Ballet Chicago Balanchine program May 5 and 6, Harris Theater, Chicago

[Jack Reed]

Ballet Chicago usually presents its Spring Repertory program in the 1000-seat Athenaeum Theater about four miles north of the center of the city, but on May 5 at 8:00 PM and May 6 at 3:00 PM they will perform their first program in the 1500-seat Harris Theater downtown, a venue used by some major touring companies like NYCB and POB. The repertory this Spring will consist of three - or most of three - Balanchine ballets:

Concerto Barocco, to Bach's Concerto for Two Violins in d minor, to be led by Courtney Wright Anderson and Kirk Henning, both of the Suzanne Farrell Ballet, and Ellen Green, BC alumna and formerly with the Royal Danish Ballet;

"Rubies", the middle ballet to Stravinsky's Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra from the full-length suite, Jewels, to be led by Elisabeth Holowchuk of the Suzanne Farrell Ballet and Matthew Renko of TSFB and Pacific Northwest Ballet;

and a dozen numbers from the original seventeen, orchestrated from the Gershwin Songbook, in Who Cares?, led by Ted Seymour, with Green in "The Man I Love".

(Music for the program will be from recordings.)

Tickets are $25 and up at http://www.balletchicago.org/index.asp - not to be confused with balletchicago.com! - or http://www.harristhe...chine-masterwor or 312-334-7777 or from mobile devices, http://bit.ly/BCMay5 or http://bit.ly/BCMay6.

In addition, there will be a panel discussion in the Harris Theater donor's room on May 6 from 1:30 - 2:30 with Chicago dance historian Lucia* Mauro and BC's artistic director Daniel Duell about the three ballets and Duell's experience working with George Balanchine. No extra charge, just show your performance tickets, but RSVP at http://balletchicago.org/rsvpBalanchine.asp or call Margo Ruter at Ballet Chicago, 312-251-8838.

*Originally I posted "Laura" Mauro. Apologies all around.

Edited April 23, 2012 by Jack Reed

[Amy Reusch]

Not Lucia Mauro?

[Jack Reed]

Yes, Amy! Lucia Mauro. Thanks for catching that! I've corrected it. Sorry, everybody.