New York City Ballet’s annual Opening Night Benefit will be held on Tuesday, November 20, at 7 pm and will serve as a special one-night-only finale to the Company’s celebrations surrounding the centennial of co-founder Lincoln Kirstein’s birth.
The evening, Dancing for Lincoln: A Centennial Celebration, will feature ballets by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Peter Martins and Christopher Wheeldon, the four choreographers most closely associated with New York City Ballet, which Kirstein and Balanchine founded in 1948.
The highlight of the evening will be a special World Premiere ballet by the Company’s Ballet Master in Chief, Peter Martins, which will be set to music from Mikhail Glinka’s two great operas, A Life for the Tsar and Ruslan and Ludmilla. Glinka, who is regarded as the father of Russian classical music, was one of George Balanchine’s favorite composers.
The evening will also feature a special performance of a work that Martins created in 1993 as a birthday present for Kirstein. Also set to music from A Life for the Tsar, this pièce d’occasion features more than 150 performers from New York City Ballet and the School of American Ballet. The work was performed on only one previous occasion, the opening night of NYCB’s legendary Balanchine Celebration, which took place on Kirstein’s 86th birthday.
Kirstein (1907-1996) was one of the most influential cultural figures of the 20th century. Through his efforts, George Balanchine came to America in 1933, and together the two men created both the School of American Ballet and New York City Ballet. Kirstein served as General Director of New York City Ballet from 1948 to 1989. NYCB devoted its entire 2007 Spring Season to Kirstein’s memory, and other arts organizations throughout the city, including the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, will continue to honor Kirstein this fall.
Other highlights of the evening will include excerpts from NYCB’s production of The Sleeping Beauty, including the Rose Adagio and Balanchine’s choreography for The Garland Dance. Created by Martins in 1991, NYCB’s production of The Sleeping Beauty was initiated by, and dedicated to, Kirstein. The evening will also include excerpts from Balanchine’s rousing Western Symphony, set to traditional American music orchestrated by Hershy Kay. Christopher Wheeldon will be represented by his haunting pas de deux Liturgy, to the music of Arvo Pärt.
The evening will also feature a special sneak preview of an extraordinary new film adaptation of Jerome Robbins’ 1958 ballet N.Y. Export: Opus Jazz, which has been conceived and created by NYCB Soloists Ellen Bar and Sean Suozzi, and is currently being shot on location around New York City.
Chairmen for the evening are Candace and Frederick Beinecke, Carol Mack, Barbara and John Vogelstein, and Linda Wells.
Performance-only tickets for the Opening Night Benefit are priced from $30 to $100 and are currently available at www.nycballet.com, the New York State Theater Box Office, or through CenterCharge at 212-721-6500.
Gala tickets, which include a pre-performance cocktail reception, the performance, and a black-tie supper ball following the performance, are available by calling the NYCB Special Events Office at 212-870-5585.
The New York State Theater is located on the Lincoln Center Plaza at Columbus Ave. at 63rd St. For general information on tickets for any New York City Ballet performance, call 212-870-5570, or visit www.nycballet.com.
Major support for new work is provided by The Irene Diamond Fund and members of the New Combinations and Repertory Funds.
The creation and performance of works by Peter Martins is funded in part by an endowment gift from the Solomon family, given in loving memory of Carolyn B. Solomon.
Liturgywas made possible in part by the Geoffrey C. Hughes Foundation.
New York City Ballet's performances of ballets by George Balanchine are supported in part by the Balanchine Production Fund, an endowment created through The Campaign for New York City Ballet.
