Christopher Wheeldon Premiere |
Christopher Wheeldon gained widespread recognition during his time as the Company’s first-ever Resident Choreographer. Striving to broaden the scope of classical ballet by emphasizing innovation through collaboration, Wheeldon adds to his extensive repertoire, choreographing Alberto Ginastera’s lost score Estancia. Originally commissioned by Co-Founder Lincoln Kirstein during a tour of South America by NYCB precursor American Ballet Caravan, the company disbanded before Estancia could be staged by Balanchine.
May 29 (World Premiere at 8 PM), June 1, 4, 6, 11
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Score by Alberto Ginastera
Scenic design by Santiago Calatrava
Costume design by Carlos Campos
Lighting design by Mark Stanley
Christopher Wheeldon (b. 1973), a former soloist with New York City Ballet, retired from dancing in May 2000. Wheeldon was born in Somerset, England. He joined The Royal Ballet in 1991 and, that same year, he won the Gold Medal at the Prix de Lausanne competition. In 1993, he was invited to become a member of New York City Ballet’s corps de ballet. He has choreographed works for New York City Ballet, Boston Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, The Royal Ballet, The Royal Ballet School, and the School of American Ballet, among others. His work may be seen in the 2000 feature film Center Stage. He also choreographed the 2002 Broadway production of The Sweet Smell of Success, directed by Nicholas Hytner, with music by Marvin Hamlisch. Mr. Wheeldon became New York City Ballet’s first Resident Choreographer in May 2001 and held the position until 2008 when he stepped down to pursue his own company, Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company. In 2007, Mr. Wheeldon choreographed Elsinore to the music of Arvo Pärt for the Bolshoi Ballet. His latest work for NYCB, Rococo Variations, premiered in February 2008.
Alberto Ginastera (1916–1983), an Argentinean composer, studied at the National Conservatory (1936–38) and made an early reputation with his ballet Panambí(1940). Another nationalist ballet, Estancia, followed in 1941, when he was also appointed to the staff of the National Conservatory. During an extended visit to the United States of America (1945–47), he attended Aaron Copland’s courses at Tanglewood. Thereafter his life was divided between Argentina and abroad, his travels sometimes necessitated by changes of government. In 1971, he settled in Geneva, Switzerland.
Until the mid-1950s his music was essentially nationalist in a manner comparable with Bartók, Falla, and Stravinsky, but he moved towards an atonal expressionism that has links with Berg and Penderecki: this made possible his late emergence as a composer of highly charged opera in which magic and fantastic elements featured prominently (Don Rodrigo, 1964; Bomarzo, 1967; Beatrix Cenci, 1971). Other works include two piano concertos (1961, 1972), the Cantata para América mágica for soprano and percussion (1960), and three string quartets (1948, 1958, and 1973).
