By Kathryn Gregory for The Courier Journal
March 21, 2019
It’s a season of imagination.
The Louisville Ballet is reaching into the farthest depths of creativity to bring you its 2019-20 season, which features classics like “The Brown-Forman Nutcracker” and the “Choreographer’s Showcase” alongside several world premieres, including a collaboration with Kentucky-based artists to create a ballet in tribute to Kentucky.
That balance of “old and new” is the driving force behind the new season.
“I have a lot of different inspirations for building a season. But one of the challenges is striking the right balance between bringing in world-class existing work, like Ronald Hynd’s ‘The Merry Widow’ … and commissioning new work,” said Louisville Ballet Artistic and Executive Director Robert Curran. “I think it’s really important that Louisville Ballet is constantly commissioning new work. Giving the dancers, choreographers, designers and musicians the opportunity to sink their teeth into something brand new. There’s nothing quite like presenting a world premiere at Louisville Ballet.”
One such world premiere is the “Antipodes” program set to premiere in Spring 2020. “We’re bringing in three choreographers to do three new works … for a whole world premiere evening. It’s really very exciting.”
The triple bill features three Australian choreographers — Lucas Jervies (“Firebird” and “Human Abstract”) and Tim Harbour (“Choreographers’ Showcase 2019”), along with Daniel Riley (“Choreographers’ Showcase 2015”).