Agnes deMille's masterwork changed the face of American ballet

New Jersey Ballet Company is among the most important arts organizations in the state today. The company consists of 20 artists from 10 nations who bring the best the world has to offer to New Jersey. The company maintains a repertory of exceptional breadth and quality – including classical, contemporary and cutting-edge works, and one of the nation’s most extensive collections of ballets for children. For more than 30 years, New Jersey Ballet dancers have given hundreds of thousands of public school students their first introduction to dance, and inspired in many a lifelong appreciation of the arts. The company also brings the best of New Jersey’s arts to the world with out-of-state and international touring. New Jersey Ballet is proud and honored to have been designated a Major Arts Institution by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts for “artistic excellence, substantial programming, and broad public service.”

Rodeo

SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 7:00pm
All-American Evening featuring
Rodeo
or, The Courting at Burnt Ranch
Choreography by Agnes deMille
Music by Aaron Copland
Staging by Paul Sutherland
Scenery by Oliver Smith
Costumes by Vasia Benusi with cooperation of Cherokee Trading Post
Boots by Ballet Makers
This production of Rodeo is presented with the cooperation of DeMille Productions, Anderson Ferrell, Director.

Rodeo created a sensation when it was premiered in 1942 by the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. The ballet was a departure from the traditional style at that time. Choreographer Agnes deMille based her work on a simple story that takes place on a remote ranch in the American Southwest. On a Saturday afternoon, cowboys gather in the corral for a rodeo in which they show off their skills in riding, roping and throwing. That evening, there is a dance at the ranch house. The theme of the ballet is a problem confronted by many American women from earliest pioneer times: how to get a good man. 

Rodeo will also be performed March 17 at Wilkins Theatre, Kean University, Union; April 26 at NJPAC, Newark; April 28 at bergenPAC, Englewood.

For Ella
Choreography by Margo Sappington
Staging by Valentina Kozlova
Music by Ella Fitzgerald and
Al Feldman, Jimmy Mundy, Jerry Rose, Dizzy Gillespie,
Frank Paparelli, Charlie Christian, Vincius de Moraes,
Benny Goodman, Antonion Carlos, Richard Allen
Costumes by George Ramos

For Ella is a witty, imaginative jazz ballet celebrating the genius of Ella Fitzgerald.  Fitzgerald possessed a remarkable 3-octave range, faultless phrasing and improvisational ability, also known as “scat.” In a career that lasted nearly six decades, she won 13 Grammy Awards, and was honored with the National Medal of Art and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Prelude, Fugue and Riffs
Choreography by Edward Villella
Music by Leonard Bernstein
Costumes Designed by John Wulp
Costumes Executed by Joyce Grygo

This lively work, full of American energy and vitality, was choreographed by Edward Villella, perhaps the greatest American premier danseur ever, was a protégé of Balanchine and Kennedy Center honoree. Here, he is inspired by the jazz and jitterbug rhythms of the music of Leonard Bernstein, one of America’s greatest composers and conductors.  Although the bent-kneed posing on pointe and skewed angles of the dancers’ arms make the dancing look carefree and nonchalant, the ballet is based on classical ballet movements and technique.

Rag House
Choreography by Timour Bourtasenkov
Music by Scott Joplin
Costumes by Lori Christman

Rag House

Ragtime music, with its distinctive toe-tapping finger-snapping syncopated rhythm, originally came from the Waltz. The beat keeps the dancers in constant motion in this lively romp through a 1920s road house. The music by Scott Joplin includes two of his most famous works; Maple Leaf Rag, said to be Joplin’s first hit, and The Entertainer.

SUNDAY, MARCH 4, 1:00 & 3:30pm
Sleeping Beauty
Music by Peter Tchaikovsky
Choreography after Marius Petipa
Staged by Eleanor D’Antuono
Costumes by Vasia Benusi, Paul McRae, Lori Christman
 
One of the most popular classical ballets ever produced, Sleeping Beauty’s story begins with the christening of Princess Aurora. The proud parents watch as courtiers and fairy folk arrive with gifts for the baby. Suddenly, the ceremony is interrupted by the arrival of Carabosse, furious that she has been left out. The angry fairy hurls a curse that Aurora will one day prick her finger on a spindle and die. As luck would have it, the Lilac Fairy still has her gift to offer. She alters the curse so that, although Aurora will prick her finger, she will not die, but rather will fall into a deep sleep from which she can only be awakened after a hundred years by the kiss of a prince.

Sleeping Beauty

Act One -  The Spell
Princess Aurora celebrates her 16th birthday at a party with family and friends. The King has invited four princely suitors from faraway lands who honor her with gifts of roses. The Lilac Fairy is there and so, too, is the dark presence of Carabosse. Spindles have long since been banned from the kingdom, but the wicked Carabosse slips in disguised as an old woman and presents Aurora with a spindle for her birthday, Of course, the princess pricks herself and falls into a deep sleep. Carabosse reveals herself in triumph, the Lilac Fairy returns to fulfill her promise, and the entire kingdom falls into a sleep that will last for a hundred years.

Act Two -  The Awakening
One hundred years have passed, and Prince Florimund is out hunting with some companions. Feeling melancholy, the Prince asks his companions to leave so he can be by himself. There in the forest, the Lilac Fairy appears and shows him a vision of the most beautiful woman he has ever imagined; it is Aurora. He imagines himself dancing with Aurora and falls instantly in love. When the vision disappears, the Prince begs the Lilac Fairy to take him to Aurora. He is shown to the overgrown castle, only to have the way barred by Carabosse. The Lilac Fairy banishes Carabosse from the kingdom. Inside the castle, the Prince finds Aurora and awakens her with a kiss. The Prince declares his love for Aurora and the King and Queen give the young couple their blessing.

Act Three -  The Wedding
The wedding is about to begin. The guests arrive; the fairy folk and the fairy tale characters of the Bluebird and the Enchanted Princess, Puss in Boots and the White Cat, Red Riding Hood and the Wolf. Everyone joins in a dance of celebration. Finally the Prince and Princess Aurora are united with each other and with the fairy tale characters whose world they inhabit, and everyone lives happily ever after.

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