Kansas City Ballet’s 52nd Season of Dynamic Dance Concludes with Two World Premieres and Kansas City Premiere Showstopper
Toni Pimble’s Concerto Grosso, Todd Bolender’s Donizetti Pas de Deux, Jessica Lang’s A Solo in Nine Parts, and George Balanchine’s Who Cares?
Complete Spring Program May 6-9 at the Lyric Theatre

KANSAS CITY, MO (March 23, 2010) — Kansas City Ballet’s 2009-2010 season concludes with Spring Performances May 6–9. Artistic Director William Whitener had this to say, “As part of our commitment to the future of the field of dance, I’m especially pleased to bring Kansas City audiences two commissioned works this spring. These world premieres by two highly respected female choreographers are a wonderful addition to our repertory. George Balanchine’s and George Gershwin’s high spirited and delectable Manhattan cocktail, Who Cares?, and a much beloved Todd Bolender pas de deux complete this diverse program.”

Spring Performances
May 6-9, 2010 | Lyric Theatre | Featuring the Kansas City Symphony

World Premieres of Concerto Grosso by Toni Pimble and A Solo in Nine Parts by Jessica Lang—who brought Splendid Isolation III to the Fall Performances—and Todd Bolender’s Donizetti Pas de Deux. The program will conclude with the much anticipated Company premiere of George Balanchine’s salute to Gershwin, Who Cares?.

Kansas City Ballet
Spring Performances at a Glance 

Concerto Grosso (World Premiere)
Choreography: Toni Pimble                    Music: Ernest Bloch

Donizetti Pas de Deux
Choreography: Todd Bolender                Music: Gaetano Donizetti

A Solo in Nine Parts (World Premiere)
Choreography: Jessica Lang                    Music: Antonio Vivaldi

Who Cares? (Kansas City Premiere)
Choreography: George Balanchine           Music: George Gershwin

Thursday, May 6                               7:30 p.m.
Friday, May 7                                     7:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 8                                2:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, May 9                                   2:00 p.m.

About the Spring Performances
The Kansas City Symphony, conducted by Kansas City Ballet Music Director Ramona Pansegrau, will accompany these ballets. Music from the 2009-2010 season is available at iMix Tunes by following the link on www.kcballet.org.

The Spring Performances will open with the World Premiere of Concerto Grosso by renowned choreographer Toni Pimble. This dynamic and tender work features 14 dancers in four movements set to Ernest Bloch’s Concerto Grosso No.1 for strings and piano.  Ms. Pimble’s ballets have been performed by numerous American companies, including Two’s Company for New York City Ballet as part of the prestigious Diamond Project.

The Spring Performances continue with the gypsy gaiety of Donizetti Pas de Deux—the work of Todd Bolender featuring the music of Gaetano Donizetti. Excerpted from Bolender’s full length ballet first staged on the State Opera and Ballet Company in Frankfurt, Germany, the pas de deux has since been performed by Pacific Northwest Ballet, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, and Kansas City Ballet. The music is a compilation of operatic themes from Donizetti’s La Favorita.

Noted choreographer Jessica Lang returns following her huge success with the Kansas City premiere of Splendid Isolation III in the Fall Performances. Her World Premiere ballet, A Solo in Nine Parts, is set to the music of Antonio Vivaldi. This contemporary piece in three movements features a whimsical and touching play on the music of Vivaldi. About creating the ballet Lang said, “There are nine solo moments for one violin in the first and third movements in this Vivaldi score and I cast nine dancers so each dancer could have a moment to be that solo voice within the group. The dance is a reflection of the connection between working as a group and then taking your time in the front as a solo.” Ms. Lang’s numerous commissions substantiates The Denver Post quote, “Expect big things from Lang. She is a major choreographic talent.”

Closing the season is the delightful crowd pleaser from George Balanchine, Who Cares? In 1937, George Gershwin asked Balanchine to come to Hollywood to work with him on Samuel Goldwyn’s Follies. Tragically, Gershwin was felled by a brain tumor before he completed the ballet music for the film. Thirty-three years later, Balanchine choreographed Who Cares? to 12 songs Gershwin composed between 1924 and 1931, including “Strike Up the Band,” “Bidin’ My Time,” “’S Wonderful,” “The Man I Love,” “Stairway to Paradise,” “Embraceable You,” “Fascinatin’ Rhythm,” “Who Cares?,” “My One and Only,” “Liza,” and “I Got Rhythm.” Orchestrator Hershy Kay (Chorus Line, Evita) drew extensively on Gershwin’s own piano arrangements of his songs taken from player piano rolls. Balanchine used the songs to portray an exuberance that is both broadly American and charged with the distinctive sophisticated energy of Manhattan.

Sponsors
The Spring Performances have been generously underwritten in part by the Miller Nichols Charitable Foundation. Kansas City’s 2009-2010 season is supported in part by the following: the Muriel McBrien Kauffman Foundation, the Missouri Arts Council, the ArtsKC Fund, The Kansas City Star, Midwest Airlines, Hotel Phillips, the Kansas City Ballet Guild, 98.1 KUDL, and KSHB TV Action News. Toni Pimble’s Concerto Grosso is being sponsored in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts as well as the Miller Nichols Charitable Foundation. Jessica Lang’s A Solo in Nine Parts is made possible by a grant from the Jerome Robbins New Essential Works Program in partnership with the Miller Nichols Charitable Foundation.

About Kansas City Ballet
Founded in 1957, Kansas City Ballet is a 25-member professional ballet company under the direction of Artistic Director William Whitener and Executive Director Jeffrey J. Bentley. The company’s mission is to offer our community, region and dance profession, dance experiences of the highest quality. Kansas City Ballet is home to the Kansas City Ballet School for nearly 600 children and adults, offering professional training for the career-minded student as well as for those seeking a healthy lifestyle. Through our professional company, school and community outreach programs such as ROAD, Project X, and Dance INFORMances, we seek to nurture and develop our artists, audiences and students in the creativity, diversity and joy of dance. Our new home, Kansas City Ballet’s Bolender Center for Dance and Creativity, opening in Spring 2011 at Union Station, in conjunction with our new stage at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, is poised to make Kansas City AND Kansas City Ballet a true destination for dance.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Season Subscription Information
To make ballet affordable for everyone, the Series Subscription Package includes major savings and benefits for the Fall, Winter, and Spring Repertory Performances including: ticket discounts, savings on single ticket prices, priority seating, free ticket exchanges and the chance to purchase discounted tickets for The Nutcracker before they go on sale to the general public. For ticket information for the 2010-2011 season, please call Kansas City Ballet ticket box office at 816.931.2232 or visit our Web site at www.kcballet.org. Season subscribers will be the first to choose their seats in the new Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts for our 2011-2012 season.

Student Discounts
Students may arrive at the Lyric box office one to two hours prior to the Spring Performances, and purchase a select seat for just $12 with a valid I.D.

BARRE: Kansas City Ballet’s Young Friends Group
Kansas City Ballet BARRE is a subscription group for ballet enthusiasts, ages 21-40.  They invite you to share a dynamic season with other young professionals from the community who support the arts.  The BARRE motto: “Art you can party with,” truly describes what they are all about.  Kansas City Ballet BARRE members enjoy a Friday night season ticket that includes happy hours, discounted Nutcracker tickets, backstage tours, meeting the dancers and mingling with other members at special events — all while supporting Kansas City Ballet.  For more information, please contact Karen at 816.931.2232 ext.1304, email barre@kcballet.org, or visit the website at www.kcbbarre.org.

Join BARRE on Friday, May 7 at 5:30 p.m. for a pre-show happy hour with drinks and appetizers provided at Hotel Phillips before attending the 7:30 p.m. Spring Performances. Free valet parking at Hotel Phillips. Show and party tickets for non-BARRE members are $35 and free for BARRE members. Reservations are preferred.

Receive daily updates by joining the KCB Fan Page at www.facebook.com/kcballet and following @kcballet on Twitter.

Footnotes
Artistic Director William Whitener and guest dancers, choreographers, and musicians offer audience members an insider’s view on the story line, choreography, history, costumes, and music prior to each repertory performance. These informal discussions are free for all ticket holders and are held at the theater one hour prior to curtain for Kansas City Ballet repertory shows.

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