The Sarasota Ballet Opens 2022 – 2023 Season 

September 9 – Sarasota

The Sarasota Ballet returns for the 2022 – 2023 Season with a triple bill of fresh, exhilarating World Premieres, including two pieces by Company Dancers and Choreographers Richard House and Ricardo Graziano, as well as a new ballet by acclaimed Choreographer Gemma Bond. Alongside opening the Season with all new, never-before-seen ballets, Program 1 Premieres will also include live music accompaniment, a rare occurrence within the FSU Center for Performing Arts, by the Sarasota Artist Series Concerts.

Marking his main season choreographic debut with The Sarasota Ballet, Junior Principal Dancer Richard House is already well versed in creating ballets, with credits including works created for The Australian Ballet, The Australian Ballet School, The Sarasota Ballet Studio Company, and Trainees of The Margaret Barbieri Conservatory. Inspired by the concept of duality and surrealism, House’s intention is to challenge the audience’s eye, forcing viewers to perceive the piece from a state of hypnagogia, between consciousness and dreams right before the mind rests. House’s ballet is set to the music of Italian Composer Ludovico Einaudi’s Seven Days Walking, a distinctly minimalistic yet mesmerizing auditory chronicle of a seven-day journey along the Alps, with moments of sharp and ambitious drama followed by transcendent moments of tranquility and solitude, playing into the duality of the ballet’s inspiration.

Although this will be her first time working with The Sarasota Ballet, Choreographer Gemma Bond already knows The Sarasota Ballet’s Director Iain Webb, having met many years prior when Bond was dancing for The Royal Ballet and American Ballet Theatre. Bond, having had her first choreographic experience at the age of thirteen for The Royal Ballet’s Sir Kenneth Macmillan Choreographic Competition, has created works for companies such as Intermezzo Ballet Company, New York Theater Ballet, and the American Ballet Theatre Studio Company among many others, as well as her choreography being performed at the prestigious Erik Bruhn Competition. Bond’s ballet will feature the accompaniment of Samuel Barber’s Excursions and piano sonata, as well as costume design by Lauren Starobin. 

Resident Choreographer and Principal Dancer Ricardo Graziano closes the Program in a momentous way, presenting his tenth one-act ballet choreographed with the Company.  Set to the music of Russian Composer Dmitri Shostakovich’s Piano Trio #2, Graziano’s ballet is emblematic of a pilgrimage, with a group of nomads wandering through a deserted landscape, facing difficulties and pleasantries, and using community as a means to persevere. On his ballet, Graziano says “Throughout life’s journey we encounter multiple obstacles, are presented with pleasant situations and are gifted with relationships that help us grow stronger and wiser so we can move forward and be better prepared for the future that lies ahead, whatever it may be.”

Program 1 Premieres will include live music accompaniment by the Sarasota Artist Series Concerts. Formed in 1996, the non-profit Organization promotes excellence in live musical performances and features rising stars of the next generation. Collaborating with The Sarasota Ballet for the first time this coming 2022 – 2023 Season, live music accompaniment is uncommon at the FSU Center for Performing Arts, so The Sarasota Ballet is thrilled to be able to share the experience of the Sarasota Artist Series Concerts with audiences during an already compelling opening program of new ballets.

“What could be more inspiring to open the 2022 – 2023 Season than with a program of world premieres?” Says The Sarasota Ballet’s Director Iain Webb, “Commissioning new works is an important part of the company’s DNA, and for the dancers, it is an important experience to have a choreographer create their ballets around them. I’m thrilled to have Gemma here in Sarasota, and I am so looking forward to seeing what she, Ricardo, and Richard have created come to life on stage.”
 
 
Performance Schedule and Ticket Information

Program 1 Premieres l 21 – 23 October 2022
FSU Center for the Performing Arts

World Premiere
Choreography by Richard House
Ludovico Einaudi’s Seven Days Walking
 
World Premiere
Choreography by Gemma Bond
Samuel Barber’s Excursions and Piano Sonata
 
World Premiere
Choreography by Ricardo Graziano
Dmitri Shostakovich’s Piano Trio #2

Subscription Tickets
Full Season Subscribers can renew their subscription now, as well as New Subscribers and Flex Four Subscribers.  For information, please visit SarasotaBallet.org or call the box office at 941.359.0099, Monday through Friday, 10am to 4pm.

Single Tickets
Individual tickets for The Sarasota Ballet’s 2021 – 2022 Season, starting at $30, are available now at SarasotaBallet.org or by calling 941.359.0099.