New York City Ballet’s Presents New York Debut of Thomas Adès’s Concentric Paths in World Premiere of New Ballet by Wayne McGregor (May 14)

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As part of New York City Ballet’s “Architecture of Dance – New Choreography and Music Festival”

On Thursday, April 29, New York City Ballet opened its 2010 spring season with the inaugural performance of the “Architecture of Dance – New Choreography and Music Festival.” The evening featured two world premieres beginning with Benjamin Millepied’s Why am I not where you are, choreographed to The Lost Dancer, a “splendid commissioned” work (Village Voice) by French composer Thierry Escaich. Alexei Ratmansky’s Namouna, A Grand Divertissement, was the second work on the program, choreographed to Édouard Lalo’s iconic score, Namouna. The premieres continue on May 14 when Thomas Adès’s “eloquent” (Los Angeles Times) violin concerto, Concentric Paths, receives its New York debut at the world premiere of a new ballet by Wayne McGregor.

Renowned as both composer and performer, Britain’s Thomas Adès works regularly with the world’s leading orchestras, opera companies, and festivals. In September 2005 he directed violinist Anthony Marwood and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe in premiere performances of Concentric Paths at the Berliner Festspiele and London’s BBC Proms. An EMI disc of the work, with the same forces, was issued in March. Now the New York City Ballet presents Concentric Paths with choreography by Adès’s compatriot Wayne McGregor, the resident choreographer of London’s Royal Ballet, and NYCB co-concertmaster Kurt Nikkanen as soloist. The new ballet will be McGregor’s first work for NYCB, and will also mark the first time that he has created an original piece for an American company.

To celebrate the company’s long tradition of commissioning new music, which dates back to George Balanchine’s collaborations with Stravinsky and Hindemith, four new scores were commissioned for “Architecture of Dance.” Those by Jay Greenberg and Bruno Moretti will receive world premieres in June, as Escaich’s did in April, and Esa-Pekka Salonen’s powerful Violin Concerto will have its New York premiere, with the composer conducting and the concerto’s dedicatee Leila Josefowicz as soloist, on June 22. All seven of the ballets in “Architecture of Dance” are world premieres, with new choreography by Melissa Barak, Mauro Bigonzetti, Peter Martins, and Christopher Wheeldon, as well as by Millepied, Ratmansky, and McGregor. Five of the ballets – including all four of those with new music – feature designs by preeminent architect Santiago Calatrava. Besides the festival, New York City Ballet’s 2010 spring season, which runs through June 27 at Lincoln Center’s David H. Koch Theater, pays tribute to the company’s extraordinary repertory, with 29 performances of ballets by founding choreographers Balanchine and Jerome Robbins.

“Architecture of Dance”: the seven world-premiere ballets

Commissioned score by Thierry Escaich; new ballet by Benjamin Millepied
Sat, May 22 at 2pm and 8pm
Wed, May 26 at 7:30pm
Thurs, May 27 at 8pm
Thurs, June 3 at 8pm

Score by Édouard Lalo; new ballet by Alexei Ratmansky
Wed, May 12 at 7:30pm

Score by Thomas Adès; new ballet by Wayne McGregor
World premiere: Friday, May 14 at 8pm
Sat, May 15 at 8pm
Tues, May 18 at 7:30pm
Thurs, May 20 at 8pm
Fri, May 21 at 8pm

Score by Alberto Ginastera; new ballet by Christopher Wheeldon
World premiere: Saturday, May 29 at 8pm
Tues, June 1 at 7:30pm
Fri, June 4 at 8pm
Sun, June 6 at 3pm
Fri, June 11 at 8pm

Commissioned score by Jay Greenberg; new ballet by Melissa Barak
World premiere: Saturday, June 5 at 8pm
Wed, June 9 at 7:30pm
Sun, June 13 at 3pm
Thurs, June 24 at 8pm

Commissioned score by Bruno Moretti; new ballet by Mauro Bigonzetti
World premiere: Thursday, June 10 at 8pm
Sat, June 12 at 2pm and 8pm
Fri, June 18 at 8pm
Sat, June 19 at 2pm

Commissioned score by Esa-Pekka Salonen; new ballet by Peter Martins
World premiere: Tuesday, June 22 at 7:30pm
Wed, June 23 at 7:30pm
Sat, June 26 at 2pm and 8pm

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