Luminato Announces 2013 Premiere Series

Luminato today announced three extraordinary offerings of theatre, music and dance - two Canadian premieres and a world premiere - as part of the 7th Annual Luminato Festival running June 14 - 23, 2013. Packaged together as the Premiere Series, tickets go on sale March 20.

Three spectacular events, the series includes: the Canadian premiere of the Mark Morris DANCE GROUP'S L'ALLEGRO, IL PENSEROSO ED IL MODERATO; the Canadian premiere of the classic Chinese tale FENG YI TING, an opera directed by ATOM EGOYAN; and JONI: A PORTRAIT IN SONG - A BIRTHDAY HAPPENING LIVE AT MASSEY HALL, an all-star birthday celebration for the legendary Joni Mitchell.

L'ALLEGRO, IL PENSEROSO ED IL MODERATO
Mark Morris DANCE GROUP
Canadian Premiere, presented at the Sony Centre
Featuring the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Chamber Choir

The Mark Morris Dance Group, one the most revered and highly celebrated modern dance companies in the world, will present Mark Morris' "L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato" -- based on poems by Milton and paintings by Blake, and widely considered one of the great dance works of the twentieth century. New York's Mark Morris Dance Group has earned international acclaim for a wide spectrum of productions in dance and opera. The troupe's exquisite Handel-oratorio dance "L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato," first presented in 1988, is considered Morris' masterwork.

"L'Allegro is one of the most important modern dances...performances are by definition a great occasion."- The Wall Street Journal

FENG YI TING
DIRECTED BY ATOM EGOYAN • starring Sichuan Opera star SHEN TIEMEI
Canadian Premiere, presented at the MacMillan Theatre
Co-produced by Lincoln Center Festival, Spoleto Festival USA and Currents - Art & Music
Sung in Mandarin Chinese with English and Mandarin surtitles

As interpreted by Guo Wenjing, one of China's most respected contemporary composers who fuses Chinese and Western classical styles, and directed by celebrated film and theatre director Atom Egoyan, "Feng Yi Ting" explores the epic tale of Diao Chan (Shen Tiemei), one of the fabled Four Beauties of ancient China, whose seductive charms ignite an empire-threatening rivalry between ruthless warlord Dong Zhuo and the brave general Lu Bu. With set designs by Tony-winning Derek McLane, lighting by Matt Frey, costumes by Han Feng, projections by Cameron Davis and video by Hong Kong-based visual artist Tsang Kin-wah, "Feng Yi Ting" premiered at the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, South Carolina and played New York's Lincoln Center Festival to rave reviews this past summer.