Stravinsky and other classics reign over this evening of dance on February 19-22, 2009, at the Lyric Theatre!

Apollo was Balanchine’s first great public success. Balanchine looked upon Apollo as the turning point of his life, "in its sustained oneness of tone and feeling” (NYC Ballet Notes). Apollo traces the birth of the god of music, poetry and prophecy – and his education through (and flirtation with) the three muses Terpsichore, Calliope and Polyhymnia.

Twyla Tharp’s As Time Goes By, set to the music of Franz Josef Haydn, is especially meaningful to Artistic Director William Whitener, who danced in the original cast. Tharp seeks to explore the raw power and kinetic force of movement through deliberate lapses in ballet decorum. Described as gracious, clever and beautifully kinetic, the ballet is casual in manner and delicately complicated.

End of Time, choreographed by Ben Stevenson, is set to the music of Sergei Rachmaninov. This pas de deux explores the bond between the last man and woman on earth. As far as dancing goes, “Stevenson continues to raise the barre…,” (Fort Worth Scene).

The Winter Show will conclude with Firebird by the choreographer Yuri Possokhov set to the music of Igor Stravinsky. The ballet is based on Russian folktales centered on the magical glowing bird of the same name that is both a blessing and a curse to its captor. In Possokhov’s Firebird, which uses Stravinsky’s reduced 1945 version of the score, he has gone back to the folk tale at the heart of the narrative. A simple youth with a noble heart, Prince Ivan sets out on a quest through a magical realm and encounters two creatures, a glittering, golden firebird and a beautiful princess. After falling in love with the princess, Ivan must choose between enchantment and reality. Don’t miss what the DanceView Times calls a “…lovely, clearly told and imaginatively fashioned Firebird...”

The Kansas City Symphony will accompany these ballets.

Apollo
Choreography:  George Balanchine
Music: Igor Stravinsky  

As Time Goes By
Choreography:  Twyla Tharp
Music:  Franz Joseph Haydn

End of Time
Choreography: Ben Stevenson
Music: Sergei Rachmaninov

Firebird
Choreography:  Yuri Possokhov
Music:  Igor Stravinsky

PHOTO CREDITS
Dancer Chelsea Wilcox. Photographer Kenny Johnson.