ballets. Steven Wistrich was coached by George Balanchine – the founding artistic director of the New York City Ballet – early in his career. The City Ballet of San Diego is one of but a few companies to receive permission from The George Balanchine Trust to perform his ballets.
“The Balanchine Trust grants permission only to ballet companies they judge as artistically competent to perform Balanchine’s masterworks,” said Steve Wistrich. “George Balanchine, a true genius, is considered one of the greatest choreographers of the 20th century. We’re honored to be one of the select companies in the world allowed to dance these ballets.”
“Balanchine and Beyond” will also debut ballets by Jerome Robbins and Peter Martins. Robbins directed and choreographed the Academy Award-winning film “West Side Story” and its Broadway counterpart. He served as the co-director of the New York City Ballet with Balanchine until the time of his death. Wistrich described the Spreckels Theater as a “world-class historic theater and a wonderful venue” for a dance/ballet company. Former New York City Ballet principal dancers Eve Lawson staged “La Source,” and “Tchaikovsky Pas De Deux,” Rebecca Hirsch staged “Afternoon of a Faun” and Nilas Martins – the son of New York City Ballet artistic director Peter Martins – staged “Hallelujah Junction.” The George Balanchine Trust, the Jerome Robbins’ Trust and the New York City Ballet granted permission to the City Ballet of San Diego to perform these ballets. John Nettles will conduct the City Ballet Orchestra for each program respectively: “La Source,” choreographed in 1965, with music by Leo Delibes, and “Tchaikovsky’s Pas de Deux,” choreographed in 1960, with music by Peter Tchaikovsky; Jerome Robbins’ “Afternoon of a Faun,” choreographed in 1953, with music by Claude Debussy; and Peter Martins’ “Hallelujah Junction,” choreographed in 2001, with music by John Adams. The City Ballet of San Diego Company holds classes for children and pre-professionals by alumnus from the American Ballet Theatre, Pittsburgh Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, Atlanta Ballet, Texas Ballet Theater and The Joffrey Ballet. City Ballet’s educational programs also outreach to inner-city children. “‘Balanchine and Beyond’ is an amazing program that will be a thrilling performance,” said Wistrich. “We encourage all San Diegans to enjoy the beauty of our dancers performing dances choreographed by legends. Everyone will enjoy fabulous lighting, scenery, costumes and of course, John Nettles and the incredible City Ballet Orchestra.”
City Ballet of San Diego is partially funded by the City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture, the County of San Diego, Mandell Weiss Charitable Trust, Qualcomm, US Bank, Robert Half International. La Source George Balanchine choreographed a pas de deux from Leo Delibes’s “Sylvia” in 1960, which he then expanded into a “divertissement” in 1965. This “lovely, eye-catching and imaginative,” classic became known as “La Source.” Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux Marius Petipa, the choreographer for Tchaikovsky’s “Swan Lake” discarded portions of the ballet’s original score. Upon discovering the music in the Bolshoi Theater archives in 1960, Balanchine created his now famous pas de deux, a challenging artistic and technique-driven composition performed by two dancers. Afternoon of a Faun Created by Jerome Robbins in 1953, this contemporary pas de deux has been danced globally. The audience serves as an imaginary mirror reflecting the dancers as they watch themselves dance. Hallelujah Junction John Adams wrote this two-piano score named after a truck stop near the California-Nevada border. The ballet was originally created for the Royal Danish Ballet and is currently being danced by the New York City Ballet. Described as a “living locomotive of energy and innovation,” this ballet is the first Peter Martins’ ballet for City Ballet of San Diego. BALANCHINE AND BEYOND When: 8 p.m. March 10 and 11, 2 p.m. March 12. Where: Spreckels Theatre, 121 Broadway. Info and tickets: www.cityballet.org.