Hutton Honors College

HHC at the Fall Ballet: Ballets of Our Time
With Choreography by Twyla Tharp and George Balanchine

Friday, Oct. 10, 2008 * 7 p.m. To the Pointe Pre-performance Talk * 8 p.m. Performance
Musical Arts Center, 101 N. Jordan Ave. * SIGN-UP REQUIRED * Balcony Tickets: $10

IU Ballet Theatre's first production of the season, Ballets of Our Time, combines three distinct ballets: Sweet Fields (1996), featuring music by William Billings and choreography by Twyla Tharp; Endless Night, a world-premiere composed by Phillip Glass and choreographed by Michael Vernon; and Four Temperaments (1940), featuring the music of Paul Hindemith and the choreography of George Balanchine. As Michael Vernon has said of the performance, it could just as easily have been called "ballets ahead of their time."

The production features the work of some of the most celebrated choreographers of the twentieth century, a cappella choral music written by an eighteenth-century American hymnist, a score for string orchestra and piano by the well-known twentieth-century composer Paul Hindemith, and the music of Philip Glass. Yet, despite the marked differences in their compositional eras and styles, the works may not be so different as one might initially expect, for Hindemith's theme and variations form harkens back to more classical styles and Billings, lacking formal musical training, embraced dissonances that were, in some ways, before his time. The complicated interplay between these three ballets should make for an interesting evening. And, as a special treat, Endless Night will feature a special guest performance by Daniel Ulbricht, principal dancer of the New York City Ballet.

The HHC evening will start with To the Pointe, a pre-performance talk by Michael Vernon, the renowned choreographer/ballet master and chair of the IU Department of Ballet.

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