An ode to the astronaut!
As part of its 40th anniversary season celebrations, a new world premiere work commissioned by artistic director Julie Kent and choreographed by Ethan Stiefel to commemorate President Kennedy's 1961 address on space exploration, and the impact that the astronaut has had on our collective concsiousness. Frontier is performed to the music by composer Adam Crystal, and conducted by Martin West. In addition, the program features works by Anthony Tudor and Sir Frederick Ashton.
Antony Tudor's psychological ballet Lilac Garden is set during the Edwardian period and tells the tragic tale of a young woman betrothed to a man she is not in love with, whilst saying goodbye to her lover. This work was created in 1936 for London's Ballet Rambert (now Rambert Dance Company) and set to the music of Ernest Chausson.
Sir Frederick Ashton's work The Dream is a first for Washington Ballet, and provides a new take on Shakespeare's Midsummers' Night Dream; it was created originally for the Royal Ballet in 1964 and has been lauded by the New York Times.