This September New York City Ballet will offer its first-ever fall performances at Lincoln Center. To launch the four-week fall season, which runs at the David H. Koch Theater from September 14 through October 10, NYCB has programmed an opening week of activities designed to celebrate the occasion and welcome audiences into the theater during this new performance season.
Opening Week Activities
Throughout the entire first week of performances the lobbies, gift shops and food and beverage concessions at the David H. Koch Theater will open one hour prior to each performance, with special seating areas on the theater’s Promenade and Portico overlooking Lincoln Center’s Josie Robertson Plaza. There will also be live jazz performed by members of the NYCB Orchestra, who will play a 45-minute set on the theater’s Promenade starting one-hour prior to each performance. (The early opening hours for the lobbies, gift shops, and concessions will continue throughout the entire four-week fall season.)
“The Promenade of the David H. Koch Theater is one of New York’s great spaces and we encourage all of our audience members to come to the theater early to enjoy the wonderful surroundings and special amenities during this opening week of the fall season,” said NYCB’s Executive Director Katherine E. Brown.
The opening week kick-off will also offer audiences opportunities to get to know NYCB’s 24 Principal Dancers off the stage. Prior to all evening performances during the first week of the fall season, Principal Dancers will participate in special “Meet the Artists” discussions in the first ring of the theater’s auditorium, which will begin at 6:15 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday, and 6:45 p.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. These discussions are free for all ticket holders to that evening’s performance. During the opening week Principal Dancers will also provide special introductions from the stage at the beginning of performances, and will be the subject of an exhibition by photographer Henry Leutwyler that will be on display in the David H. Koch Theater throughout the fall season.
September 14 Performance
For the first performance on September 14 at 7:30 p.m. all tickets are priced at $50 (orchestra, first, second and third rings) and $25 (fourth ring). At the September 14 performance audiences will also be invited to take pre-performance tours of the David H. Koch Theater and enjoy a special complimentary champagne toast at the first intermission. The program for the evening will feature George Balanchine’s Serenade, the first work he created after arriving in America in the 1930s; Peter Martins’ Grazioso, set to music by Glinka and previously performed on only one occasion at NYCB’s Opening Night Gala in 2007; and Jerome Robbins’ exuberant The Four Seasons, which concludes with a dazzling tribute to autumn.
“All of us at New York City Ballet are thrilled that our new performance calendar allows us to be a part of the launch of the cultural season in New York City, and we look forward to welcoming old friends and new fans to the theater during September and October,” said NYCB’s Ballet Master in Chief Peter Martins.
See The Music
On Friday, September 17, NYCB will also inaugurate a new performance series called See the Music which will provide an inside look at NYCB’s unparalleled musical repertory and 62-piece orchestra. For each See the Music performance Peter Martins and NYCB Music Director Fayçal Karoui will introduce the program with a brief discussion, followed by the NYCB Orchestra performing an excerpt from one of the ballet scores on the program. For the first year of See the Music performances, the Company will explore some of the new works that have recently entered the NYCB repertory, beginning with Édouard Lalo’s score for Alexei Ratmansky’s Namouna, A Grand Divertissement on September 17. Additional See the Music programs will take place on September 26 at 3 p.m., January 20 at 8 p.m., February 1 at 7:30 p.m., February 19 at 2 p.m., May 25 at 7:30 p.m., and June 11 at 8 p.m.,
“In creating the many ballets that make up our repertory, George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins and numerous other choreographers have introduced the work of countless composers to our repertory, providing NYCB with an extraordinarily rich musical history,” said Martins. “The See the Music programs will provide an illuminating look at these riches, as well as a special opportunity to showcase NYCB’s wonderful orchestra.”
Children’s Workshops
For family audiences NYCB will also offer two Children’s Workshops focusing on George Balanchine’s Who Cares? during the first week of the fall season. Designed for children ages four and older, the first workshop will be held at 12:45 p.m. on Saturday, September 18, and is free for NYCB’s Family Fun subscribers, with $10 tickets available for non-subscribers (performance tickets music be purchased separately).
The second workshop will be held at 3 p.m. on Sunday, September 19, and the $25 price will include both the workshop and a performance ticket to see Who Cares?, the final ballet on NYCB’s matinee performance that afternoon. Both Children’s Workshops will take place in NYCB’s rehearsal studios in the Rose Building (165 West 65th Street) at Lincoln Center.
Tickets
For more information on the opening week of NYCB’s 2010-2011 season at Lincoln Center visit www.nycballet.com/OpeningWeek. Subscription tickets are currently available through the NYCB Subscription Office at 1-800-580-8730, and single tickets, which range in price from $35 to $135, are available through CenterCharge at 212-721-6500.
All performances take place at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center, located at 63rd Street and Columbus Avenue. For additional information on New York City Ballet visit www.nycballet.com, or call 212-870-5570.
Special Thanks
Major funding for New York City Ballet is provided by:
Joseph and Sylvia Slifka Foundation
Harriet Ford Dickenson Foundation
Mary P. Oenslager Foundation Fund of the New York Community Trust
Lincoln Center Corporate Fund
Denise Sobel and Norman Keller
The Rockefeller Foundation
Mr. and Mrs. Howard Solomon
John L. and Barbara Vogelstein
The Shubert Foundation
The Ambrose Monell Foundation
Henry and Lucy Moses Fund, Inc.
The Florence Gould Foundation
Maria-Cristina Anzola
Marlene Hess and James D. Zirin
Geoffrey C. Hughes Foundation
LuEsther T. Mertz Charitable Trust
Public support for New York City Ballet programming is provided by:
New York City Department of Cultural Affairs
National Endowment for the Arts
New York State Council on the Arts
Major support for new work is provided by:
Members of the New Combinations Fund
The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation
Rudolf Nureyev Fund for Emerging Choreographers:
Rudolf Nureyev Dance Foundation
Harriet Ford Dickenson Foundation
Joseph and Sylvia Slifka 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.
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 works by George Balanchine are supported in part by the Balanchine Production Fund, an endowment created through The Campaign for New York City Ballet.
Zagat Wine is proud sponsor of the Fall 2010 Patron Lounge.
American Airlines is New York City Ballet’s Official Airline.
