New York City Ballet will open its annual season at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center on Wednesday, July 5. Following the engagement at Saratoga, the Company will travel to Scotland for a week of performances at the Edinburgh International Festival, immediately followed by performances in Osaka and Tokyo, Japan.
The Company’s summer home, the Saratoga Performing Arts Center has played host to New York City Ballet every year since 1966. This year the Company will open its three-week season with one week of Peter Martins’ full-length staging of The Sleeping Beauty, followed by two weeks of repertory performances.
On Monday, August 14, New York City Ballet will begin a one-week engagement at the Edinburgh Playhouse as part of the 2000 Edinburgh International Festival. This will mark the first time that the Company has performed in Edinburgh since 1967, and the first time that the Company has performed in the U.K. in 11 years.
Following the performances in Edinburgh the company will travel to Osaka, Japan for one performance on August 23 at Osaka Festival Hall, followed by four performances in Tokyo, from August 25 through August 27 at Orchard Hall. New York City Ballet last performed in Japan in 1988.
For program information for Saratoga Springs, Edinburgh, Osaka and Tokyo, see the attached program schedules.
In addition to the performances in Scotland and Japan, the Company will also conduct several educational outreach programs. In Scotland, former New York City Ballet dancer Zippora Karz and NYCB Education Department Teaching Artist David Healey have already completed three weeks of workshops for students, ages 11 to 14, exploring traditions and innovations in dance and music from Medieval times to the present. The NYCB workshops, which took place from June 5 through June 23, were conducted at schools and arts centers in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Stirling, East Lothian and West Lothian, Scotland.
In Japan, choreographer Richard Tanner, accompanied by School of American Ballet students Erin Ackert and Julia Cherlow, will conduct four master classes on Saturday, July 8 and Sunday, July 9 emphasizing the teaching Style and Technique of George Balanchine. More than 100 advanced students from ballet schools in the Tokyo area will be invited to attend the master classes, which will take place in the rehearsal studio at Orchard Hall. In addition, from July 10 through 15, the Company will present five family programs called The Music and Movement of New York City Ballet. These programs will be led by Richard Tanner and Ann Ditmars, from the NYCB Education Department, and will feature two students from the School of American Ballet. The family programs will also take place in the rehearsal studio at Orchard Hall and will be open to the public.
New York City Ballet’s 2000/2001 season will begin on Tuesday, November 21 with the Company’s annual Opening Night Gala at the New York State Theater, followed by George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker, from Friday, November 24 through Sunday, December 31.
New York City Ballet has received major support for the performances and associated education programs in Japan from The Freeman Foundation. Additional generous support is provided by the Japan-United States Friendship Commission.
