Atlanta Ballet’s 2024|2025 performance season will begin with Fall Into Rhythm, an ambitious mixed bill featuring the works of three celebrated choreographers on the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre stage. Offered September 13-15, 2024, Fall Into Rhythm includes Elemental Brubeck with choreography by Lar Lubovitch, Tu Tu by Stanton Welch and a world premiere by Kiyon Ross commissioned to premiere at Atlanta Ballet.
“This trio of choreographers spans genre and musical forms to showcase the passion and power of our Atlanta Ballet company,” explains Atlanta Ballet’s Artistic Director Gennadi Nedvigin. “We are thrilled Kiyon, Stanton and Lar will be creating new energy on our stage through this showcase of stunning works.”
Kiyon Ross to Present World Premiere
Anchoring Fall Into Rhythm will be a world premiere by acclaimed choreographer Kiyon Ross, last represented on the Atlanta Ballet stage with Sum Stravinsky. Ross’s new work is expected to be a departure from his signature neoclassical style and includes 12 dancers.
Ross has devoted his career to ballet — as a dancer, choreographer, stager, faculty member, and administrator. He has choreographed works for Pacific Northwest Ballet, Ballet Arkansas, New York City Ballet Choreographic Institute and Spectrum Dance Theater. He is associate artistic director at Pacific Northwest Ballet.
Lar Lubovitch Interprets Jazz Legend
“You can’t understand America without understanding jazz, and you can’t understand jazz without understanding Dave Brubeck,” declared Barack Obama.
Elemental Brubeck, in which swaying hips, jazzy twists and breathtaking leaps channel the iconic style of Dave Brubeck’s rhythmically complex “jazz-meets-symphony” music, features creative choreography by the giant of modern dance movement Lar Lubovitch. The work is described as a “greatest hits of American dance” with an uplifting freedom of form.
Declared a jazz master by the National Endowment for the Arts, Dave Brubeck has been designated a “Living Legend” by the Library of Congress with a career that spanned over six decades. His album Time Out was the first jazz album to sell a million copies and his “Take Five” is also still the biggest jazz single in history.
Lar Lubovitch is well matched to Brubeck’s expansive catalogue. In 50 years, Lubovitch has choreographed over 110 dances including works with Olympic medalists, ice-dances and Broadway musical theatre re-interpretations of Sondheim and Rodgers & Hammerstein.
Stanton Welch Delivers Sexy, Stylized Classical Ensemble Piece
Acclaimed Australian choreographer Stanton Welch’s Tu Tu will be set to Maurice Ravel’s passionate Piano Concerto in G Major. This highly stylized classical work with a playful, unconventional twist features a large ensemble of 22 dancers in three movements. Costumes for this work are inspired by Gustave Klimt, with the ensemble outfitted in brilliantly colored tutus and briefs. Moving from buoyant to beguiling, it is a visually arresting work set off with boldly colored costumes and dramatic lighting.
Welch is artistic director of the Houston Ballet, America’s fifth largest ballet company. He has created works for his resident company as well as San Francisco Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, The Australian Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet and Royal Danish Ballet. For his contributions to the world of dance and for his significant service to the performing arts as a ballet dancer, mentor, choreographer and artistic director, he was awarded the Order of Australia honor.
The Season Continues
Offering its full line-up of programs at Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, Atlanta Ballet’s eclectic repertoire this season spans the history of the dance form, highlighted by beloved classics and inventive originals.
Following this exciting season opener, Atlanta Ballet’s 2024|2025 performance season continues with its acclaimed production of The Nutcracker December 7–26, 2024; a world premiere The Rite of Spring by choreographer-in-residence Claudia Schreier set to Igor Stravinsky’s iconic work performed with power and mystery by the Atlanta Ballet Orchestra February 7–14, 2025; the season’s family ballet The Swan Princess, February 15–16, 2025 by Atlanta Ballet 2, with choreography by internationally acclaimed Bruce Wells; the family-friendly enchanted fairytale classic Coppélia with the work’s original choreography by George Balanchine set to the music of Léo Delibes, performed live by the Atlanta Ballet Orchestra March 21–23, 2025; and the grand finale Catch Tuplet, a mixed bill program comprised of works by an all-European slate of choreographers including Liam Scarlett, Alexander Ekman and Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, who will present her latest world premiere (following all-time hitCoco Chanel: The Life of a Fashion Icon), presented May 9–11, 2025.
