I would like to invite you to our performances in the 2012/13 season. Designing its programme, we were thinking of the widest possible audience, our most faithful spectators, but also those who will be visiting us for the first time. They are the people we especially want to convince that you don’t have to be a connoisseur to come to love ballet performances; all it takes is a visit to the Teatr Wielki and trusting your own intuition, your natural sensitivity to the beauty and expression of dance. I think that anyone who is open to new experiences will find something this season to interest, fascinate, or even enthral them. And, if they are disappointed, they can share their impressions with us. As usual, we will present selected titles from the classical repertoire. This season, they are The Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcrackerand the Mouse King, and Cinderella - three very different productions for both mature and younger audiences. The other ballets also invoke the great international and national classics: Tristan based on the age-old myth of the love between Tristan and Isolde and set to the music of Richard Wagner, the 200th anniversary of whose birth we celebrate in 2013; our latest ballet triptych The Biblical Parables; And the Rain Will Pass…, very Polish in its content and with music by the brilliant Henryk Mikołaj Górecki; finally, a globally unique production of The Rite of Spring comprising three different, inspired choreographic interpretations of Igor Stravinsky’s music. This last and extraordinary evening will be presented on the 100th anniversary of the revolutionary work’s world premiere as created by the legendary Polish dancer and choreographer Vaslav Nijinsky. The Chamber Stage will be the venue for an evening called Love and Fear featuring selected pieces from our earlier productions. We hope the cosy atmosphere of the Młynarski Auditorium will enable audiences to get a more in-depth experience of these familiar choreographies. Also there, we are preparing the fifth edition of our choreography workshops which our dancers have given the beautiful name of Creations. I can proudly say these are working very well as a breeding ground for creative talent. A work by one of the choreographers who have taken part in these workshops, Persona by Robert Bondara, is also a part of our chamber repertoire. The events we are all anticipating with the greatest curiosity are, of course, the two great premieres of the season. Our new production called Echoes of Time is different from all that we have proposed so far. It is an evening by three choreographers from the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries, where the energy of contemporary dancers is at the forefront, the way they overcome the barriers of physical fitness, and their sometimes incredible brilliance of movement. Under this physicality, however, lie inspirations which the audience can experience freely and unrestrictedly. The three pieces are: Century Rolls, created specially for the PNB by the British choreographer Ashley Page, my own Moving Rooms, designed earlier for the Dutch National Ballet, and Artifact Suite, the first ever performance by a Polish company of the famous work by the American choreographer William Forsythe, who had a huge influence on the development of ballet at the turn of the century. The season’s other premiere is completely different; it is the charming A Midsummer Night’s Dream choreographed by the world-famous John Neumeier who has been running the Hamburg Ballet for 40 years. This exceptionally stunning production for a wide audience is one of the great choreographer’s most famous works. Here in Warsaw we want it to inaugurate a series of ballet premieres based on the inexhaustible oeuvre of William Shakespeare. For the fourth time, the Polish National Ballet’s new season will be enhanced by the annual Days of Dance. I think all of these proposals, supported with the artistry of our own and invited dancers, will intrigue expert admirers of ballet as well as those coming to our performances for the first time. I and the whole ballet company look forward to having you here.
