CMU School of Drama


Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre broadens range for season

TribLIVE: The increasing strength of Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre has emboldened artistic director Terrence Orr to offer up an ambitious range of dance for the company's 2015-16 season.

The company will perform works from 1856 to 2010 by nine choreographers, presented in three full-length ballets and two mixed programs.

Performances will be at the Benedum Center, Downtown, except as noted.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

I think that the Pittsburgh Ballet is making an awesome decision by moving in this direction. For a long time, the Pittsburgh Ballet has been on the table in terms of theatrical organizations in town, but I think that this season may move them higher up the ladder. This season seems balanced, yet bold. There are shows that are “sure” to be a success because of their reputation like “Peter Pan”, yet there are also shows that are pushing the organization like the mixed program with three pieces. These choices will broaden the type of audiences they will reach, therefore increasing their reputation in Pittsburgh. I’d be interested to see all of the shows together and see if there seems to be an overarching theme throughout them all. Essentially, was it just a bold, fresh collection of pieces or its it a season that makes sense together?

Sasha Mieles said...

I love to hear about when primarily classic art forms start to branch out into more things. I think that the Pittsburgh Ballet is going in a very interesting and exciting direction with electronic music and doing such difficult dances. Yes, they are still doing the typical money-making crowd pleasers, but I prefer to see less popular pieces. I am particularly excited for Le Corsaire as I have never seen a ballet which has pirates. I think that the branching out will do the Pittsburgh Ballet good, and probably bring it ballet back from being so selective in its audience members. I think that most opera companies should take a hint from this, and become more open to different types of opera in order to save their art. Even though the idea of doing less popular pieces is extremely risky, I believe it makes better art in general. Hopefully this season turns out well for the Pittsburgh Ballet, as it is a very interesting move.

Monica Skrzypczak said...

It is really great to see a ballet company grow so much that they can take on five shows in one season. They are doing one basically every month, and the line-up has a good mix of strong classics like “Peter Pan” and “The Nutcracker” that are sure to be successes, and more risky compilations of three shows in the mixed program. I think this is a really good move. It will expose people to less known shows that are still really good. I am particularly excited for them to do “Le Corsaire” not only because it sounds like an interesting show about pirates, but because, like Orr says in the article, it will challenge the dancers, especially the men. If they do it well, or even if they don’t, they will learn a lot and be even better for the next seasons. Orr said that he has had confidence in the women dancers especially for the last two years, and this can more the men up to the same level and the company can do even more challenging shows. I am really excited to see how they do this season.