New York City Ballet’s 2009 spring repertory season will open on Tuesday, April 28 at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center with an all Balanchine program consisting of Concerto Barocco, Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux, La Valse, and Symphony in Three Movements.  The season will continue through Sunday, June 21, with performances of 40 different ballets from NYCB’s unparalleled repertory.

Highlighting the season will be three full-length ballets, George Balanchine’s Coppélia and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Peter Martins’ Romeo + Juliet, which will return to the repertory for five performances, including a nationwide Live From Lincoln Center broadcast on Thursday, May 21.

The season will also feature 37 additional ballets, including world premieres by NYCB’s Benjamin Millepied and Jiří Bubeníček, a principal dancer with the Dresden SemperOper Ballet, both of which will premiere at the Company’s Spring Gala performance on Wednesday, May 13. 

in Bordeaux, France, Millepied joined NYCB in 1995 and was promoted to principal dancer in 2002.  As a choreographer, Millepied has created works for American Ballet Theatre, the Paris Opera Ballet, the School of American Ballet Workshop, Mikhail Baryshnikov, and Grand Théâtre de Genève, among others.   Millepied’s new ballet, his first created for NYCB, will be set to Henryk Górecki’s Quasi una Fantasia.   

A Czech citizen, Bubeníček began his career with the Hamburg Ballet, and since 2006 has been a principal dancer with the Dresden SemperOper Ballet.  As a choreographer, he has created works for several European companies, including the Hamburg Ballet and the Zurich Ballet.  In the fall of 2007 and 2008, Bubeníček participated in working sessions of the New York Choreographic Institute, an affiliate of New York City Ballet.  The score for his new ballet has been composed by his twin brother Otto Bubeníček, who is a principal dancer with the Hamburg Ballet.

In addition to Coppélia and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the season will include 20 works by George Balanchine, including a major revival of Scotch Symphony, which will feature a new set design by former NYCB principal dancer, and current ballet master, Karin von Aroldingen.  Jerome Robbins will be represented by seven ballets, and the season will be rounded out with additional works by Peter Martins, Melissa Barak, Douglas Lee, Angelin Preljocaj, Alexei Ratmansky, and Christopher Wheeldon.

The 2009 spring season will also feature the return to the repertory of Martins’ full-length staging of Romeo + Juliet.  Created in 2007, and featuring some of the Company’s youngest dancers in the principal roles, the production is set to the score by Sergei Prokofiev, and features sets by the Danish painter Per Kirkeby, costumes by Kirkeby and Kirstin Lund Nielsen, and lighting by Mark Stanley.

Romeo + Juliet will be performed five times – May 15, 16, 17, 19, and 21 – with the final performance being broadcast nationwide on PBS’ Live From Lincoln Center.  This will mark the second of Martins’ full-length productions to be seen on Live From Lincoln Center, the first being a broadcast of his staging of Swan Lake, which took place in 1999.

All performances will take place at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center, which is located at Columbus Avenue and West 63rd Street.  Tickets are currently on sale for all performances, and are available at the theater’s box office, through CenterCharge at 212-721-6500, or online at www.nycballet.com.  For general information on any New York City Ballet performance, call 212-870-5570, or visit www.nycballet.com.

New York City Ballet’s programming is made possible in part by generous grants from the Joseph and Sylvia Slifka Foundation, Harriet Ford Dickenson Foundation, The Jerome Robbins Foundation, Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., Richard H. Lasdon, Denise Sobel and Norman Keller, Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, Inc., The Ambrose Monell Foundation, The Florence Gould Foundation, Geoffrey C. Hughes Foundation, LuEsther T. Mertz Charitable Trust, The New York Community Trust–Mary P. Oenslager Foundation Fund, The Starr Foundation, an anonymous gift in memory of Orton and Lucile Simons, Sue and Michael Steinberg, contributors to the Education and Repertory Funds, and public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, and the National Endowment for the Arts. 

Major support for new work is provided by The Irene Diamond Fund and members of the New Combinations Fund.

The creation of new works through New York City Ballet's Rudolf Nureyev Fund for Emerging Choreographers is made possible in part by a lead endowment gift from the Rudolf Nureyev Dance Foundation, with additional support provided by the Joseph and Sylvia Slifka Foundation and the Harriet Ford Dickenson Foundation.

New York City Ballet gratefully acknowledges the Lila Acheson and DeWitt Wallace Endowment Fund, which provides support for new work and audience development.

New York City Ballet’s musical leadership is endowed in part by the Agnes Gund and Daniel Shapiro Fund for Musical Excellence. Additional support for the New York City Ballet Orchestra and Music Director is provided by The Frank and Lydia Bergen Foundation.

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.

New York City Ballet’s performances of George Balanchine’s Concerto Barocco are endowed in part by a generous gift from Veronique and Robert W. Pittman.

New York City Ballet’s performance of works by George Balanchine are supported in part by the Balanchine Production Fund, an endowment created through The Campaign for New York City Ballet.

American Airlines is New York City Ballet’s Preferred Airline.

The 2009 Spring Season is sponsored by AKQA.