RWB bringing back some old favourites in new season

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This article was published 14/03/2017 (3312 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Royal Winnipeg Ballet will perform revivals of some of its classics for its upcoming season.

The troupe’s 78th season begins Sept. 24 with Twyla Tharp’s The Princess & The Goblin at the Centennial Concert Hall and will also include the seasonal favourite Nutcracker, The Sleeping Beauty and a mixed program that includes Carmina Burana and Serenade.

André Lewis, the RWB’s executive artistic director, calls it a season of storytelling, which travels through “magical lands, where the power of beautifully told stories will thrill and delight our audiences.

“We’re looking to the future through the prism of the past,” Lewis said at a season launch news conference at the RWB’s Founders’ Studio on Graham Avenue.

The past includes a $1.1-million deficit for the troupe registered for the 2015-16 season (this was announced last November) and more than $2 million in losses accumulated over the past five years.

The future, at least for 2017-18, means performing revivals in order to keep expenses down, Lewis says. During the news conference, he mentioned one example — the troupe will be using costumes and sets for The Sleeping Beauty the RWB bought in the past instead of renting from other organizations. 

“We’re able to do it at minimal cost,” Lewis says of The Sleeping Beauty, which runs Feb. 28 to March 4, 2018, at the Centennial Concert Hall.

The RWB performed the world première of The Princess & The Goblin in 2012, in co-operation with the Atlanta Ballet, but the RWB will tackle the production on its own this season with help from the RWB School Professional Division, Lewis says.

Tharp is a two-time Emmy Award winner for her choreography on television, but is best known for her crossover ballets. She has turned the works of Frank Sinatra, the Beach Boys, Bob Dylan and Billy Joel into Broadway productions. The Princess & The Goblin is based on the 1872 children’s novel by George MacDonald, which follows a princess’s journey into the underworld.

Nutcracker returns to the Centennial Concert Hall, running from Dec. 21 to 30, with choreography by Galina Yordanova and Nina Menon. 

The RWB presents a visiting ballet production again in the upcoming season, following on the heels of the recent five-show run of Love Lies Bleeding by the Alberta Ballet. On Feb. 2, 2018, Canada’s Ballet Jörgen, which is based in Toronto, will perform Anastasia at the Pantages Playhouse Theatre.

The RWB’s final production of the season will be a mixed program that includes scenes from Serenade, the ballet created by famed choreographer George Balanchine, and Carmina Burana. It’s choreographed by Argentinean Mauricio Wainrot.

“It’s a gorgeous, gorgeous work, and we’re proud to be presenting it,” Lewis said of Serenade, which had its official première in 1935.

The troupe’s School Professional Division hosts two productions next season. It presents Spotlight from May 24 to 28, 2018, at the Royal MTC’s John Hirsch Mainstage and On The Edge June 6 to 8, 2018, at the Founders’ Studio.

Tickets for the upcoming season are available at the RWB office at 380 Graham Ave. or by phoning 204-956-2792 or 1-800-5667-4792.

alan.small@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter:@AlanDSmall