New York City Ballet’s Spring 2000 season begins on Tuesday, April 25 and continues through Sunday, June 25 at the New York State Theater. The season will include performances of 42 different ballets including works by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins and Peter Martins. Highlighting the season is New York City Ballet’s fourth installment of The Diamond Project, which will feature eight world premiere ballets.

The season will also include three special evenings in celebration of the 30th Anniversary of Dance Theatre of Harlem, which was founded by New York City Ballet alumnus Arthur Mitchell in 1969.

Other highlights of the nine-week season include two weeks of Peter Martins’ acclaimed full-length staging of Tschaikovsky’s The Sleeping Beauty, May 10 through 21. The Sleeping Beauty was last performed by New York City Ballet in the spring of 1998.

Works returning to the repertory during the Spring 2000 Repertory Season include Merce Cunningham’s Summerspace, and George Balanchine’s Donizetti Variations, Slaughter on Tenth Avenue, Robert Schumann’s "Davidsbünderlartänze," Square Dance and The Steadfast Tin Soldier.

The season will also include four performances of Twyla Tharp’s The Beethoven Seventh, which premiered during the 2000 Winter Repertory Season.

For the fourth installment of The Diamond Project, New York City Ballet will present eight world premiere ballets, featuring new works by Christopher d’Amboise, Miriam Mahdaviani, Kevin O’Day, Helgi Tomasson, Christopher Wheeldon, two ballets by Peter Martins, and a collaboration between Robert La Fosse and Robert Garland. The La Fosse/Garland ballet will be part of the Dance Theatre of Harlem Tribute program.

Created in 1992, the Diamond Project is a showcase for new work in the tradition of New York City Ballet’s rich legacy of creativity and artistic innovation. Since its inception, 30 ballets have been created as part of the Diamond Project.

The Company’s annual Spring Gala performance will take place on Wednesday, May 3 at 7:30 p.m. and will feature three Diamond Project ballets including world premieres by Peter Martins and Helgi Tomasson, as well as a new ballet by Christopher Wheeldon that will premiere earlier in the spring season.

In honor of the 30th Anniversary of Dance Theatre of Harlem, New York City Ballet will premiere a Dance Theatre of Harlem Tribute program on Thursday, May 25 at 8 p.m. The program will include a world premiere work created by New York City Ballet Principal Dancer Robert La Fosse and Dance Theatre of Harlem Resident Choreographer Robert Garland. The new work will include dancers from both New York City Ballet and Dance Theatre of Harlem.

The tribute program will also include two ballets closely associated with Dance Theatre of Harlem Artistic Director Arthur Mitchell’s career with New York City Ballet, Agon and Slaughter on Tenth Avenue. Agon will be performed by New York City Ballet with a dancer from Dance Theatre of Harlem performing the man’s role in the pas de deux. Slaughter on Tenth Avenue will also be performed by NYCB with the role of the Strip Tease Girl performed by a DTH dancer.

The Dance Theatre of Harlem Tribute program will be repeated on Saturday, May 27 at 8 p.m. and on Sunday, May 28 at 3 p.m.

Peter Martins’ full-length production of Tschaikovsky’s The Sleeping Beauty returns to the repertory from May 10 through 21. The production, which premiered in 1991, features scenery by David Mitchell, costumes by Patricia Zipprodt and lighting by Mark Stanley.

Also returning to the repertory is Merce Cunningham’s Summerspace. Created for the Merce Cunningham Dance Company in 1958, Summerspace was adapted especially for New York City Ballet in 1966. The ballet has not been performed as part of a New York City Ballet season since 1966. Members of New York City Ballet danced Summerspace for one performance only during the Merce Cunningham Dance Company’s engagement at the 1999 Lincoln Center Festival. Summerspace features a score by Morton Feldman and scenery and costumes by Robert Rauschenberg.

Spring season subscription series are on sale now by mail, through the NYCB web site at nycballet.com, or by calling the NYCB subscription office at 1-800-580-8730. Single ticket orders for the spring season made by mail or through the NYCB web site will be processed beginning March 26. Single tickets will be available by calling TicketMaster at 212-307-4100 beginning April 9, and at the New York State Theater box office beginning April 10.

New York City Ballet’s 2000 Winter Repertory season continues now through February 27 at the New York State Theater.

The New York State Theater is located on the Lincoln Center Plaza at Broadway at 63rd Street. The mailing address for the NYCB box office is New York City Ballet, New York State Theater, 20 Lincoln Center, New York, NY 10023. For information on any New York City Ballet performance call 212-870-5570.