Olympic Ballet Theatre presents two premieres: highlights from The Sleeping Beauty; & Griffes with the Seattle Chamber Players

Closing the 2011-2012 Season under the outstanding direction of OBTs’ new Artistic Directors, Oleg Gorboulev and Mara Vinson, the Edmonds based ballet company will present two premieres; highlights from The Sleeping Beauty; plus a contemporary piece set to the music of American composer Charles Griffes.

Excerpts from The Sleeping Beauty will include selections from Act III, where characters such as Princess Florine and Blue Bird, Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf, The White Cat and Puss in Boots, dance in celebration of the union of Princess Aurora and Prince Desire. 

Back by popular demand is guest artist Le Yin, who will dance the role of Prince Desire in highlights from The Sleeping Beauty. Yin is a former principal dancer with Pacific Northwest Ballet and the Houston Ballet, and a gold medalist of the Chinese National Ballet competition. His previous roles with OBT include Franz in the 2011 premiere of Coppellia and most recently, the prince in The Nutcracker.

With tremendous support from the Hazel Miller Foundation for the creation of brand new costumes and set pieces for highlights from The Sleeping Beauty, it is in OBTs’ long-range plans to produce the full-length ballet in its entirety within the next 5 years. A fundraising effort has begun; OBT welcomes your support.

For the second part of the program, OBT will present a brand new piece from a score, The Kairn of Koridwen, by American composer Charles Griffes (1884-1920). It is a tale of forbidden love between the druidess Carmelis and Mordred, a Gallic warrior in search of adventure in a special collaborative project with locally and internationally known Seattle Chamber Players.

The project reveals the special genre of chamber ballet, with intimately-gauged music composed specifically for choreographic staging.

  

The ensemble, led by Dr. Elena Dubinets, Vice President of Artistic Planning for the Seattle Symphony, has been acknowledged by the ASCAP/Chamber Music America Award for Adventurous Programming. This special collaboration with OBT is partly funded by the National Endowment for the Arts.

The performances of highlights from The Sleeping Beauty and Griffes will take place at the Everett Performing Arts Center April 14 at 2pm, and Edmonds Center for the Arts April 22 at 5pm.

Prices are $30 for Adults, $25 for students and seniors, and $20 for children under 10. Service charges apply. All seats are reserved. Tickets for all performances may be purchased by calling Olympic Ballet Theatre 425-774-7570, or online. 

Located at 700 Main Street in Edmonds, Olympic Ballet Theatre, 425-774-7570, offers a thriving professionally oriented ballet company and school, which promotes dance as a creative performing art and engages the widest possible audiences with a stimulating repertoire of classical, contemporary and dramatic ballets.