Lighting Designer

Written in 1866 by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Crime and Punishment is a devastatingly modern psychological thriller that provided Helen Pickett and James Bonas with a startling source for a ballet. The protagonist Raskolnikov is, at once, a brilliant student forced to stop his studies due to brutal poverty, a person capable of great warmth and generosity, a loyal family member and friend, and an appalling murderer. These contradictions are so real and so vivid that this young man’s journey towards redemption has captured readers for over 150 years.

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Crime and Punishment

Lincoln Center

Sinatra Suite

Considered one of the iconic ballets of the 20th century, Twyla Tharp’s In the Upper Room demands both raw power and extreme grace from its dancers. Bold kinetic movements blend with Philip Glass’s propelling score, and the marriage of choreography, music, costumes, and lighting creates a transcendent experience for both dancers and audience.

In the Upper Room

A president of the United States is receiving messages by mysterious means, and he doesn’t know whether to trust them. In this new Wooster Group production, directed by Elizabeth LeCompte and Kate Valk, Richard Foreman’s 1988 play is reimagined with a multilayered sound and video score that draws from wide-ranging literary and cinematic sources, including William Blake, D.H. Lawrence, and Charlie Chaplin. Set in a spaceship-museum gallery, this surreal production follows the president as he plunges into a series of encounters with otherworldly beings, among them a giant rat with a special message. Moving between the apocalyptic and the mundane, The Wooster Group considers how technology questions what it means to be human.

The Wooster Group

Walt Disney Concert Hall

Scottish Opera presents a breathtaking production of Giuseppe Verdi's "La traviata," a heady passion-filled classic that delves into the heart-rending story of love, sacrifice, and redemption. This season, the opera returns to captivate audiences across Scotland with performances scheduled in Glasgow, Aberdeen, Inverness, and Edinburgh from May 8 to June 15, 2024.

"La traviata" tells the poignant tale of Violetta Valéry, a courtesan living in the hedonistic high society of Paris, who is caught between her desire for love and the harsh realities of her life. When the young and idealistic Alfredo Germont offers her a chance at true happiness, Violetta sees a possibility for a new life. However, societal pressures and her past threaten to tear apart their budding romance. The opera, based on Alexandre Dumas fils’ novel, which was inspired by a real-life woman, has moved audiences for generations and inspired adaptations in film and theatre, including "Pretty Woman" and "Moulin Rouge."

This production, directed by the acclaimed Sir David McVicar, with sumptuous designs by Tanya McCallin, focuses on the core themes of love and loss. It first premiered at Scottish Opera in 2008 and has since been celebrated in opera houses across Europe. The 2024 revival brings Hye-Youn Lee in the role of Violetta, marking her debut in Scotland, alongside Ji-Min Park as Alfredo. The opera is conducted by Stuart Stratford, with a talented cast and creative team bringing this tragic love story to life.

Performances are scheduled as follows:
- Theatre Royal Glasgow: May 8, 10, 14, 16, and 18 at 7.15pm, with a matinee on May 12 at 3pm.
- His Majesty's Theatre, Aberdeen: May 30 and June 1 at 7.15pm.
- Eden Court, Inverness: May 23 and 25 at 7.15pm.
- Festival Theatre Edinburgh: June 7, 11, 13, and 15 at 7.15pm, with a matinee on June 9 at 3pm.

The opera is sung in Italian with English supertitles, ensuring that audiences can fully engage with the story. Running time is approximately 2 hours and 55 minutes, including two 20-minute intervals. Ticket prices range from £21.50 to £98, with concessions available.

In addition to the main performances, Scottish Opera offers a range of accessible events, including audio-described performances and touch tours for those with visual impairments, and relaxed performances tailored for individuals living with dementia or Long COVID. These special events underscore Scottish Opera's commitment to making opera accessible to all.

"La traviata" by Scottish Opera promises to be a highlight of the 2023/24 season, offering audiences a chance to experience Verdi's masterpiece through a production celebrated for its emotional depth and visual beauty.

La traviata

His Majesty's Theatre

Festival Theatre

Theatre Royal Glasgow

Eden Court Inverness

Ballet’s greatest love story returns. Deeply moving and visually stunning, Swan Lake is the quintessential classical ballet, steeped in themes of temptation, jealousy, deception, and drama. Set against Tchaikovsky’s iconic score, Tomasson’s strikingly modern production updates this story of love and betrayal and features sleek and elevated designs by Tony Award–winning Jonathan Fensom.

Swan Lake Encore

War Memorial Opera House

Back by popular demand, Crystal Pite’s mesmerizing The Seasons’ Canon features 54 dancers moving as one organism to Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, recomposed by Max Richter. Pite’s opus is complemented by Twyla Tharp’s Shaker-inspired Sweet Fields and Jessica Lang’s stunning solo work, The Calling.

The Seasons' Canon

Seattle Center

Enter Shakespeare’s enchanted forest of whimsy, mistaken identity, and jest—where fairies rule and love (eventually) reigns supreme. A delight for all ages, the Shakespearean favorite choreographed by George Balanchine returns to our stage set to music by Mendelssohn, with updated costume and set designs by celebrated French designer Christian Lacroix.

A Midsummer Night's Dream

Two singers at the height of their powers—radiant soprano Nadine Sierra and tenor sensation Benjamin Bernheim—come together as the star-crossed lovers in Gounod’s sumptuous Shakespeare adaptation, with Met Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin on the podium to conduct one of the repertoire’s most romantic scores. Bartlett Sher’s towering staging also features baritone Will Liverman and tenor Frederick Ballentine as the archrivals Mercutio and Tybalt, mezzo-soprano Samantha Hankey as the mischievous pageboy Stéphano, and bass-baritone Alfred Walker as Frère Laurent.

Roméo et Juliette

Swan Lake

Tormented by the death of her father at the hands of her mother, Elektra has only one thing in mind—revenge. When her brother Orest returns seething with vengeance, the siblings stage their bloody coup.

Elektra

AT&T Performing Arts Center

Tormented by the death of her father at the hands of her mother, Elektra has only one thing in mind—revenge. When her brother Orest returns seething with vengeance, the siblings stage their bloody coup.

This 90-minute edge-of-your-seat retelling of the classic Greek myth is Richard Straussat his most riveting and famed duo Sir David McVicar and John Macfarlane at their most thrilling.

George Balanchine’s Ballet Imperial, like his Theme and Variations, evokes the era of Russia’s Imperial Ballet with its grandeur and elegance.

Ballet Imperial

This brilliant, quicksilver romp dashes by with spinning leaps, gravity-defying jumps and whip-fast turns at an almost comically impossible speed, but its heart is a dreamy, moving double pas de deux that is simply delectable.

Piano Concerto No. 1

Familial revenge runs deep in Giuseppe Verdi’s towering opera of grand passions stymied at every turn. Music Director Eun Sun Kim continues her Verdi cycle with Il Trovatore, a work of sublime arias, passionate ensembles, and the rousing Anvil Chorus.
Sir David McVicar’s incisive, visceral production, rooted in the haunting imagery of Spanish painter Francisco Goya and the power struggles of the Spanish War of Independence, returns to San Francisco.

Il Trovatore

The epitome of Romantic ballet, this heart-rending tale of unrequited love, remorse and forgiveness perfectly fuses music, movement and drama. The role of Giselle requires an exquisite stylist with daring dramatic and technical skills to create a compelling portrait of the innocent, yet ultimately noble, village maiden. In this universally acclaimed production, ABT’s unrivalled roster of international ballet stars brings Giselle‘s mystery and ethereal beauty vividly to life.

Giselle

Lied Center for Performing Arts

Gaillard Center

This intimate and unconventional pas de deux follows the arc of a relationship, exploring the moments of tension and companionship that make two into one.

Some Assembly Required

Roosevelt University

Stony Brook University

As the lights dim and Tchaikovsky’s beautiful score fills the air, your entire family will join the young, beautiful Clara for a dreamlike journey amid colorful, larger-than-life scenery, magical toy soldiers, mischievous mice, sparkling snowflakes, and a glittering Christmas tree! With an impressive cast of over 100 performers, The Nutcracker is bound to be a treasured memory whether you’re four or ninety-four!

The Nutcracker

Segerstrom Center for the Arts

Timeless and achingly beautiful, Swan Lake is beloved like no other classical ballet for more than a century. Introduced and premiered in America by San Francisco Ballet, it is a captivating vision of the world's most mesmerizing ballet.

Donizetti’s heartwarming comedy stars some of today’s most celebrated bel canto singers as the spunky landowner and the hapless peasant in search of love. Radiant sopranos Golda Schultz and Aleksandra Kurzak alternate as Adina, trading barbs and embraces with tenors Javier Camarena and Xabier Anduaga, in his Met debut, as Nemorino. Italian maestro Michele Gamba also makes his company debut conducting Bartlett Sher’s madcap staging, which features baritones Davide Luciano and Joshua Hopkins as the swaggering Sgt. Belcore and baritone Ambrogio Maestri and bass-baritone Alex Esposito as the lovable huckster Dr. Dulcamara.

L’Elisir d’Amore

La traviata, or Violetta Valéry, is a Parisian courtesan with a very glamorous life who sells her body as in The Lady of the Camellias , by Dumas son, the origin of Verdi's opera. A woman with her own light who, ill with tuberculosis, will have to sacrifice her pure love for Alfredo Germont for social conventions. Alfredo's father does not approve of the relationship and the family reputation is called into question.

Gran Teatre del Liceu

A program devoted to works set to music by the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky is highlighted by two unique Jerome Robbins gems: The Cage, which depicts a swarm of insect-like female creatures descending upon their unwitting male prey, and Concertino, a trio that was originally performed as the third section of Robbins’ Four Chamber Works. Balanchine’s Danses Concertantes, a spirited ballet with richly detailed costumes and hints of commedia dell’arte-inspired humor, opens the program, and his classic leotard ballet Stravinsky Violin Concerto, one of Balanchine’s greatest achievements, brings the affair to a rousing finish.

All Stravinsky

Jerome Robbins’ intimate knowledge of Chopin’s piano works illuminates the delicate beauty of In the Night, set to the composer’s nocturnes and featuring the romantic interplay among three couples set against a backdrop evoking a starry night sky. Balanchine’s ever-popular leotard ballet Symphony in Three Movements ranks among the most exhilarating dances he created to the music of Stravinsky, with its driving energy matching the fierce pulse of the score. Rounding out the evening is a world premiere from Artist in Residence Alexei Ratmansky, his eighth dance commissioned by the Company.

Innovators & Icons

John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

A pair of Jerome Robbins ballets set to the music of Bach are featured alongside works by Alexei Ratmansky and Christopher Wheeldon. Robbins’ A Suite of Dances features a single male dancer—Mikhail Baryshnikov originated the role—interacting with the onstage cellist, creating a mood of friendly companionship. Brandenburg, Robbins’ final ballet, danced to four of the famed concertos of the title, is a series of pas de deux that evoke strikingly contrasting moods. Wheeldon’s After the Rain Pas de Deux has become one of his signature works, a transfixing dance that contains hints of spirituality and transcendence despite its seeming simplicity.

Innovators & Icons II

In 1975 the Company presented a festival dedicated to the music of the French composer Maurice Ravel. To honor the 50th anniversary of the event, the Company offers this program featuring four works that had their premieres during the festival: Jerome Robbins’ playful In G Major, with sets and costumes by the Art Deco master Erté; Pavane, a solo work from Balanchine for a female dancer; Errante, returning from its lauded Spring 2024 revival; and Sonatine, a pas de deux marked by a lighthearted spirit of dancers at play. 

All Ravel

Twyla Tharp’s American masterpiece Nine Sinatra Songs is still sharp 40 years after its premiere. In it, Tharp effortlessly floats between dance genres, set to the familiar strains of Frank Sinatra hits. Two pieces from innovative choreographers Rena Butler and PNB’s own Kiyon Ross round out the program, and promise to connect us with our inner desires while allowing us to touch the stars.

Jennifer Tipton

Lighting Designer

Events

Upcoming events

Jan 17 - Feb 1, 2025

La traviata · Gran Teatre del Liceu

Jan 22 - Feb 4, 2025

All Stravinsky · New York City Ballet

6 - 9 Feb, 2025

Innovators & Icons · New York City Ballet

12 - 16 Feb, 2025

Crime and Punishment · American Ballet Theatre

1 - 7 May, 2025

Innovators & Icons II · New York City Ballet

Past events

2 - 3 Nov, 2024

Crime and Punishment · American Ballet Theatre

Nov 1, 2024

Crime and Punishment · American Ballet Theatre

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