by Jenn Kratochwill
(Las Vegas, NV)
Classic Americana
Serenade • Company B • Western Symphony
The Smith Center for the Performing Arts
with Orchestra
Saturday, November 11, 2017 7:30pm
Sunday, November 12, 2017 2:00pm
Serenade
Music by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Choreography by George Balanchine
Company B
Songs Sung by The Andrews Sisters
Choreography by Paul Taylor
Western Symphony
Traditional American melodies orchestrated by Hershy Kay
Choreography by George Balanchine
The Wild West to The Andrews Sisters!
The American Experience has been a boundless source of inspiration for art in all its forms. This Veterans Day weekend NBT celebrates that history with three dynamic pieces of Classic Americana. The program will begin with George Balanchine’s Serenade, his first ballet choreographed in America and one of his most visually arresting and emotionally stirring. Set to Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings, Balanchine’s lyrical, ethereal choreography will leave you breathless.
Following will be an NBT Company Premiere, Paul Taylor’s
Company B. This jiving journey back to World War II embraces with gusto all the merriment and sacrifice intertwined in everyday American life. Taylor’s masterful contemporary choreography is coupled with iconic recordings from The Andrews Sisters, making Company B a dancing-in-your-seat delight.
Closing the program with a high energy splash is another NBT Company Premiere, Balanchine’s rollicking Western Symphony, a carefree tale of a dusty Wild West town filled with rambunctious cowboys and free spirited dance hall girls ready for a night of fun. This love letter to the Old West is set to a symphony in four movements inspired by popular folk tunes, including Red River Valley, The Gal I Left Behind Me and Goodnight, Ladies. Blending classical ballet and American folk dance, this Balanchine masterpiece is as colorful and striking as a majestic frontier sunset.