Chicago's Auditorium Theatre Celebrates 50 Years With Some of Ballet's Best

October 26, 2017

If you’ll be in the Chicago area next month, the historic Auditorium Theatre is putting together a one-night-only performance you don’t want to miss. The event is in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the theater’s reopening in 1967, which featured a performance of George Balanchine’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream by former New York City Ballet principals Suzanne Farrell and Edward Villella. With Farrell and Villella returning to the theater as guests, the November 12th program will include a mixed repertory performed by dancers from companies including American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, The Joffrey Ballet, The Washington Ballet, The Suzanne Farrell Ballet, Vienna State Ballet and Dutch National Ballet.

The Auditorium Theatre in Chicago from its 1967 opening. Photo by Richard Nickel, courtesy Auditorium Theatre.

Here’s what we know about the star-studded lineup:

Daniil Simkin (American Ballet Theatre) – Les Bourgeois by Ben Van Cauwenbergh

Daniil Simkin and Maria Kochetkova (American Ballet Theatre) – Pas de deux from Don Quixote

Solomon Dumas (Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater) – Takademe by Robert Battle

• Hubbard Street Dance Chicago – Solo Echo by Crystal Pite

Victoria Jaiani and Temur Suluashvili (The Joffrey Ballet) – Pas de deux from Bells by Yuri Possokhov

Todd Burnsed and Nicole Loizides (MOMIX) – Millenium Skiva by Moses Pendleton

Megan Fairchild and Daniel Ulbricht (New York City Ballet) – Tarantella by George Balanchine

Elena d’Amario (Parsons Dance) – Caught by David Parsons

Michael Cook and Natalia Magnicaballi (The Suzanne Farrell Ballet) – Meditation by George Balanchine

Liudmila Konovalova (Vienna State Ballet) – The Swan in the style of Anna Pavlova

Brooklyn Mack (The Washington Ballet) and Koto Ishihara (San Francisco Ballet) – Pas de deux from Diana and Acteon

We’ve also been promised performances by Dutch National Ballet and the Youth America Grand Prix.

Stay tuned for more updates or check out the information on their site.