L'après-midi d'un Faune (Afternoon of a Faun) - Music: Claude Debussy. Choreography: Nijinsky. Plot: After a poem of Stéphane Mallarmé. Sets and costumes: inspired by the works of Léon Bakst. Premiere: May 19, 1912 at the Théàtre du Châtelet in Paris. Dancers at the premiere: Vaslaw Nijinsky (the faun), Lydia Nelidova (Leader of the Nymphs). Nijinsky's masterpiece is being performed with the artistry of Barry Leon opposite Ballet of the Dolls' Julia Tehven. The work was the center of controversy at its debut in 1912 over a final movement when the faun encounters the delicate scarf of a nymph. Nijinsky created this beloved work with static freeze like movement that resembles ancient Egyptian characters. The movement creates an illusion of two dimensional images that glide and shift in telling this unusual story.

 

Giselle - Act II Pas de Deux. Composer: Adolph Adam. Choreography: Coralli & Perrot. Premiere: June 14th, 1841 in Paris. Author: Jules Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Théophile Gautier. This beloved duet will be performed by Ted Sothern and Minnesota Dance Theatre’s Mifa Ko. The scene is Albrecht at Giselle’s grave where she appears as a sylph, and moved by the passions that make the story, they dance the pantomime of this love tragedy. Considered the most romantic ballet of all time, Giselle is a pure symbol of the classic ballet repertoire. Most ballerinas consider the role to be the greatest honor to perform as those truly qualified are very few.

 

Romeo & Juliet - Balcony Pas de Deux. Composer: Prokofiev. Choreography: Drotar. Premiere: February 14, 2004 at the O’Shaughnessy in St. Paul. The Balcony scene will be performed by Julie Tehven and Ted Sothern. The ballet is based on the play by Shakespeare and has been performed as a ballet set to both Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev scores of the same name. This scene of the star-crossed lovers is the most recognized romantic moment in literature and translates eloquently as a ballet.

 

La Sylphide - Act II Pas de Deux. Composer: H. Lovenskjold. Choreography: Bournonville, based on Filippo Taglioni. Premiere: March 12th, 1832 at the Paris Opera. La Sylphide will be performed by Michelle Mahowald and Matthew Powell. This ballet is set in Scotland, a land that was considered remote and exotic at the time. It was created by Taglioni for his daughter, Marie, to dance the role of the sylph. The Pas de Deux is from the second act where James enters a dense forest followed by the sylph with whom he is now in love, even though she continually evades him. It is only at the very end of this playful duet that the two ever touch. This romantic piece is known for the kilt worn by the male dancer.

 

Carmen - Pas de Deux. Choreography: Alberto Alonso. Composer: Bizet. The Pas de Deux will be danced by Tatiana Berenova & Pavel Homko. This ballet is infused with the tradition and mystery of Spain and the belief in the power of Fate. From the midst of the story emerge one man and one woman whom Fate binds together, sealing their destiny with a flower. The adaptation of Bizet's music that is most commonly used is that composed by Rodion Shchedrin for the ballet created for his wife, Maya Plisetskaya. The choreography for this ballet by Alberto Alonso began before a note of the music was even prepared.

 

Le Corsaire - Composer: Adolphe Adam. Choreographer: Marius Petipa.  Author: Jules Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges. Premiere: January 23rd, 1856 at the Paris Opera. This classic work will be performed by MDT’s Mifa Ko and Keith Glenn of the Tulsa Ballet. This ballet was made famous by the Russian revivals of it by Jules Perrot in 1858 and Marius Petipa in 1868 and is currently performed all over the world by many classical ballet companies. Rudolph Nureyev and Margot Fontaine performed this work as a duet though it is actually a Pas de Trois in the original full length ballet. Their performance, as a Pas de Deux, became legendary.

 

Le Spectre de la Rose – Premiere: April 19, 1911 by the Ballet Russe. Music: Carl-Maria von Weber. Choreography: Fokine. Spectre will be performed by Matthew Powell & Leah Gallas. The ballet begins as a young girl arrives in her bedroom holding a single rose and is drawn into the beauty and aroma of the rose as she drifts into sleep. The Spirit of the rose then weaves in and out of her dreamy fantasy as a beautiful rose-like male. The reality and dream blur as she begins to move with the ethereal rose creature in a dance that is lush in its innocent eroticism. The girl returns to her chair resumed in slumber warmed and fulfilled by her fantasy. The Spectre bids adieu and then makes the legendary leap through the window leaving the girl amidst Le Spectre de la Rose.

 

Swan Lake - Act III Pas de Deux (Black Swan). Composer: Tchaikovsky. Choreographer: Petipa. Author: Beghitchev / Geletzer. The Black Swan Pas de Deux will be performed by Tatiana Berenova and Pavel Homko. Swan Lake was staged for the first time as a ballet at the Bolshoi Theatre in 1877. This production was the only staging during the composer's life and, ironically, was a failure. In 1895, nearly twenty years later, choreographers Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov restaged the ballet in Saint Petersburg and the work became a legendary success. This version became the base for later interpretations.

 

The Dying SwanComposer: Saint Seans. Choreographer: Fokine. Performing is MDT’s Bolshoi-trained gold-medalist Tatiana Berenova. Diaghilev's Les Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo originated the legend, The Dying Swan. It was made famous by Anna Pavlova and is the most legendary solo in the classic ballet repertoire.

 

Aria – Composer: Vivaldi. Choreographer: Jennifer Hart. Music: The Aria Sposa Son Disprezzata. Hart’s Aria is performed with the artistry of Mifa Ko & Samual Fiepel. In celebration of all great works having once been new, Jennifer Hart has been invited to present Aria. Hart’s compelling new work is set to Vivaldi‘s Aria Sposa Son Disprezzata and is also being presented in Ballet Builders in New York City.