Posted March 6, 2020
DAYTON, OH (March 4, 2020) – On Thursday, April 2, 2020 at 7:30 pm; Friday, April 3, 2020 at 8 pm; Saturday, April 4, 2020 at 8 pm; and Sunday, April 5, 2020 at 3 pm in the Victoria Theatre, Dayton Ballet is thrilled to present Innovations, the fifth and final ballet of the 2019–2020 Season of Titans.
Dayton Ballet closes its Season of Titans with a varied collection of beautiful dances, including a new work from internationally acclaimed choreographer Ma Cong, a vignette of A Streetcar Named Desire, and much more in a program called Innovations.
Dayton Ballet is thrilled to present an exciting ballet entitled Calling from internationally acclaimed choreographer Ma Cong. Resident choreographer of Tulsa Ballet, Ma Cong hails from National Ballet of China and Beijing Dance Academy. He has won Pointe Magazine’s Editor’s Choice Award, and he has been named one of the 25 choreographers to watch by Dance Magazine. He brings his innovative work to Dayton Ballet for the first time with Calling, a modern piece for six dancers. The work is set to the music of Goran Bregović, a Yugoslav musician of Serbian and Croatian decent whose music and life inspired the piece, combined with the music of Kroke, a Polish musical group. The passionate voice in the Mediterranean music lends itself to the playful and energetic movement of the piece, which is filled with delicate partnering.
Choreographer Penny Saunders returns to Dayton Ballet with a poignant piece called Berceuse, from the French lullaby of the same name. A simple duet of cello and piano portrays the fullness of melancholy music that constitutes this touching lullaby from the French opera Jocelyn. One couple will take the stage for an intimate and emotional pas de deux. Saunders’ ballet Ghost Light was featured on Dayton Ballet’s autumn repertory program Phantom Dances, and Dayton Ballet is excited to present this additional work of hers on this spring program.
In a celebration of the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth, the full company of Dayton Ballet dancers will dance the third movement of Beethoven’s Ninth, the Season Opening Spectacular performance from September 2018. Artistic Director Karen Russo Burke presents an elegant neoclassical ballet set to one of the finest pieces of music ever composed. New costumes for this ballet will be designed and built by Dayton Ballet’s creative and talented Wardrobe Supervisor Lyn Baudendistel.
Dayton Ballet is excited to bring back to the stage A Streetcar Named Desire, which enjoyed its world premiere in Dayton in 2008. Choreographed by Karen Russo Burke, this ballet follows the full story of the 1947 Broadway hit by famed playwright Tennessee Williams. Characters from Williams’ play, including Stella, Blanche and Stanley, will all be clearly represented in the piece. With steamy New Orleans as the setting, this ballet is danced to ingenious original music from composer Billy Sokol. The composition is primarily jazz, filled with unique instrumentation that includes a harmonica and the very southern-inspired presence of the washboards. Film provided by Richard Wonderling will help transport Dayton to “The Big Easy” in the late 1940s, and the stunning choreography will bring to life the tangled relationships and sultry drama in one of Tennessee Williams’ finest works.
Before each performance, Dayton Ballet Artistic Director Karen Russo Burke will hold a pre-performance talk called “The First Step,” giving audience members a more in-depth look at the upcoming performance and a behind-the-scenes peek at Dayton Ballet. “The First Step” will be held 45 minutes prior to curtain time for each performance in the Burnell Roberts Room at 126 North Main Street, beside the Victoria Theatre. “Behind the Ballet,” a Q&A with dancers that gives audiences the opportunity to learn more about the life of a dancer with Dayton Ballet, will follow each performance in the theatre. “The First Step” and “Behind the Ballet” sessions are free of charge for all ticketholders.
Tickets for Innovations begin at $15 and are available at Ticket Center Stage (937) 228-3630 or online at www.daytonperformingarts.org. Senior, teacher and student discounts are available at the box office. For more information or to order subscriptions, including flexible subscription types that include performances by Dayton Philharmonic, Dayton Opera and Dayton Ballet, visit www.daytonperformingarts.org.
###
About the Dayton Performing Arts Alliance
The Dayton Performing Arts Alliance was formed in July 2012 as the result of a groundbreaking and innovative merger between the Dayton Ballet, the Dayton Opera, and the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra. Together, they are the largest performing arts organization in the community, offering a tremendous variety of performance and education programs and setting a new standard for artistic excellence. Dayton Performing Arts Alliance performances are made possible in part by Montgomery County and Culture Works, the single largest source of community funds for the arts and culture in the Miami Valley. The Dayton Performing Arts Alliance also receives partial funding from the Ohio Arts Council, a state agency created to foster and encourage the development of the arts and to preserve Ohio’s cultural heritage. Funding from the Ohio Arts Council is an investment of state tax dollars that promotes economic growth, educational excellence, and cultural enrichment for all Ohio residents. In 2013, The Dayton Performing Arts Alliance was thrilled to be one of five performing arts organizations in the country selected to receive a three-year “Music Alive” grant from New Music USA and the League of American Orchestras. The Dayton Performing Arts Alliance is the proud recipient of a 2017-2018 Art Works grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.