SAN FRANCISCO BALLET ANNOUNCES PROGRAMMING FOR
FALL 2008 AMERICAN TOUR WITH ENGAGEMENTS IN CHICAGO, NEW YORK, COSTA MESA, CA, AND WASHINGTON, D.C.
San Francisco Ballet—America’s Oldest Professional Ballet Company—Embarks on a Four-city American Tour as Part of Its Year-long 75th Anniversary Celebration
SAN FRANCISCO, CA, Tuesday, June 10, 2008—In fall 2008, as part of its 75th Anniversary Celebration, San Francisco Ballet–America’s oldest professional ballet company–will embark on a four-city national tour with 30 performances total. The American Tour will include prestigious engagements at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance, Millennium Park, in Chicago (September 16–21); New York City Center in New York (October 10–18); Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa, California (November 11–16); and The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. (November 25–30).
Much of the tour’s mixed-repertory programming will feature works from the Company’s acclaimed New Works Festival held in spring 2008. As the culmination of San Francisco Ballet’s recent 75th Anniversary Repertory Season, the festival featured 10 new works by 1o renowned choreographers that premiered over three consecutive evenings.
San Francisco Ballet at 75: The American Tour
San Francisco Ballet will kick off the tour with seven performances over six days at the Harris Theater in Chicago (September 16–21), marking the first full-Company engagement in Chicago in over two decades. For its Chicago engagement, San Francisco Ballet will perform two mixed-repertory programs of three works each. Additionally, in honor of the fifth anniversary of the Harris Theater, San Francisco Ballet will perform a special one-time-only gala program for the Harris Theater’s Fifth Anniversary Celebration on September 18. This engagement includes a total of six Chicago premieres. Program A includes the Chicago premieres of Helgi Tomasson’s The Fifth Season, Christopher Wheeldon’s Within the Golden Hour, and Jorma Elo’s Double Evil, and will be performed at 7:30pm on September 16 and 19, and at 1:30pm on September 20. Program B, featuring the Chicago premieres of Tomasson’s On a Theme of Paganini, Mark Morris’ Joyride, and Yuri Possokhov’s Fusion, will be performed at 7:30pm on September 17 and 20, and at 1:30pm on September 21. The gala at 6:30pm on September 18 will include Possokhov’s Fusion, Tomasson’s Concerto Grosso, and two additional works to be announced.
Over eight days and nine performances (October 10–18) at New York City Center, the Company will present three mixed-repertory programs that include seven New York premieres. San Francisco Ballet last performed in New York in July 2006, as part of the Lincoln Center Festival, and most recently performed at City Center in 2002. Program A, which features George Balanchine’s Divertimento No. 15 and the New York premieres of Wheeldon’s Within the Golden Hour and Possokhov’s Fusion, will be performed at 8pm on October 10 and 18, and at 7:30pm on October 15. Program B features the New York premieres of Tomasson’s The Fifth Season and Morris’ Joyride, as well as Balanchine’s The Four Temperaments, and will be performed on October 11 at 8pm, October 12 at 3pm, and October 16 at 7:30pm. Program C will be performed on October 14 at 7:30pm, October 17 at 8pm, and October 18 at 2pm, and includes the New York premieres of Tomasson’s On a Theme of Paganini, Val Caniparoli’s Ibsen’s House, and Elo’s Double Evil.
The third engagement of the American Tour will be at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa, California (November 11–16) and includes five Southern California premieres. San Francisco Ballet will present two mixed-repertory programs over six days and seven performances. The Company last performed in Southern California at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles in 2003, and most recently performed at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in 2002. Program A will be performed on November 11, 13, and 15 at 7:30pm and on November 16 at 2pm and includes the Southern California premieres of Possokhov’s Fusion and Wheeldon’s Within the Golden Hour, along with Balanchine’s The Four Temperaments. Program B will be performed on November 12 and 14 at 7:30pm and on November 15 at 2pm, and includes the Southern California premieres of Tomasson’s The Fifth Season, Morris’ Joyride, and Elo’s Double Evil.
The American Tour concludes with an engagement at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. (November 25–30) that includes two Washington, D.C. premieres. The Company will present a mixed-repertory program, Program A, as well as the full-length production of Helgi Tomasson’s Giselle, over five days and seven performances. Program A, a mixed-repertory program of three works, will be performed on November 25 and 26 at 7:30pm and includes the Washington, D.C. premieres of Morris’ Joyride and Wheeldon’s Within the Golden Hour, as well as Balanchine’s The Four Temperaments. Tomasson’s full-length classic Giselle, which the San Francisco Chronicle hailed as “Tomasson’s finest achievement,” will be performed on November 28, 29, and 30 at 7:30pm and on November 29 and 30 at 1:30pm. San Francisco Ballet last performed at The Kennedy Center in 2000.