Onstage This Week: New Ratmansky at ABT, Pennsylvania Ballet Presents Restaged "La Bayadère," and More!

March 1, 2020

Wonder what’s going on in ballet this week? We’ve rounded up some highlights.

ABT Debuts Full-Length Ballet, “Of Love and Rage”

American Ballet Theatre’s newest full-length story ballet hits the stage this week. The company presents Of Love and Rage, choreographed by artist in residence Alexei Ratmansky, at Costa Mesa’s Segerstrom Center for the Arts March 5–8. The ballet is based on Chariton’s Callirhoe, the oldest surviving romantic novel in Western literature, dating back to the first century AD. The opening night cast features our Winter cover stars—Aran Bell and Catherine Hurlin—in the leading roles. Catch a glimpse of them in rehearsal above, and read more about the new production here.

Pennsylvania Ballet Presents a New Restaging of La Bayadère

March 5–15
, Pennsylvania Ballet presents the world premiere of artistic director Angel Corella’s restaging of La Bayadère. Corella approached the Petipa classic carefully, bringing in Pallabi Chakravorty, a professor of Indian dance, to address the ballet’s roots. Above, hear Chakravorty discuss her work with the company.

Royal Ballet of Flanders Tours to the Big Apple

Royal Ballet of Flanders, also known as Ballet Vlaanderen, makes its Joyce Theater debut March 3–7. The Belgian company brings three contemporary works to New York City in celebration of its 50th anniversary: Akram Khan’s Kaash, artistic director Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui’s Faun, inspired by Vaslav Nijisnky’s famous solo, and Crystal Pite’s Ten Duets on a Theme of Rescue.

“A Midsummer Night’s Dream” Returns to San Francisco Ballet After 35 Years

The fourth program of San Francisco Ballet’s 2020 season brings back a humorous classic. March 6–15, audiences can see George Balanchine’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, set to Felix Mendelssohn’s beloved score. This witty and whimsical take on Shakespeare, originally created in 1962, returns to SFB after a nearly 35-year absence.

Colorado Ballet’s Newest Work Is Based on the Board Game Clue 

Catch Colorado Ballet’s triple bill of contemporary works March 6–8 at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House. Titled Tour de Force, the program features Edwaard Liang’s Feast of the Gods, Lila York’s Celts and the world premiere of Julia Adam’s Cluedo. Featuring music by Cosmo Sheldrake, this new ballet is based on the board game Clue; check out rehearsal footage in the above video.

New Ballet Fantastique Full-Length Is Set in Ancient Ireland

Mother-daughter choreographic duo Donna and Hannah Bontrager, artistic directors of Ballet Fantastique, present their newest full-length ballet March 6–8. Dragon & the Night Queen is set in ancient Ireland, and explores magical worlds, dragons and epic battles. The ballet is set to a score by resident composer Gerry Rempel, who will play it live with Celtic rock and Irish traditional musician Eliot Grasso.

Carolina Ballet Celebrates Four Female Choreographers With Mixed Bill

Principal guest choreographer Lynne Taylor Corbett’s Boléro returns to Carolina Ballet March 5–22 on a mixed bill program celebrating female choreographers. Boléro, set to Maurice Ravel’s famed score, joins world premieres by three emerging dancemakers: Mariana Oliveira, Adriana Pierce and Carolina Ballet dancer Jenny Palmer.

Grand Rapids Ballet Presents World Premieres by Nine Company Dancers

This week, Grand Rapids Ballet gives company dancers the chance to showcase their choreographic chops. Jumpstart 2020, presented at the Peter Martin Wege Theatre March 6–8, features new works by nine artists: Yuka Oba-Muschiana, Gretchen Steimle, Adriana Wagenveld, Isaac Aoki, Nigel Tau, Matthew Wenckowski, Ednis Gomez, James Cunningham and Sophia Stefanopoulos.