Astro Bug

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. - AstroBug -- American Repertory Ballet (ARB) announces its highly anticipated 2024-2025 season, a dynamic celebration of classic repertoire alongside exciting new works. The season's journey will be a global passport, taking audiences from a state of awed admiration, through The Nutcracker's Land of Sweets, to enjoying a passionate fiesta of movement after a jaunt through the Scottish Highlands.

A founding resident company of the state-of-the-art New Brunswick Performing Arts Center (NBPAC), American Repertory Ballet presents three engaging programs of dance at its home venue with WONDERMENT in October 2024, the world premiere of SPIRIT OF THE HIGHLANDS in March 2025, and PASIÓN in May 2025. Additionally, ARB's celebrated touring production of THE NUTCRACKER will return for the holiday season in November and December 2024 at various venues throughout New Jersey.

"Our 2024-2025 season has American Repertory Ballet going to the next level and then some!" says Ethan Stiefel, ARB's visionary leader who has artfully curated each program. "From superlative, existing works by preeminent choreographers like Lar Lubovitch, Antony Tudor and Stephanie Martinez, to new creations by Luis Napoles and myself, the company's notable versatility and artistry will be on full display. Whether one has a fondness for the full-length classics such as The Nutcracker and Spirit of the Highlands (La Sylphide), or one relishes innovative, shorter works thoughtfully selected for our dancers and audiences, there is no doubt that each ARB experience promises to captivate and delight."

WONDERMENT

WONDERMENT, American Repertory Ballet's opening program of the 2024-2025 season, will delight both audiences new to ballet and aficionados alike. Presented at the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center (NBPAC) on Friday, October 18 through Sunday, October 20, 2024, WONDERMENT is an innovative program of four diverse dance works. Featured on the bill will be Antony Tudor's Little Improvisations, a "[depiction of] two children playing in an attic on a rainy day," per AntonyTudor.org archives, and Lar Lubovitch's Something About Night, set to choral music by Franz Schubert. Also featured will be the renowned Swan Lake "Black Swan Pas and Coda," an iconic display of technical bravura, and the world premiere of a new ballet choreographed by Ethan Stiefel inspired by prolific baroque composer, conductor, and ballet dancer Jean Baptiste Lully, and one of his protégés, Marin Marais.

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New Brunswick Performing Arts Center | New Brunswick, NJ
Friday, October 18, 2024 at 7:00 PM
Saturday, October 19, 2024 at 2:00 PM & 7:00 PM
Sunday, October 20, 2024 at 2:00 PM

THE NUTCRACKER

A holiday tradition for sixty years, American Repertory Ballet's THE NUTCRACKER  is one of the longest continuously running productions in the nation and a treat for all ages! With thrilling choreography set to Tchaikovsky's magnificent score, ARB's professional company will be joined by students from Princeton Ballet School to tell the story of Clara, a young girl who receives a magical Christmas gift and embarks on an enchanted journey. THE NUTCRACKER holds a special place in the hearts of both new and longtime patrons, becoming synonymous with the holiday season. Performances will take place from Friday, November 29 through Sunday, December 22, 2024 in Princeton, Red Bank, Trenton, and New Brunswick.

McCarter Theatre Center | Princeton, NJ
* Ticket link coming soon
Friday, November 29, 2024 at 2:00 PM & 7:00 PM
Saturday, November 30, 2024 at 1:00 PM & 6:00 PM
Sunday, December 1, 2024 at 1:00 PM

Two River Theater | Red Bank, NJ
* Ticket link coming soon
Saturday, December 7, 2024 at 1:00 PM & 6:00 PM
Sunday, December 8, 2024 at 1:00 PM

Patriots Theater at the War Memorial | Trenton, NJ
* Ticket link coming soon
Saturday, December 14, 2024 at 1:00 PM & 5:00 PM

State Theatre New Jersey | New Brunswick, NJ
* With live orchestra and choir
Friday, December 20, 2024 at 7:30 PM
Saturday, December 21, 2024 at 2:00 PM & 7:00 PM
Sunday, December 22, 2024 at 1:00 PM & 5:00 PM

SPIRIT OF THE HIGHLANDS

American Repertory Ballet presents the breathtaking world premiere of Ethan Stiefel's SPIRIT OF THE HIGHLANDS on Friday, March 7 through Sunday, March 9, 2025. An adaptation of the well-known Bournonville ballet La Sylphide, SPIRIT OF THE HIGHLANDS re-imagines the tale of a Scotsman's romantic pursuit of a mystical forest spirit. Stiefel traces his mother's family roots back to the Scottish Highland Clan Munro, and will infuse his own authentic Scottish heritage into the choreography and overall design aesthetics of this lively and bewitching ballet. Partnering once again with Howard C. Jones (scenic design), Janessa Cornell Urwin (costume design), and Joseph Walls (lighting design), Stiefel assembles an extraordinary creative team to help fully realize his artistic vision.

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SPIRIT OF THE HIGHLANDS is made possible by a generous Leading Sponsor gift from The Ted & Mary Jo Shen Charitable Gift Fund. Additional production support comes from B. Sue Howard and the E.J. Grassmann Trust.

New Brunswick Performing Arts Center | New Brunswick, NJ
Friday, March 7, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Saturday, March 8, 2025 at 2:00 PM & 7:00 PM
Sunday, March 9, 2025 at 2:00 PM

PASIÓN

ARB's 2024-2025 season at New Brunswick Performing Arts Center concludes with PASIÓN, a mixed bill of new and known works, presented on Friday, May 9 through Sunday, May 11, 2025. The program includes an excerpt from the classic Marius Petipa ballet Paquita, as well as the highly anticipated return of Stephanie Martinez's celebrated commission The Time That Runs Away. Heralded as "an example of dance art at its finest" by Critical Dance, the piece showcases nine dancers morphing dreamily through a variety of configurations to six diverse songs that will leave the audience teeming with a sense of carpe diem.

Also featured will be a world premiere by Cuban choreographer and Princeton Ballet School faculty member Luis Napoles. Taking the word "Compasso" (c.1300, meaning: space, area, extent, circumference) as a starting point, the work explores the balance of the individual voice within a larger group, relating the term's meanings and origins to our lives via the physical dancing body.

New Brunswick Performing Arts Center | New Brunswick, NJ
Friday, May 9, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Saturday, May 10, 2025 at, 2:00 PM & 7:00 PM
Sunday, May 11, 2025 at 2:00 PM