Celebrate Jerome Robbins At Australian Ballet

The mixed bill features three of his most loved works created by Robbins in an extremely fertile five-year period in the 1950s – Afternoon of a Faun, The Cage and The Concert - plus a work created later in his life, A Suite of Dances.

The works are set to extraordinary scores by musical greats Debussy, Stravinsky, Chopin and Bach respectively. Artistic Director David McAllister selected the works for their artistic breadth – from dark to comic, sensual to poignant. Jerome Robbins is perhaps best known for his choreography and co-direction of the massively influential film West Side Story and Broadway hit Fiddler on the Roof.

But Robbins was also an enormously successful choreographer for theatre and ballet during his lifetime, and his works continue to be performed around the world ten years after his death. This programme salutes Robbins by presenting very different sides to his imagination, ranging from the intriguingly dark to the laugh-out-loud funny.

Artistic Director David McAllister said, "I am delighted to be staging this tribute to Jerome Robbins who left behind a body of work that influenced dance culture all over the world. He will be forever cherished as a choreographer who bridged the worlds of ballet and Broadway."

Sydney audiences will also have a chance to see international guest artist and Dutch National Ballet Principal, Cedric Ygnace, dance select performances of Afternoon of the Faun and A Suite of Dances. He won gold in the Eurocity-dans competition, the Espoir International de la Danse and the Prix de Lausanne in 1996, and the Alexandra Radius prize in 2004.

Cedric is no stranger to Australian shores. He previously guest starred with the company in 2006 opposite Madeliene Eastoe in Giselle and starred in Balanchine's influential Work, Apollo in 2007. This tribute bill will be staged by Bart Cook, one of the leading repetiteurs of George Balanchine's and Jerome Robbins' work.

He was a principal during the golden 1980s at New York City Ballet and worked extensively with Jerome Robbins originating and performing soloist roles in The Cage, Glass Pieces, I'm Old Fashioned, Dances at a Gathering, The Concert and Opus 19. He was appointed Assistant Ballet Master to Jerome Robbins by George Balanchine in 1980 and served in that capacity until 1993. He has toured throughout the world with New York City Ballet and with Mikhail Baryshnikov and Friends. Bart arrives in Melbourne on Monday 17 March to begin work with the dancers and will travel to Sydney for the premiere.

New York trip for Aussie dancers Associate Artistic Director Danilo Radojevic and three of our male dancers Damien Welch, Marc Cassidy and Remi Wortmeyer travelled to New York City in February this year to learn the exquisite solo A Suite of Dances from New York City Ballet master Jean Pierre Frohlic who was Robbins' long time assistant and worked with him on staging Fancy Free. Robbins originally created A Suite of Dances on ballet legend Mikhail Baryshnikov in 1994 at the age of 75, after he had officially retired. This is the first time this work will be seen in Australia. -- www.australianballet.com.au