NYCB Celebrates Valentino at Fall Gala Tonight, 9/20

New York City Ballet announced that its 2012 Fall Gala tonight, September 20 will feature a special one-time-only celebration of the legendary fashion designer and master couturier, Valentino Garavani, often known simply as Valentino.

For this special evening, Valentino will create costumes for three works by NYCB Ballet Master in Chief Peter Martins, including a new ballet set to selections from Tschaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, and two rarely performed pieces d’occasion created for NYCB’s 1988 American Music Festival – Sophisticated Lady, which is set to music by Duke Ellington and premiered on the opening night of the festival, and Not My Girl, a pas de deux inspired by, and set to music composed by Fred Astaire, which premiered on the closing night of the festival.

The evening will also include a new pas de deux by choreographer Christopher Wheeldon, which will also feature costumes designed by Valentino. In addition, as a tribute to the designer’s signature “Valentino Red,” New York City Ballet will perform George Balanchine’s Rubies, the second section of the full-length Jewels, which is set to Igor Stravinsky’s Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra, and features scenery by Peter Harvey, costumes by Karinska, and lighting by Mark Stanley.