Texas Ballet Theater announces 2007-2008 season

by Shawn Parikh

Texas Ballet Theater has recently announced their new season that will perform at Bass Hall in Fort Worth, the Majestic Theatre, and The Music Hall at Fair Park in Dallas. The season features a wide variety of work and even includes a world premiere. Season tickets are available online or by calling 1-877-828-9200. Season subscriptions range from $30-$363 and single tickets start at $18. Here is what they will be bringing to the community next season:

• Coppélia, at Bass Hall from Sept 21-23. The story of a doll that comes to life - or does she? Enter the engaging world of Coppélia, ballet's timeless tale of true love tested by an eccentric toymaker. Tony-Award winning designer Desmond Heeley's sumptuous sets and opulent costumes welcome audiences into a sunny storybook village where quaint customs and spirited dancing paint a delightful scene. But things are not always what they seem, especially when quarreling lovers encounter the clever creations – and evil intentions – of the mysterious Dr. Coppelius. It is set to the original score by Léo Delibes performed by the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Jack Buckhannan.
• Majestic Celebration, at the Majestic Theatre from October 5-7. The program features Don Quixote Pas de Deux, two world premiere Pas de Deux by Artistic Director Ben Stevenson and a world premiere piece by award-winning choreographer and Company member Peter Zweifel.
• The Nutcracker at Bass Hall from November 30-December 16 and at the Music Hall from December 20-24. Children of all ages will delight in a Christmas tree that grows forty feet while Clara accompanies her new toy nutcracker into the “Land of Snow”. Be enchanted as snow falls on the audience and dancers, and become a part of Clara’s journey through the “Kingdom of Sweets”. Designer Campbell Baird’s sets and costumes take the story to 19th century Germany, where young Clara receives a magical nutcracker doll for Christmas from the mysterious Dr. Drosselmeyer. In Clara’s Christmas Eve dream, her doll transports her to a world of battling mice, dancing snowflakes, waltzing flowers and the Sugar Plum Fairy.
• Jazz Royalty at the Majestic Theatre from February 8-10, 2008 and at Bass Hall from Feburary 15-17, 2008. They will present a world premiere production with vocalist Dame Cleo Laine and Sir John Dankworth. The pair brings their celebrated sound to a unique program of jazz and ballet to both The Majestic Theatre and Bass Performance Hall. Witness a program of innovative dance performed to the incomparable artistry of Cleo Laine and John Dankworth.
• Dracula, at the Music Hall from March 28-30, 2008 and at Bass Hall from April 18-20, 2008. Set to the spellbinding music of Franz Liszt, the tale unfolds in the Count’s castle in Romania, where ghostly lighting draws the audience into the chilling castle crypt. The atmosphere breathes with the spirit of evil as Dracula seals his latest marriage with a bite. Festivities at the picturesque village don’t escape the cloud cast by the count on the hunt. Trapping another victim in his vast bat-shaped cloak, he whisks her away in a frenzied coach that careens toward the castle gate. But this time, the count mixes with the wrong maiden. He’s hypnotic. He’s confident. He’s calculating. With sets by designer Thomas Boyd, gothic costumes by New York designer Judanna Lynn and lighting by Tim Hunter, Texas Ballet Theater takes us deep into what The New York Times calls “a Dracula beyond Bram Stoker’s darkest dreams!”