Full Press Release
THIS FALL SAN FRANCISCO BALLET MAKES ITS THIRD VISIT TO LONDON WITH AN ENGAGEMENT AT SADLER'S WELLS THEATRE September 20-25, 2004
SAN FRANCISCO, Friday, May 14, 2004-San Francisco Ballet has announced it will perform at London's Sadler's Wells Theatre from September 20 to 25, as part of its 2004 tour schedule. Over six days and seven performances, the Company will present three mixed-repertory programs that include four U.K. premieres and one London premiere. San Francisco Ballet last performed in London at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in August 2001, and at Sadler's Wells Theatre in 1999. Further tour engagements for 2004 to be announced.
San Francisco Ballet in London From September 20 through 25, the Company will perform three programs in alternating repertory at Sadler's Wells Theatre in London.
Program I, which will be performed September 20 and 23 (both performances at 7:30 p.m.), includes George Balanchine's Square Dance; the London premiere of Christopher Wheeldon's Continuum; and the U.K. premiere of Bolshoi Ballet Artistic Director Alexei Ratmansky's Le Carnaval des Animaux. Balanchine's Square Dance features a fusion of American folk dance and classical ballet and was first performed by San Francisco Ballet in March 2004 during the Company's two-week Balanchine Festival. Set to the music of Antonio Vivaldi and Arcangelo Corelli, the work for seven couples was premiered by New York City Ballet in 1957. Choreographed by New York City Ballet Resident Choreographer Christopher Wheeldon, Continuum premiered during San Francisco Ballet's 2002 Repertory Season, and is set to, and inspired by, the piano music of György Ligeti. The innovative work features four couples. Alexei Ratmansky's Le Carnaval des Animaux is set to, and named after, Camille Saint-Saëns' 1886 musical composition, and brings to life a menagerie of carnival animals through dance.
Program II, which will be performed September 21 and 24 (both performances at 7:30 p.m.), includes Balanchine's Ballo della Regina and The Four Temperaments, as well as the U.K. premieres of San Francisco Ballet Artistic Director Helgi Tomasson's Concerto Grosso and San Francisco Ballet Principal Dancer and Choreographer Yuri Possokhov's Study in Motion. Balanchine's Ballo della Regina was originally choreographed for New York City Ballet in 1978 and last performed by San Francisco Ballet in 2003. Set to the Act III ballet music from Giuseppe Verdi's opera Don Carlos, the work is a tour de force, characterized by the quick, sharp footwork of the ballet's female principal ballerina. One of Balanchine's earliest experimental works, The Four Temperaments was first performed by Ballet Society, the forerunner of New York City Ballet, in 1946. The abstract ballet is set to the music of Paul Hindemith, and is based on the ancient notion that humans are made up of four different humors or temperaments: melancholic, sanguinic, phlegmatic, and choleric, which are associated with the four elements: earth, air, water, and fire. Tomasson's Concerto Grosso, which premiered on the Company's 2003 Gala, is a virtuoso 12-minute work for five men. Described as "ravishing" by the San Francisco Chronicle, the work is set to the music of Francesco Geminiani. Possokhov's Study in Motion is set to the music of Russian composer Alexander Scriabin, and was hailed by the San Francisco Chronicle as a "stunning work" when it debuted during San Francisco Ballet's 2004 Repertory Season. Possokhov has created three works for San Francisco Ballet, including Magrittomania, which was performed on the Company's last tour to London in 2001. In addition, he co-staged the full-length Don Quixote with Helgi Tomasson for the 2003 Repertory Season.
Program III, which will be performed September 22 and 25 (Sept. 22 at 7:30 p.m.; Sept. 25 at 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.), will feature Balanchine's Allegro Brillante; the pas de trois from Natalia Makarova's staging of Paquita; the U.K. premiere of Helgi Tomasson's critically acclaimed 7 for Eight; and a work to be announced. Balanchine's Allegro Brillante, set to Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 3, Op. 75, was premiered by New York City Ballet in 1956. The 13-minute work epitomizes Russian romanticism and was last performed by San Francisco Ballet on tour at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in fall 2003. The pas de trois from Paquita features an excerpt from the critically acclaimed staging by Makarova, set to the music of Ludwig Minkus, with original choreography by Marius Petipa. Set to the music of Johann Sebastian Bach, Tomasson's 7 for Eight was first performed in February 2004. Upon its premiere, the San Francisco Chronicle proclaimed, "7 for Eight is a dance dedicated to pure movement and even purer passion." For the September 25 matinee performance, Ratmansky's Le Carnaval des Animaux will replace the work to be announced on Program III.
Funding San Francisco Ballet's London Tour is made possible by the Stephen and Margaret Gill Family Foundation, Chris and Warren Hellman, Cecilia and Jim Herbert, and Kenneth Rainin. San Francisco Ballet is supported, in part, by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, and Grants for the Arts. San Francisco Ballet gratefully acknowledges the past leadership support of the California Arts Council, a state agency.
San Francisco Ballet As America's first professional ballet company, San Francisco Ballet has enjoyed a long and rich tradition of artistic "firsts" since its founding in 1933, performing the first American productions of Swan Lake and Nutcracker, as well as the first twentieth-century American Coppélia. A lively, vital ensemble, San Francisco Ballet is one of the three largest ballet companies in the United States. Since its early years under the direction of American dance pioneers and brothers, Lew, Willam, and Harold Christensen, San Francisco Ballet now presents more than one hundred performances annually, both locally and internationally. Under the direction of Helgi Tomasson since 1985, the Company has achieved an international reputation as one of the preeminent ballet companies in America. By commissioning new works by some of today's most sought-after choreographers, giving rise to young talent, acquiring existing works by master choreographers, and introducing new interpretations of classic full-length productions, Tomasson has created a sophisticated, diverse international repertory that offers powerful entertainment for all audiences.
* * *
SAN FRANCISCO BALLET 2004 TOUR SCHEDULE TO DATE
SADLER'S WELLS THEATRE
London, England
September 20-25, 2004
Program I-September 20 & 23 at 7:30 p.m.
Square Dance (Balanchine)
Continuum (Wheeldon)
Le Carnaval des Animaux (Ratmansky)
Program II-September 21 & 24 at 7:30 p.m.
Ballo della Regina (Balanchine)
Concerto Grosso (Tomasson)
Study in Motion (Possokhov)
The Four Temperaments (Balanchine)
Program III-September 22 at 7:30 p.m./September 25 at 2:30 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.
Allegro Brillante (Balanchine)
Paquita Pas de Trois (Makarova after Petipa)
7 for Eight (Tomasson)
TBA*
Le Carnaval des Animaux (Ratmansky)**
*September 22 & 25 evening performances
**September 25 matinee performance
Schedule and programming subject to change.
For updated touring information, visit
www.sfballet.org.
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