Celebrating Season 10

2015-2016 Season Opens on October 3, 2015

Los Angeles, xx, 2015 - Los Angeles Ballet Co-Artistic Directors Thordal Christensen and Colleen Neary celebrate the Great Romantics for LAB’s tenth season. The 2015-2016 season includes four full-length story ballets - Giselle, Don Quixote, The Nutcracker and Romeo and Juliet.

The season will include new productions of Don Quixote and Romeo and Juliet and the return of the company’s critically-acclaimed productions of Giselle and The Nutcracker. With the exception of Romeo and Juliet, all are choreographed by Artistic Directors Christensen and Neary. Christensen and Neary have chosen Frederick Ashton’s Romeo and Juliet, which will be a Los Angeles premiere. Continuing LAB’s mission to offer world-class professional ballet to greater Los Angeles, its programs are performed at LAB’s home theaters: UCLA’s Royce Hall, Glendale’s Alex Theatre, Valley Performing Arts Center in Northridge, Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center, and the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.

“As we embark upon our tenth season and to celebrate this milestone, we thought that this was the perfect time to share the Romantics with the city,” said Christensen, LAB’s co-artistic director. “Thanks to the support of our patrons, the company has seen thrilling growth over the last nine years. Our dancers have grown artistically and technically, and our audience has grown across the city,” said Neary, LAB’s co-artistic director.

LAB opens the season with Giselle (October/November 2015). Premiered by Los Angeles Ballet in 2011, this ethereal and haunting masterwork is the embodiment of the Romantic ideal.

The holidays welcome back LAB’s popular The Nutcracker set in 1913 Los Angeles (December 2015), with additional matinees offering more opportunities to see this family favorite and enjoy 

Tchaikovsky’s beloved music.

Don Quixote, based on Cervantes' iconic Spanish novel and choreographed by Los Angeles Ballet's Christensen and Neary (after Petipa), weaves a splendid tapestry of love, illusion, daring and adventure. Gypsies, matadors, and windmills result in a profusion of excitement, humor, and family fun.

To close the season, Los Angeles Ballet makes history as the first American company to present the great choreographer Frederick Ashton's Romeo and Juliet. "We are thrilled to be the first American company to perform this tremendous piece, a work of classical genius," says Christensen. Shakespeare's timeless tragedy of star-crossed lovers is unforgettably expressed in dance, drama, and Prokofiev's timeless score.

About Los Angeles Ballet

Founded in 2004 by Artistic Directors Thordal Christensen and Colleen Neary, and Executive Director Julie Whittaker, Los Angeles Ballet is known for its superb stagings of the Balanchine repertory, stylistically meticulous classical ballets, and its commitment to new works. LAB has become recognized as a world-class ballet company in nine seasons, presenting 28 productions encompassing 50 works, including 15 commissioned world premieres. Los Angeles Ballet ‘tours’ throughout LA County, regularly appearing at four venues. Since its inception in 2006, LAB’s Power of Performance (POP!) program has provided thousands of free tickets to underserved or disadvantaged children, seniors, veterans, and their families. LAB's A Chance to Dance Community Days outreach program was launched in October 2012.

About Thordal Christensen

Among Thordal Christensen’s many credentials are an impressive performing career, successful leadership of one of the world's major ballet companies, critically applauded original choreography, and a proven commitment to dance education. Born in Copenhagen, Denmark, Christensen received his ballet training at The Royal Danish Ballet School and at the School of American Ballet in New York City before a performance career that included the Royal Danish Ballet, New York City Ballet, and Pacific Northwest Ballet. Christensen then returned to Denmark where he was Artistic Director of the Royal Danish Ballet. This blend of Bournonville and Balanchine tradition is one of the defining themes of his career, and has shaped the unique artistic vision that Christensen, along with his wife Colleen Neary, bring to Los Angeles Ballet. In 2002, he was made Knight of the Dannebrog by Queen Margrethe II of Denmark.

About Colleen Neary

Colleen Neary brings to Los Angeles Ballet the benefits of her vast experience as one of George Balanchine's quintessential ballerinas. In her experience as a dancer, teacher, and ballet mistress, she also worked closely with other luminaries of 20th century dance, including Rudolf Nureyev, Maurice Béjart, and Jiří Kylián. Born in Miami, Florida and trained at The School of American Ballet, Neary danced in New York City Ballet under the direction of George Balanchine, then for Maurice Béjart's Ballet du XXième Siecle, and Pacific Northwest Ballet. Neary was personally selected by Balanchine to teach his choreography to major companies all over the world as a repetiteur for The George Balanchine Trust.