Ballet Theatre to Offer 2 Premieres, a New ‘Swan Lake’

A new production of “Swan Lake” staged by American Ballet Theatre artistic director Mikhail Baryshnikov and two West Coast premieres will highlight ABT’s engagement at the Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa, Nov. 29-Dec. 11.

Premiering are Martha Clarke’s “The Garden of Villandry,” and “Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes,” a modern dance work inspired by Ben Jonson’s poem “To Celia,” choreographed by Mark Morris and set to music by Virgil Thomson. Additionally, during its 16 performances, ABT will dance two works by Twyla Tharp for the first time, “In the Upper Room” (music by Philip Glass) and “The Fugue” (danced without music). Tharp became associate artistic director of the New York-based company in August.

Costumes and sets for the new “Swan Lake” will be designed by Pier Luigi Samaritani, who designed scenery for ABT’s full-length “La Bayadere” in 1980.

Casting for the Orange County engagement will be announced at a later date.

The schedule at Segerstrom Hall:

--Nov. 29, 8 p.m.: “Ballet Imperial” (Balanchine/Tchaikovsky), “The Fugue” (Tharp), “Fandango” (Tudor/Soler), “Garden of Villandry” (Clark-Barnett-Blaska/Schubert), “Gaite Parisienne” (Massine/Offenbach).

--Nov. 30, 8 p.m.: “Les Sylphides” (Fokine/Chopin), “Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes” (Morris/Thomson), “Gaite Parisienne.”

--Dec. 1, 8 p.m.: “Les Sylphides,” “Fugue,” “Fandango,” “Garden of Villandry,” “Ballet Imperial.”

--Dec. 2, 8 p.m.: “Swan Lake.”

--Dec. 3, Dec. 4, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.: “Swan Lake.”

--Dec. 6-Dec. 8, 8 p.m.: “Swan Lake.”

--Dec. 9, 8 p.m.: “Stravinsky Violin Concerto” (Balanchine/Stravinsky), “Les Sylphides,” “Gaite Parisienne.”

--Dec. 10, 2 p.m.: “Ballet Imperial,” “Drink to Me Only,” “Gaite Parisienne.”

--Dec. 10, 8 p.m: “Les Sylphides,” “Stravinsky Violin Concerto,” “In the Upper Room” (Tharp/Glass).

--Dec. 11, 2 p.m.: “Drink to Me Only,” “Fugue,” “Fandango,” “Garden of Villandry,” “Ballet Imperial.”

--Dec. 11, 8 p.m.: “Les Sylphides” “Stravinsky Violin Concerto,” “In the Upper Room.”

Information: (714) 556-2787.

Los Angeles Dates

Los Angeles will see Baryshnikov’s new staging of “Swan Lake” (after Petipa and Ivanov) for the first time during the company’s engagement, in Shrine Auditorium, March 7-19.

In addition to seven performances of “Swan Lake,” the company also will offer MacMillan’s “Romeo and Juliet” (set to the familiar Prokofiev score) and the first Los Angeles performances of Clark Tippet’s “Rigaudon” and two new works, as yet untitled, by associate artistic director Twyla Tharp.

“Rigaudon,” Tippet’s fourth work for ABT, is set to Britten’s “Simple Symphony for Strings.”

Additionally, ABT will be dancing Tharp’s “In the Upper Room” (music by Philip Glass) and “The Fugue” (danced without music) for the first time in Los Angeles.

The schedule at Shrine Auditorium:

--March 7, 8 p.m.: “Kingdom of the Shades” scene from “La Bayadere” (Petipa/Minkus), “Prodigal Son” (Balanchine/Prokofiev), new Tharp piece I.

--March 8, 8 p.m.: “Kingdom of the Shades,” “Prodigal Son,” “In the Upper Room” (Tharp/Glass).

--March 9, 8 p.m.: Tharp program: New pieces I and II, “The Fugue,” “In the Upper Room.”

--March 10, 8 p.m.: “Swan Lake.”

--March 11, March 12, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.: “Swan Lake.”

--March 14 and March 15, 8 p.m.: “Swan Lake.”

--March 16, 8 p.m.: “Rigaudon” (Tippet/Britten), “Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes” (Morris/Thomson), “Gaite Parisienne” (Massine/Offenbach).

Information: (800) 233-3123.