Supporting Los Angeles Ballet October 1, 2009 Guests came from the worlds of entertainment, finance, healthcare and other industries to a gala at the Bel-Air home of Stephanie Murray in support of Los Angeles Ballet. Guests enjoyed dinner in the garden and a performance of "The Evangelist," originally created for Neary and Christensen, and selections from the great choreographer George Balanchine. Company News from the Staff at LAB 2021/2022 Season > News > Previous Item Next Item

LAB Dancer Christopher McDaniel Gets Published August 2, 2013 Los Angeles Ballet dancer Christopher McDaniel has added published author to his long list of accomplishments. His story, "A Dance with Destiny," was included in the recently published Chicken Soup for the Soul: From Lemons to Lemonade. Purchase the book now to read Christopher's inspiring story. Company News from the Staff at LAB LEARN MORE 2021/2022 Season > News > Previous Item Next Item

Record Attendance at The Nutcracker December 1, 2013 Los Angeles Ballet's The Nutcracker was attended by a record estimated 15,700 people over 12 performances in 2013, adding to the holiday traditions of audience members throughout Southern California. The 2013/2014 Season continues in March 2014 with Quartet and May/June 2014 with La Sylphide and Balanchine's Serenade. Company News from the Staff at LAB 2021/2022 Season > News > Previous Item Next Item

Colony adds shine to Los Angeles Ballet's 'Next Wave LA' May 16, 2012 The final bill of Los Angeles Ballet's sixth season, “NextWave LA” is the company's annual new works program (known previously as “New Wave LA”), featuring area choreographers. It’s where you can count on loud amplifiers, the shedding of tutus and hair clips, and the sight of the selfsame ballerina you saw comporting like a regal queen in “Swan Lake” or “The Nutcracker” now writhing in extreme throes. This year’s contemporary bill -- featuring premieres by TV veterans Sonya Tayeh and Stacey Tookey (“So You Think You Can Dance") plus established choreographers Josie Walsh and Kitty McNamee -- may feel to be even more of a stark and risky contrast than previous years since for the first time an L.A. Ballet season has offered only story ballets and no Balanchine. Besides smoothing the distance between classical serenity and stark abstraction, Balanchine ballets also deftly convey the rigorous design and rehearsal values that should bridge both worlds. Yet thanks to McNamee’s opener, a mature and mysterious Euro-style group work called “colony,” the company looks lustrous. The debut came Saturday at the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center; the program moves next to Glendale’s Alex Theatre, then the Broad Stage in Santa Monica. Set to Anna Clyne’s electronica and cello, “colony” features the metamorphoses of a mostly female brethren as one individualist (retiring dancer Kelly Ann Sloan) makes a break. Outfitted in Kanique Thomas’ ceremonial black coats and silhouetted in chill, harsh light by designer Ben Pilat, the group begins an eerie circling blizzard that morphs into many new geometries. McNamee’s ensemble pointe work here is mesmerizingly chilly -- inscribing arcs, measuring distances, the dancers’ precise feet move like the points and arms of drafting compasses. Meanwhile, the port de bras are kept minimalist and meaningful. Fresh and original, surely “colony” belongs in L.A. Ballet's permanent repertory, alongside Balanchine and Lar Lubovitch. Though well danced, sadly the bill falls off from here. Set to Icelandic composer Ólafur Arnalds, Tayeh’s “Duets in the act of...” features four obvious couples -- “cold desperation” (Allyssa Bross, Zheng Hua Li), “artificial seduction” (Julia Cinquemani, Vincent S. Adams), “fleeting nostalgia” (Kate Highstrete, Nicolas de la Vega) and “false ego” (Allynne Noelle, Alexander Castillo). Fleeting moments when Tayeh layered the duos, suggesting links between the differing motivations, signaled the stronger piece that might have been. Josie Walsh’s “Sirens,” scored by her husband Paul Rivera Jr., is yet another retelling of the Odysseus myth of sailors battling watery enchantresses. Men cover their ears, shaking their heads; women bourrée en pointe with undulating arms. One expects the likes of Rihanna to emerge from a trap door to hasten “Sirens”’ to its end. The final work, “Be Still,” with choreography by Tookey to a score featuring Matthew Banks (Blue Man group) and Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson, is a subtle, dynamic group piece about time that is currently overwhelmed by its emphatic, confusing design (again by Thomas and Pilat). Why a piece about time’s echoes and waves occurs in fringed two-piece suits -- with white-hot spotlights-- distracts to an impossible degree. “NextWave LA” Los Angeles Ballet, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Alex Theatre, Glendale; 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. May 26, 2 p.m. May 27, the Broad Stage, Santa Monica. $30-$95. (310) 998-7782 or www.losangelesballet.org Los Angeles Times by Jean Lenihan DOWNLOAD PDF 2021/2022 Season > News > Previous Item Next Item

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2021/2022 Season > Staff > Design Director Catherine Kanner Catherine Kanner worked as a founding Board Member and Design Director for Los Angeles Ballet from 2005 to 2022. During that period she oversaw and provided all promotional materials for Los Angeles Ballet. For more about Catherine Kanner catherinekanner.com Next Artist Staff Previous Artistic Staff

La Sylphide plus George Balanchine’s Serenade May 1, 2014 Performances to include: The full-length romantic story ballet La Sylphide, choreographed by Thordal Christensen after August Bournonville George Balanchine’s Serenade Los Angeles Ballet co-artistic directors Thordal Christensen and Colleen Neary are excited to be reviving their production of La Sylphide, choreographed by Christensen after the original 19th century ballet by Danish choreographer August Bournonville. Having debuted La Sylphide in 2009, this will be the second time Los Angeles Ballet has brought the production to Los Angeles audiences. “Los Angeles Ballet’s performances in 2009 were exemplary, among the finest achievements in the company’s history,” said Lewis Segal in his recent LA Times article, ‘Faces to Watch 2014.’ Continuing LAB’s mission to offer world-class professional ballet to greater LA, the program will be performed at four of LAB’s home venues: UCLA’s Royce Hall, The Alex Theatre in Glendale, Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center, and Valley Performing Arts Center in Northridge. Los Angeles Ballet is also excited to announce that it will be touring out of California for the first time, presenting La Sylphide and Serenade to Seattle, Washington audiences June 27, 2014, at McCaw Hall at Seattle Center. Beginning May 31st, with performances through June 21st in Los Angeles, the two-act story ballet La Sylphide will be paired with George Balanchine’s romantic Serenade. La Sylphide, recounts the tale of a Scotsman enamored of an entrancing woodland sprite (a sylph) and the poisonous interference of a witch, with tragic results. Serenade is unquestionably one of Balanchine’s most popular and beloved ballets. Set to Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings, the ballet evokes a moonlit world of romantic attraction and betrayal. Colleen Neary says, “La Sylphide and Serenade are two of the most romantic and, some say, most tragic ballets choreographed – the former with a story and the other without a literal one. There is a deep spiritualism to both.” 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 eight seasons presenting 24 productions encompassing 50 works, including 15 commissioned world premieres. Los Angeles Ballet ‘tours’ throughout LA County, regularly appearing at four venues. This past summer the Los Angeles Music Center presented Los Angeles Ballet at Grand Park, with more than 3,000 attending the outdoor performance. 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. ​ LAB Public Relations DOWNLOAD PDF 2021/2022 Season > News > Previous Item Next Item

2013-2014 Season Announcement October 1, 2013 The Nutcracker set in 1913 Los Angeles World premieres from Sonya Tayeh and Christopher Stowell • LAB premiere of Jiří Kylián’s Return to a Strange Land LAB premiere of George Balanchine’s Stars and Stripes The full-length La Sylphide George Balanchine’s Serenade Los Angeles Ballet co-artistic directors Thordal Christensen and Colleen Neary are excited to unveil the ballets selected for LAB’s eighth season, including classics from the 19th and 20th centuries, new works from 21st century choreographers, and Southern California’s holiday tradition, The Nutcracker . Continuing LAB’s mission to bring professional ballet to greater LA, each program will be performed at LAB’s four home theaters: UCLA’s Royce Hall, The Alex Theatre in Glendale, Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center, and Valley Performing Arts Center in Northridge. The season opens with Los Angeles Ballet’s full-length The Nutcracker , set in 1913 California in a classic Spanish style home with Mexican, Spanish, and European influences. The story unfolds with a warm and inviting sense of being inside a children’s book, and follows Clara and her beloved Nutcracker as they travel to the Land of Snow and the Palace of the Dolls. In March 2014, Quartet combines masterworks from George Balanchine and Jiří Kylián with new works from rising choreographers Sonya Tayeh and Christopher Stowell. Known for her work on television’s So You Think You Can Dance , this will mark Tayeh’s fourth commissioned work for Los Angeles Ballet. Her ferocious jazz style blended with ballet has brought audiences and critics to their feet. Former Artistic Director of Oregon Ballet Theater and noted choreographer Christopher Stowell will be working with LAB dancers for the first time. Quartet will also include the company premiere of Return to a Strange Land , from master choreographer Jiří Kylián to music by Leoš Janáček, and Stars and Stripes by George Balanchine set to the rousing marches of John Philip Sousa. “The dancers always look forward to working with Sonya. And having seen Christopher’s work on a variety of companies across the nation, we are excited to see what he will be creating on our dancers,” Mr. Christensen explained. “We think works from these two young dancemakers will fit well with Jiří Kylián’s beautiful, elegiac ballet and Balanchine’s stirring valentine to his adopted country.” May/June 2014 pairs the rapturous two-act story ballet La Sylphide with Balanchine’s romantic Serenade. Some- times described as the Danish Giselle , La Sylphide recounts the tale of a Scotsman enamored of an entrancing woodland sprite, a sylph, and the poisonous interference of a witch, with tragic results. The program also includes Serenade , unquestionably one of Balanchine’s most popular and beloved ballets. Set to Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for String s, the ballet evokes a moonlit world of romantic attraction and betrayal. Colleen Neary says, “La Sylphide and Serenade are two of the most romantic and, some say, most tragic ballets choreographed – the former with a story and the other without a literal one. There is a deep spiritualism to both.” 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 meticu- lous classical ballets, and its commitment to new works. LAB has become recognized as a world-class ballet company, presenting 21 productions encompassing 43 works, including 13 commissioned world premieres. Los Angeles Ballet ‘tours’ throughout LA County, regularly appearing at five venues. This past summer the Los Angeles Music Center presented Los Angeles Ballet at Grand Park, with 4,000 attending the outdoor performance on the July 4th weekend. 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 applaudedoriginal choreography, and a proven commit- ment 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. ​ LAB Public Relations DOWNLOAD PDF 2021/2022 Season > News > Previous Item Next Item

Behind the Scenes of Los Angeles Ballet November 21, 2021 Dorchester Collection ​ Read Article 2021/2022 Season > News > Previous Item Next Item

The short set: baby's first 'Nutcracker' December 13, 2007 Nipper has had an admittedly stunted childhood. By age 5, he had enjoyed only the first halves of "Peter Pan," "Annie" and "Dr. Doolittle." One day he'll discover there's more to these popular stage musicals, maybe learn a little something about closure, but during his fidgety post-toddler years I had no qualms about bursting into applause as the curtain came down for intermission, gleefully exclaiming, "Wasn't that great?!" and then hurrying both of us to the exit. But he's 6 now, so I decided it was time to test his limits with "The Nutcracker." We went with the Los Angeles Ballet, mounting its well-received "Nutcracker" (pictured) for the second year. Would we make it to intermission without the boredom squirmies? Was there a chance of seeing an actual ending? Between the youngsters in Victorian costumes, flamboyant Uncle Drosselmeyer and a lissome Clara, Nipper was transfixed until intermission. (Full disclosure: A scrumptious $2 brownie bridged the gap.) Act 2 held new wonderments, including a Mother Giger perched atop her movable gingerbread house like a cheery Bride of Frankenstein, and fine displays of athletic prowess by the Spanish, Arabian and Russian dancers. When Nipper finally witnessed his first true ending, he applauded like he was related to the Sugarplum Fairy. "I want to see it every year until I'm a skeleton" came his review from the back seat on the drive home. His favorite part? "The fight between the Mouse King and the Nutcracker." His least favorite part: "When it ended." On the car stereo came Emerson Lake & Palmer's overwrought, manic prog-rock version of the Nutcracker theme. Nipper was appalled. "Turn that off!" he ordered. "That's not what Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky wanted us to hear!" Ilyich? Guess the kid is all grown up. For the Nutcracker mother lode, go to theguide.latimes.com. Los Angeles Times by Los Angeles Times DOWNLOAD PDF 2021/2022 Season > News > Previous Item Next Item

Los Angeles Ballet Dances 'Giselle' May 15, 2011 For all the opening-night jitters and imperfections, Los Angeles Ballet gave a credible, even moving, performance of “Giselle” on Saturday at the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center. The essential Giselle experience remained intact: Love survives the grave, bestows forgiveness on an unworthy bad boy and transforms him into a decent human being. Hmm. Sounds like the plot of a movie or two, or a dozen. Giselle is a village girl courted by a prince disguised as a peasant. She falls in love with him, but when she finds out his identity -- and that he’s engaged to someone else -- she loses her mind and dies. End of ballet? Not by a long shot. In Act 2, she appears as a spirit newly enrolled in the ranks of the Wilis, night creatures that wreak vengeance on perjured suitors. Giselle resists her new duties and saves her prince. Allyssa Bross danced the title role with appealing sweetness and vulnerability. She made her mad scene nuanced and sparked with creepiness, and if she had some unsteadiness in her ghostly extended balances, she more than compensated elsewhere with poise. Giselle’s character is straightforward, but that of Prince Albrecht is ambiguous. Is he merely dallying, really in love, torn between court and country? Unfortunately, Christopher Revels gave no clear take on the prince’s motives, although his repentance and sense of loss at the end looked genuine. Revels danced with princely bearing, partnered with consideration, and executed his second act marathon challenges with strength, though he looked more on the edge of real rather than dramatic exhaustion. Chehon Wespi-Tschopp was an intense Hilarion, a villager also in love with Giselle. His prestissimo spins to his death at the hands of the Wilis were terrific. Kate Highstrete made Myrtha, the Queen of the Wilis, an other-worldly creature of pitiless steel. The Peasant Pas de Deux was danced by Allynne Noelle and Zheng Hua Li (who alternates in the role of Prince Albrecht). Noelle was sunny and graceful. Li had crisp, flashing legwork, but tended to land badly. The corps looked well-schooled, although earthbound. The company danced to pre-recorded music. The production was from the Louisville Ballet. Ben Pilat provided the dramatic lighting. L.A. Ballet company co-director Thordal Christensen tweaked the traditional Coralli-Perrot-Petipa choreography, cutting some virtuosic demands, adding some mime, and inventing a poor couple who provide their cottage as the prince’s local digs. Christensen’s wife and company co-director, Colleen Neary, enacted Giselle’s mother, Berthe, with fuss and worry. With this touchstone Romantic ballet, LAB closes its fifth season with a stronger than ever claim for community support. Performances continue Saturday at the Alex Theatre in Glendale and the following weekend at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica. Los Angeles Times by Chris Pasles DOWNLOAD PDF 2021/2022 Season > News > Previous Item Next Item

Los Angeles Ballet's "NextWaveLA" May 31, 2012 May 31, 2012 | By Penny Orloff Category: Theater and Dance A few weeks ago, as I sat in Walt Disney Concert Hall for a concert by the New York Philharmonic, I mused to my companion that – in our 60s – we were some of the youngest people there. That isn’t news. But this is: the much-lamented “graying” of the audience for classical music, opera and dance seems to have missed Los Angeles Ballet. I looked around the lobby of Santa Monica’s Broad Stage as the audience assembled for the final performance of LAB’s “NextWaveLA,” a program of four – count ’em, four – world premieres by some of the brightest lights in contemporary dance. The presence of a few other silverhaired old dames kept me from feeling completely out of place among a vociferous throng largely composed of teens and 20-somethings, madly twittering on smartphones. LAB’s artistic directors Thordal Christensen and Colleen Neary have commissioned new works in every year of the company’s six-year existence. Two years ago, they offered “NewWaveLA” – a wildly successful program of four world premieres. Attracting hordes of young dance aficionados weaned on TV dance shows, the sold-out shows necessitated adding performances to accommodate the demand for tickets. Capitalizing on that success, this season Christensen and Neary presented a similar production featuring pieces by Kitty McNamee, Sonya Tayeh, Josie Walsh and Stacey Tookey. “NextWaveLA” opened with McNamee’s “Colony,” to music of Anna Clyne. This mesmerizing work utilizes traditional elements of classical ballet in surprisingly unique combinations. A large, synchronous group moves in disciplined lines and circles, giving way to a quasi-traditional pas de deux… singly or in pairs or trios, characters conform to the group or risk ostracism. Six-year LAB veteran Kelly Ann Sloan offers a fiercely dramatic performance reminiscent of her brilliant work in LAB’s third-season “The Evangelist.” Woven through and beyond McNamee’s piece is a melancholy statement about the danger of individuality. Conformity may confine and chafe, but, in dancing to the beat of a different drummer, one risks a lonely life outside the safety of the circle. Kudos to McNamee. It takes courage to swim against the tide. “Duets in the act of —” is Tayeh’s third world premiere for LAB. Arguably one of the most innovative of contemporary choreographers, Tayeh uses her highly personal dance vocabulary to illustrate subtle layers of desire, action and memory as four couples explore the universal conflicts of love partnerships, to music of Olafur Arnalds. One gradually senses that each couple represents but one aspect of a single relationship. Company principal ballerina Allyssa Bross contorts in “the act of cold desperation,” struggling to hold on to an indifferent and increasingly repelled lover, danced by Zheng Hua Li. This duet morphs into “the act of artificial seduction,” as Julia Cinquemani manipulates Vincent Adams with an elastic sensuality. The parting lovers – now represented by Molly Flippen and Nicolas de la Vega – briefly remember the good times in an “act of fleeting nostalgia,” before “the act of false ego,” danced by Kate Highstrete (alternating with company principal Allynne Noelle) and Alexander Castillo, ultimitely destroys any chance of reconciliation. Tayeh brings all four couples together in a blazing finale suggestive of her groundbreaking work on the hit TV show, “So You Think You Can Dance.” After an intermission, the curtain opens on “Sirens,” from last year’s LAB choreographic workshop, by returning choreographer Walsh. Formerly an international ballerina, Walsh borrows from the 150-year tradition of the great supernatural Romantic ballets, in which female nature-spirits captivate and charm unsuspecting young men. A master of the narrative story ballet, she imbues every smallest gesture with meaning as she creates a watery matrix where nine Sirens seduce five hapless mariners onto the rocks. This is a highly complex work, and Walsh’s dancers are to be congratulated for superb ensemble work. The women’s corps de ballet exhibit their acclaimed precision and unity throughout; and the men’s ensemble, led by Nicolas de la Vega, is uniformly excellent. Composer Paul Rivera Jr. contributes crashing waves, Siren songs, creaking ship’s timbers and other sound effects woven through a driving, custom-designed rock score. The program ends with Tookey’s “Be Still,” to music of Matthew Banks and Johann Johannsson. Emmy-nominated for her work on “So You Think You Can Dance,” Tookey has synthesized a sui generis style incorporating ballet, jazz and contemporary dance. Largely abstract, her first work for LAB explores the human interaction with Time as both element and concept. “We are always faced with the inevitability of Time running out,” she says in the program notes. “We crave that perfect moment when we’re completely present and time stands still.” Her dancers appear trapped in the inexorable ticking of the clock; legs seem to describe the eternal pendulum; Ben Pilat’s lighting contracts, compressing and squeezing the dancers as the hourglass runs out. Bross, Li and Flippen sustain the dramatic tension of balancing on the razor’s edge of this extraordinary work of art. Highly effective original costumes for all four pieces are by LAB resident designer Kanique Thomas. Pilat’s sensational lighting design emerges as a character in each dance. —Penny Orloff, Culture Spot LA CultureSpotLA by Penny Orloff DOWNLOAD PDF 2021/2022 Season > News > Previous Item Next Item