Los Angeles Ballet Sixth Season to Feature Swan Lake

2011-2012 Season Kicks Off with The Nutcracker

Carpenter and Valley Performing Arts Centers Added to Venue Line-up

(Los Angeles, CA) Los Angeles Ballet Artistic Directors Thordal Christensen and Colleen Neary are pleased to announce LAB’s sixth season. Los Angeles’ own professional ballet company will premiere Swan Lake, choreographed by the Artistic Directors, after Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov. Continuing to reach out to new audiences, LAB will offer performances at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center in Long Beach and the Valley Performing Arts Center in Northridge for the very first time.

Once again LAB will kick off its season with the Neary-Christensen choreographed production of The Nutcracker, the city's most enduring holiday tradition. Swan Lake, the company’s fourth full length ballet, (after The Nutcracker, La Sylphide, and Giselle), will be presented in March 2012, and the 2011-2012 season will conclude in May with NextWave LA, featuring four World Premieres created specifically for LAB by Sonya Tayeh, Josie Walsh, and Stacey Tookey, and one other choreographer to be announced.

“Our sixth season reflects LAB’s on-going commitment to celebrating classic ballet as well as showcasing exciting new choreography,” said Christensen. “We are particularly pleased to be extending our audience reach with performances of Swan Lake in Long Beach and Northridge.”

“This season will also feature LAB’s first principal dancers, Allyssa Bross and Christopher Revels, and the return of many outstanding members of our company,” added Neary. “We continue to advance the quality of dancing, which is what enables us to present productions ranging from Swan Lake to NextWave LA.”

Los Angeles Ballet is also pleased to announce the formation of Young Professionals, a group of early to mid-career individuals who actively participate in the Los Angeles arts environment through support of Los Angeles Ballet.

Young Professionals was launched on July 29th with a social mixer at the Duncan Miller Gallery in West LA. Attendees enjoyed an exhibit of Kim Weston’s new work based on his silver gelatin photographs of ballerinas. A number of LAB dancers were in attendance and a percentage of the gallery’s sales benefitted Los Angeles Ballet.

LAB continues to build a repertoire that underscores the creative leadership of its artistic directors, presenting timeless classics as well as innovative choreography from today’s contemporary artists.