Season includes Premieres by Ángel Corella, Russell Ducker, and María Pagés as well as works by Leonid Lavrovsky, Christopher Wheeldon, Vladimir Vasiliov and Natalia Kasatkina With Angel Corella, Herman Cornejo, Joseph Gatti, Adiarys Almeida, Carmen Corella, Natalia Tapia, and Kazuko Omori

March 17 – 20 at New York City Center

New York, NY, February 24, 2010 – Choreographer Ángel Corella has announced the complete repertoire his company, Corella Ballet Castilla y León, will perform during its U.S. debut,

March 17 – 20 at New York City Center.  In addition to the U.S. premieres of Mr. Corella’s String Sextet, and Russell Ducker’s Epimetheus, the four-performance engagement will feature Leonid Lavrovsky’s Walpurgisnacht and Vladimir Vasiliov & Natalia Kasatkina’s Sunny Duet featuring Adiarys Almeida and Herman Cornejo. The debut will also include the world premiere of Soleá, pas de deux by the flamenco dancer and choreographer María Pagés, featuring Angel Corella and Carmen Corella; and Christopher Wheeldon’s DGV .

Corella Ballet dancers who will be performing at City Center include Principals: Adiarys Almeida, Carmen Corella, Natalia Tapia, Ángel Corella, Herman Cornejo and Joseph Gatti; First Soloist: Kazuko Omori; Soloists: Cristina Casa, Ashley Ellis, Mª José Sales, Fernando Bufalá, Kirill Radev and Yevgen Uzlenkov.

Ángel Corella’s String Sextet (2009), inspired by Tchaikovsky’s String Sextet, "Souvenir of Florence" Op. 70, 1892, is choreographed for the full company in four movements. The piece had its world premiere on July 30, 2009 at the Peralada Festival in Barcelona. 

Russell Ducker’s Epimetheus (2009), set to The Music of the Spheres by Mike Oldfield (who is known for Tubular Bells, featured in the film The Exorcist) was inspired by the fifth moon of the planet Saturn.  The piece had its world premiere on August 1, 2009 at the Noches Mágicas Festival in La Granja-Spain. 

Leonid Lavrovsky’s Walpurgisnacht (1956) set to music by Charles Francoise Gounod from his Faust opera, is a pas de trois created for the Bolshoi Ballet. It is based on Walpurgis Night, a holiday celebrated on April 30 or May 1 in large parts of Central and Northern Europe.

María Pages’ Soleá ,(2010), with music by Rubén Lebaniegos, was choreographed especially for Principal Dancers Ángel Corella and Carmen Corella. A soleá is one of the basic pillars of flamenco, rich with melodic richness and depth of execution.

Vladimir Vasiliov & Natalia Kasatkina’s Sunny Duet (1973), with music by Arno Babajanyan, will be danced by Principal Dancers Adiarys Almeida and Herman Cornejo.

Christopher Wheeldon‘s DGV (Danse à Grande Vitesse, 2006) is a meditation on travel set to Michael Nyman’s MGV : Musique à Grande Vitesse Musique.  The piece premiered at London’s Royal Ballet in 2006 and was nominated for an Oliver Award. DGV is performed by kind permission of The Royal Ballet, The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, UK.

About The Choreographers:

Ángel Corella was born in Madrid in 1975.  He was awarded First Prize in the National Ballet Competition of Spain in 1991, and the Grand Prix and Gold Medal at the Concours International de Danse de Paris in 1994. Mr. Corella joined the American Ballet Theatre as a soloist in 1995 and in 1996 was promoted to Principal Dancer. His repertoire includes all the principal roles of the major classical, neoclassical and contemporary ballets. Mr. Corella has also been a guest star with the worlds’ leading dance companies, including The Royal Ballet, Australian Ballet, Ballet of Georgia, Bolshoi Ballet, New York City Ballet and Kirov Ballet. In 2000, Mr. Corella received the Benois de la Danse Award for his work in Other Dances by Jerome Robbins, and in 2002 he was awarded The National Dance Prize of Spain as "an exceptional dancer and representative of a generation which enhances Spanish dance in the most outstanding international companies. In 2001 he formed a foundation to promote classical dance in Spain and to provide the finest professional training to all dancers, regardless of their economic or social condition.

Russell Ducker began his training at the Royal Ballet of London, joining the Royal Ballet Upper School in 2004. He has been awarded the MacMillan, De Valoais and Ursula Morton Prizes and has received an award from the NFL Choreographic Foundation.  Mr. Ducker is also a dancer with the Corella Ballet.

Leonid Lavrovsky (1905 – 1967) a Russian dancer and choreographer, was Artistic Director of the Kirov Ballet from 1935 – 1944 after which he was named chief choreographer of the Bolshoi Ballet.

María Pagés is internationally renowned for her personal esthetic concept of the art of flamenco. She started her professional career as a member of the Antonio Gades Company and in 1990 established the María Pagés Company, which has toured the most prestigious stages throughout Europe, Asia and the United States.

Vladimir Vasiliov and Natalia Kasatkina: Vladimir Vasiliov joined the Bolshoi Ballet in 1958 and performed as principal dancer for the next twenty years. He began choreographing the 1970 and his works have been seen at the Bolshoi and major companies around the world.  He was named Artistic Director of the Rome Opera Ballet in 1993, and in 1995 returned to the Bolshoi Ballet as Director. He has choreographed many works with his wife, Natalia Kasatkina. Ms. Kasatkina joined the Bolshoi Ballet in 1954. She began to choreograph with Mr. Vasiliov in 1962. She and Vasiliov subsequently became directors of the Moscow Classical Ballet, an international touring company for which they have created many works.

Christopher Wheeldon has created ballets for companies all over the world, including The Royal Ballet, Bolshoi Ballet, San Francisco Ballet and Boston Ballet, to name a few.  He co-founded Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company, and served as Artistic Director from 2007 – 2010. Mr. Wheeldon was Resident Choreographer New York City Ballet from 2001 – 2008, where he created 17 ballets.

About the Company:

Corella Ballet Castilla y León was founded in April 2008 at the Royal Palace of La Granja in Segovia-Spain. Corella Ballet, under Ángel Corella’s artistic direction, is currently the only classical ballet company in Spain. Corella Ballet’s wide repertoire incorporates classical, neoclassical and contemporary choreography. The company consists of 60 dancers from 12 countries: Spain, Cuba, United States, Brazil, Ukraine, Italy, Ireland, Japan, Russia, Argentina, the Republic of Georgia and Kazajstán. Corella Ballet Foundation projects include the creation of a dance school which will also be the base for future Corella Ballet dancers. One of the company’s missions is to provide a professional career for classical dancers in Spain, so that Spanish born dancers do not have to leave the country to further their careers, as Corella and many others have done. The Spanish National Heritage Department has granted the Foundation Ángel Corella use of the Santa Cecila Palace in the Royal Place of La Granja de San Ildefonso, Spain. This location will be the future home of the company as well as the boarding school.

Corella Ballet will play for four performances, at New York City Center, 55^th Street, between 6^th and 7^th Avenues, according to the following schedule: March 17 at 7:30, March 19 at 8 pm and March 20 at 2 & 8 pm.  (no performance Thursday, March 18) Tickets range from $25 – $75 and can be purchased by calling CityTix® at 212-581-1212, online at www.nycitycenter.org or at the City Center Box Office (West 55^th Street between 6^th and 7^th Avenues).

The Performance Schedule

Wednesday, March 17 at 7:30 pm; Friday, March 19 at 8 pm; Saturday, March 20 at 8 pm

STRING SEXTET (U.S. Premiere, 2009)
Choreography: Ángel Corella
Music: Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky, String Sextet, "Souvenir of Florence" Op. 70
WALPURGISNACHT (1956)

Choreography: Leonid Lavrovsky

Music: From Faust (1859, ballet music added in 1869) by Charles Francoise Gounod

Pas de Trois performed by Kazuko Omori, Joseph Gatti & Kirill Radev

(Yevgen Uzlenkov replaces Radev on March 19)

SUNNY DUET (1973)

Choreography: Vladimir Vasiliov & Natalia Kasatkina

Music: Arno Babajanyan

Pas de deux performed by Adiarys Almeida and Herman Cornejo

SOLEÁ (World Premiere)

Choreography:  María Pagés
Pas de deux performed by Ángel Corella & Carmen Corella

DGV: DANSE À GRAND VITESSE (2006)
Choreography: Christopher Wheeldon
Music: Michael Nyman, MGV: Musique à Grande Vitesse

Saturday, March 20 at 2 pm

STRING SEXTET (U.S. Premiere, 2009)
Choreography: Ángel Corella
Music: Peter Tchaikovsky, String Sextet, "Souvenir of Florence" Op. 70

EPIMETHEUS (U.S. Premiere, 2009)
Choreography: Russell Ducker
Music: Mike Oldfield, The Music of the Spheres

SOLEÁ (World Premiere)

Choreography:  María Pagés
Pas de deux performed by Ángel Corella & Carmen Corella

DGV: DANSE À GRAND VITESSE (2006)
Choreography: Christopher Wheeldon
Music: Michael Nyman, MGV: Musique à Grande Vitesse

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