Texas Ballet Theater
Presents
Mozart at the Majestic
Featuring world premiere choreography by Artistic Director Ben Stevenson
North Texas – Texas Ballet Theater presents Mozart at the Majestic, a mixed-repertory production featuring works by Ben Stevenson, which will be performed at Dallas’ historic Majestic Theatre on Friday and Saturday, March 30 and 31 at 8 p.m. and on Sunday, April 1 at 2 p.m. Tickets are priced from $18 to $74 and may be purchased by calling toll-free 1-877-212-4280 or by visiting www.texasballettheater.org.
Texas Ballet Theater opens Mozart at the Majestic with Act II of Swan Lake, featuring choreography by Stevenson after Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov and music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Often referred to as the “White Act”, Act II is a celebrated example of classical ballet that demonstrates the grace and elegance of the women of the Company. Texas Ballet Theater artists Carolyn Judson and Enrica Guana Tseng will perform the role of Odette opposite Lucas Priolo and Michael Clark as Prince Siegfried respectively. Beautiful, mystical swan-creatures and true love meet in scenes that have become synonymous with the art of ballet. Texas Ballet Theater last performed the full-length Swan Lake during its 2004-05 Season.
Mozart Requiem, a highly-anticipated world premiere by Ben Stevenson is set to Mozart’s magnificent Requiem. Stevenson choreographs his first work featuring only the men of Texas Ballet Theater. This emotionally-charged piece includes eleven male dancers performing fourteen movements. Costume designs by Tony Award winner Desmond Heeley complete the ballet. Heeley’s designs were most recently seen in Texas Ballet Theater’s The Sleeping Beauty in October 2006.
Texas Ballet Theater has premiered a number of works by Ben Stevenson. In addition to Mozart Requiem, Stevenson choreographed last April’s Preludes for Van and Moonbeams, a pas de deux choreographed in honor of Texas Ballet Theater Trustee Emeritus Sis Carr during the 2004-05 Season. Stevenson dedicates this production to the memory of long-time Texas arts supporter and personal friend Harriet Bath.
Audience members interested in gaining “behind the scenes” knowledge of Mozart at the Majestic are invited to attend Texas Ballet Theater’s Pre-Performance Lectures held in the audience chamber of The Majestic Theatre forty-five minutes prior to curtain. Margo McCann, current company manager and former Texas Ballet Theater artist, offers insight into the world of professional ballet.
Mozart at the Majestic
The Majestic Theatre, 1925 Elm Street, Dallas
Friday, March 30, 2007 at 8 p.m.
Saturday, March 31, 2007 at 8 p.m.
Sunday, April 1, 2007 at 2 p.m.
Company Manager and former Texas Ballet Theater artist Margo McCann leads the Pre-Performance Lecture series open to all audience members 45 minutes prior to curtain for each performance in the audience chamber.
Performance Information
Swan Lake Act II
Music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Choreography by Ben Stevenson, O.B.E. after Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov
Set and Costume Design by David Walker
Lighting Design by Christina R. Giannelli
World Premiere
Mozart Requiem
Music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Choreography by Ben Stevenson, O.B.E.
Costume Design by Desmond Heeley
Lighting Design by Christina R. Giannelli
Performance Tickets
Tickets priced $18-$74
Toll-free 1-877-212-4280 or www.texasballettheater.org
Groups of 20 or more receive discounted tickets by calling toll-free 1-877-828-9200, ext. 126
About Ben Stevenson, O.B.E., Artistic Director
This is Ben Stevenson’s fourth year as artistic director of Texas Ballet Theater. For twenty-seven years, he nurtured Houston Ballet from a small provincial ensemble to one of the nation’s largest dance companies that has performed to critical acclaim throughout the world. During his tenure, he developed Houston Ballet’s repertory by acquiring the works of the world’s most respected choreographers, commissioning new works, staging the classics and choreographing original works.
For his contributions to the world of international dance, Mr. Stevenson was named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (O.B.E.) by Queen Elizabeth II in the New Year’s Honors List in December 1999. In April 2000, he was presented with the Dance Magazine Award, one of the most prestigious honors on the American dance scene. Mr. Stevenson received the Texas Medal of the Arts in 2005. Certainly Mr. Stevenson is one of the most original figures in the development of regional ballet in America. And though he is British, it is his achievement as teacher, choreographer, and company director that is rooted in American Ballet.
Mr. Stevenson, a native of Portsmouth, England, received his dance training at the Arts Educational School in London. Upon his graduation, Mr. Stevenson was awarded the prestigious Adeline Genee Gold Medal, the highest award given to a dancer by the Royal Academy of Dancing. At the age of eighteen, Mr. Stevenson partnered Alicia Markova in Where the Rainbow Ends and soon after was invited to join the Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet by Dame Ninette de Valois, where he worked with Sir Frederick Ashton, Sir Kenneth MacMillan, and John Cranko. A few years later, Sir Anton Dolin invited him to dance with London Festival Ballet where, as a principal dancer, he performed leading roles in all the classics.
Mr. Stevenson came to New York to assume the role of artistic director of Harkness Ballet in 1968. In 1970, he and Frederick Franklin became co-artistic directors of the National Ballet of Washington, where they opened the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts with Margot Fonteyn in the principal role of The Sleeping Beauty. In 1976, he was appointed artistic director of Houston Ballet. Mr. Stevenson’s own choreography includes the full length works Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliet, Cinderella, The Nutcracker, The Sleeping Beauty, an original production of Peer Gynt (which opened Norway’s Bergen Festival Gala in 1983), Coppélia, Don Quixote, and original productions of Dracula, The Snow Maiden, and Cleopatra.
Mr. Stevenson has received numerous awards for his choreography, including three gold medals at the International Ballet Competitions of 1972, 1982, and 1986. In addition, he has staged his ballets for English National Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, the Paris Opera Ballet, the National Ballet of Canada, La Scala in Milan, the Munich State Opera Ballet, the Joffrey Ballet, London City Ballet, Ballet de Santiago, and for many companies in the United States.
In 1978, Mr. Stevenson traveled to China on behalf of the United States government as part of a cultural exchange program. At the invitation of the Chinese government, he has returned almost every year since to teach at the Beijing Dance Academy. To expose the Chinese students to Western dance forms, Mr. Stevenson has brought with him teachers of jazz and modern dance, including Gwen Verdon. In 1985, he was instrumental in the creation of the Choreographic Department at the Beijing Dance Academy. He is the only foreigner to have been made Honorary Faculty Member of the Beijing Dance Academy and the Shenyang Conservatory of Music. Mr. Stevenson has also taught for the American Ballet Theatre, the Joffrey Ballet and English National Ballet. In July 2003, Mr. Stevenson became artistic director of Texas Ballet Theater.
About Desmond Heeley, Costume Designer, Mozart Requiem
Desmond Heeley’s set and costume designs have been seen on the stages of the world’s major opera, ballet and theatre companies during an international career that has spanned more than 50 years. His Broadway debut earned Mr. Heeley two Tony Awards for setting and costumes for the premiere production of Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, a distinction unsurpassed for set and costume design in a single production. In 1994, he was the first recipient of the prestigious Irene Sharaff Lifetime Achievement Award. His work is in museums and private collections across Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom. Professor of design at the Tisch School of the Arts (NYU), he teaches and lectures extensively. Last spring, Desmond Heeley received an honorary doctorate from the North Carolina school of the Arts. Since 1957, he has designed a total of 36 productions for the Stratford Festival of Canada.
ABOUT TEXAS BALLET THEATER
Founded in 1961, Texas Ballet Theater is the premier resident professional ballet company of North Texas. Under the direction of artistic director Ben Stevenson, O.B.E., the Ballet brings unprecedented talent, beauty and artistic expression to the stages of Fort Worth's Bass Performance Hall and Dallas' Music Hall at Fair Park and Historic Majestic Theatre in downtown Dallas. Texas Ballet Theater will become the resident ballet company for the Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House at the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts when it opens in 2009. Season sponsors include the Star-Telegram, The Dallas Morning News, WRR Radio, TACA, the City of Dallas and Texas Commission on the Arts, American Airlines and The Arts Council of Fort Worth & Tarrant County. For more information, go to www.texasballettheater.org.
Photo Credit
Artist: Carolyn Judson. Photo: Ellen Appel.