JOFFREY BALLET OFFERS RARE GLIMPSE
INTO THE WORK BEHIND THE GRACE
IN LIVE STREAM OF SWAN LAKE REHEARSAL
Thursday, August 21
(August 18, 2014) – For the first time, The Joffrey Ballet offers the public a rare glimpse into the rehearsal studio when it streams live, via its online YouTube channel, a rehearsal of Swan Lake. Internationally renowned choreographer Christopher Wheeldon will coach the dancers on his re-imagined production, which will have its Chicago Premiere by The Joffrey Ballet at the Auditorium Theatre (50 E. Congress Parkway), October 15-26. Seeing the master at work and watching the impeccably trained dancers of the company is a one-day-only opportunity, Thursday, August 21, 11:30 am – 3 pm.
Ashley Wheater, Joffrey Artistic Director, will serve as host and moderator for viewers, introducing Wheeldon and conducting brief interviews with Wheeldon and lead dancers during periodic rehearsal breaks.
The Joffrey/Chicago Premiere of Wheeldon’s Swan Lake represents the first time The Joffrey Ballet has ever presented any Swan Lake in its almost 60-year history. A $1.5 million production with opulent costumes by Jean-Marc Puissant, scenic design by Adrianne Lobel and music by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Wheeldon sets Swan Lake in the 19th century milieu of the Paris Opera Ballet, during the time when Tchaikovsky was actually composing Swan Lake and when Edgar Degas was on the rise. Young boy Siegfried daydreams of escaping rehearsal for the lake while the ensemble prepares for a major opening night gala performance of Swan Lake, thus positioning the story as a ballet within a ballet. The ballerinas and their wealthy patrons serve as the central characters in a re-telling of the classic fantasy about love, jealousy and transformation.
Single tickets for the October 15-26 performances, priced $32-$155, are available for purchase at The Joffrey Ballet’s official Box Office located in the lobby of Joffrey Tower, 10 E. Randolph Street, as well as the Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University Box Office, all Ticketmaster Ticket Centers, by telephone at (800) 982-2787, or online at www.ticketmaster.com.
To learn more about choreographer Christopher Wheeldon, visit here, and for more information on The Joffrey Ballet and its programs, please visit joffrey.org.
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