A dazzling and dynamic program that you won’t forget.
October 24-November 3, 2024
Crystal Pite The Seasons’ Canon | Lia Cirio World Premiere
Sabrina Matthews Ein von Viel | Jorma Elo Plan to B
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Crystal Pite’s The Seasons’ Canon by Lindsay Thomas courtesy of Pacific Northwest Ballet
October 24-November 3, 2024
Crystal Pite The Seasons’ Canon | Lia Cirio World Premiere
Sabrina Matthews Ein von Viel | Jorma Elo Plan to B
Crystal Pite’s The Seasons’ Canon by Angela Sterling courtesy of Pacific Northwest Ballet
A highlight of the entire season, Crystal Pite’s The Seasons’ Canon is a powerhouse ballet featuring 54 dancers on stage. It was originally created for the Paris Opera Ballet and will be her first work in Boston. Set to Max Richter’s take on Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, her choreography draws on human emotion from her own life experiences.
“Creation for me is like looking through a lens. It’s a way to see the world in greater detail and clarity; it’s a magnified experience. It is the act of making that sharpens my awareness and connects me most deeply to the natural world and all the brutality and beauty it contains. The Seasons’ Canon is a gesture, an offering. It is as much my way of coping with the vastness and complexity of the natural world as it is a way of giving thanks for it.”
—Crystal Pite
Lia Cirio by Liza Voll
Principal Dancer Lia Cirio has been an artist with the Company for 20 years, and this world premiere marks her second choreographic work for the Boston Ballet main stage. Her ballet will feature neo-classical pointe work. Cirio’s ballets showcase a brilliant pairing of her own personal style and technique with her ability to highlight the unique talent of her fellow dancers.
“‘I hope that I can be that someone for that dreaming young ballerina, that might see me and think, ‘That’s me. I can do that too,’” she said. “Every time I go out there, I think of that and hope I inspire someone.'”
—Lia Cirio, WBUR
John Lam in Sabrina Matthews’ Ein von Viel by Gene Schiavone
Set to Bach’s beloved Goldberg Variations, Sabrina Matthews’ ballet is an intimate dance between two artists and a solo pianist. The piece was originally commissioned by Mikko Nissinen for Alberta Ballet in 2001 for two male dancers.
“Matthews matches the clarity of Bach’s score while consciously subverting the elegance with bits of “you lookin’ at me?” attitude and quirky nuances. Dynamics shift with quicksilver speed, long lines dissolve into squiggles, complemented by playful gestures – feet that paw the ground, hands that cover the face, backward runs. But it’s all fairly subtle, cast in phrases of tensile fluidity from which erupt brilliant leaps and turns in vivid asymmetric shapes.”
—Karen Campbell, The Boston Globe
Jorma Elo’s Plan to B by Gene Schiavone
Jorma Elo’s Plan to B is one of the most dynamic and thrilling ballets ever created. Six dancers captivate in a flurry of solos, duets, and trios that move with passion and velocity to the vivacious music of Henrich Ignaz Von Biber. The ballet reflects on the inevitable unpredictability of life and the hesitation and nervous energy we experience when we take leaps into the unknown.
“(Elo) knows classical technique and how to use it in new ways, how to transform it. Plan to B is a high-tech ballet in human terms, and its impact as pure movement is explosive. If movement were sound, Plan to B would be called high-decibel choreography.”
—Anna Kisselgoff, The New York Times
PERFORMANCE CALENDAR
Thursday, October 24 at 7:30 pm
Friday, October 25 at 7:30 pm
Saturday, October 26 at 7:30 pm
Sunday, October 27 at 1:30 pm
Thursday, October 31 at 7:30 pm
Friday, November 1 at 7:30 pm
Saturday, November 2 at 1:30 and 7:30 pm
Sunday, November 3 at 1:30 pm
With Appreciation
The Company gratefully acknowledges Barbara and Amos Hostetter for their outstanding support of our commitment to amplifying diverse artistic voices.
Boston Ballet’s production of Crystal Pite’s The Seasons’ Canon has been made possible by generous gifts from a Sponsorship Circle, including Lisa and Tom Blumenthal. Additional support provided by the Krupp Endowment for Contemporary Dance.
This production and the commission of Jorma Elo’s Plan to B were made possible by the generosity of Sylvia T. Pope.
Lia Cirio’s world premiere has been made possible in part through support from the Robert Ho Sherblom Dancer Fund.
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Please Note: The music in some ballets may be loud depending on where you are sitting and your own comfort level. Please plan accordingly.
Choreography
Lia Cirio
Music
Johann Sebastian Bach
Costume Design
Carolyn O’Brien
World Premiere
October 6, 2001, Alberta Ballet
Boston Ballet Premiere
March 6, 2008, Wang Theater, Boston
Choreography
Jorma Elo
Music
Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber
Costume Design
Jorma Elo
World Premiere
March 25, 2004, Boston Ballet
Choreography
Crystal Pite
Music
Max Richter (Recomposed by Max Richter: Antonio Vivaldi The Four Seasons, 2012)
Scenic Design and Reflected Light Concept
Jay Gower Taylor and Tom Visser
Costume Design
Nancy Bryant
Lighting Design
Tom Visser
Staging
Eric Beauchesne and Anna Herrmann
World Premiere
September 26, 2016; Paris Opera Ballet
The Seasons’ Canon is a co-production with Boston Ballet and Pacific Northwest Ballet.