The Harris Theater's 2006 presentation of New York City Ballet (NYCB), one of the foremost ballet companies in the world, marked the beginning of Harris Theater Presents. Now under the leadership of Artistic Director Jonathan Stafford and Associate Artistic Director Wendy Whelan, NYCB returns to Chicago as part of its 75th anniversary season in two distinct programs celebrating past, present, and future.
In Masters at Work: Balanchine + Robbins, NYCB presents works by two foundational choreographers, George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins. Balanchine’s The Four Temperaments, noted as “one of the richest and most abundantly expressive of all dances” by The New York Times, references the medieval concept of psychological humors through its classical grounded but definitively modern movement. Robbins’ In the Night showcases the choreographer’s fascination with the music of Frédéric Chopin, focusing on three vastly contrasting sets of lovers — from innocent to impetuous — who meet beneath a midnight sky. The program concludes with Balanchine’s classic Serenade, a romantic work of immense sweep set to a transcendent Tschaikovsky score.
