As Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre eyes its 48th season, don’t expect it to coast into its golden years.
All performances are at Benedum Center, Downtown, unless otherwise noted.
“Dracula,” Oct. 27-29
“The Nutcracker,” Dec. 1-27
“Swan Lake” with PBT Orchestra, Feb. 16-25, 2018
“Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre: New Works,” March 16-25, 2018, at the August Wilson Center for African American Culture, Downtown.
“UPMC presents West Side Story Suite” and “In the Night,” May 4-6, 2018
Tickets: Subscriptions are on sale at pbt.org or 412-454-9107. Season ticket packages start at $81 and include subscriber benefits, such as Downtown restaurant discounts and savings on community division fitness and dance classes at the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School. Single tickets will be available starting Aug. 21 at pbt.org, 412-456-6666 or the Box Office at Theater Square, Downtown.
For its 2017-18 lineup, the company plans to stretch its artists with a mix of classical masterworks and PBT premieres by legendary choreographer Jerome Robbins. It will also showcase its own crop of budding choreographers in a mixed repertory program featuring new works by company dancers.
At the heart of the season will be a two-weekend run of “Swan Lake” (Feb. 16-25, 2018) accompanied by the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre Orchestra. At 4:30 p.m. today, PBT will reveal more about the new season in a live video feed on its Facebook page.
“Our art form lives for exactly the kind of program that’s going on next year -— the things that are new and the things that are your library of classics,” says artistic director Terrence Orr. “It makes it exciting.”
The season opens at Benedum Center in October with a more recent classic, Ben Stevenson’s “Dracula” with a Franz Liszt score. Just in time for Halloween, dancers will bring Bram Stoker’s blood-sucking Gothic novel to life with pyrotechnics, levitation and high-flying fantasy. Premiered by Houston Ballet in 1997, the production was last staged here in 2011 for Valentine’s Day as a dark love story.
Light-hearted holiday fun follows in December with 25 performances of Mr. Orr’s annual production of “The Nutcracker,” danced to the traditional Tchaikovsky score. His adaptation of E.T.A. Hoffman’s 1816 tale of a young girl’s favorite toy coming to life is sprinkled with references to Pittsburgh places and people. On the heels of a strong run in 2016, Mr. Orr is already mulling over ways to make the show more rich and enchanting, he says.
Next February, PBT will revive “Swan Lake,” which was last performed in 2014. This time, the quintessential story of good, evil and love ever after will be presented with new scenery drawn by Peter Farmer, a famed designer and longtime PBT collaborator who died last month. Another highlight: two weekends of live Tchaikovsky music performed by the PBT Orchestra. Since its debut by the Imperial Russian Ballet (now the Mariinsky Ballet) in 1895, Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov’s choreography has stood the test of time thanks to exquisite technical demands and entrancing roles, such as the dueling personalities of the Odette/Odile female lead.
But PBT isn’t just about dynamic classics. Grooming the next generation of choreographers is a priority for Mr. Orr. Last year, a piece by principal Yoshiaki Nakano was included in the mainstage season. Next March, principals Amanda Cochrane, Julia Erickson and Mr. Nakano along with the corps de ballet’s William Moore and Cooper Verona will create dances for “Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre: New Works” at the August Wilson Center for African American Culture, Downtown.
“We feel like they’re getting good enough that I really want to present them,” Mr. Orr says.
PBT will cap its 2017-18 season next April with its premiere of “West Side Story Suite” and “In the Night,” an ambitious program made possible with support from UPMC. The former is a sampling of songs and dances from the full-length musical and film, choreographed by Mr. Robbins. Dancers will even sing excerpts of the music by composer Leonard Bernstein, with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.
For “In the Night,” a pas de deux for three couples danced to four Chopin nocturnes explores the layers of love in relationships. The performances will mark special anniversaries for Mr. Robbins and Mr. Bernstein, both of whom would have turned 100 years old next year, Mr. Orr says.
Next season’s programming is meant to build upon the progress PBT has seen so far this season. For instance, last fall it debuted its new production of “Giselle” and expanded its footprint in the Strip District with the new Byham Center for Dance. Now it’s preparing for a two-weekend run of Derek Deane’s “Alice in Wonderland” and a collaboration with Dance Theatre of Harlem.
“We have many dancers who want to come here because the company has developed a reputation. Because of that we have the best company we’ve ever had,” Mr. Orr says. “I think that will continue to grow as long as we’re able to continue doing interesting repertoire.”
Sara Bauknecht: sbauknecht@post-gazette.com or on Twitter and Instagram @SaraB_PG.
First Published: February 1, 2017, 5:00 a.m.
