THE SLEEPING BEAUTY Opens Nashville Ballet's 2012-2013 Season Tonight, 10/19

The Singing Tortoise was the first original children’s ballet that was created through a continuing partnership between Nashville Ballet and Belmont University. Vasterling created choreography to accompany an original music composition from Todd London, adjunct instructor at Belmont University’s School of Music. The two organizations debuted the piece to the community in 1998, but this season’s performance will included an expanded cast and new sets.

The Singing Tortoise will be held at TPAC’s Polk Theater Saturday, February 16, 2013.

Romeo & Juliet
Vasterling’s Romeo and Juliet expresses the emotion of Shakespeare’s 400-year-old play through dance and music.

This familiar story about animosity between two families, revenge and fatal love is set to a score by Sergei Prokofiev, performed live by The Nashville Symphony.

“Although it’s set in Shakespeare’s time, this version has some modern West Side Story influence, with plenty of fight scenes and very physical choreography. That makes it quite demanding for our male dancers, but they love the challenge that the choreography presents,” Vasterling said.

Romeo & Juliet will be held at TPAC’s Jackson Hall for three performances April 26 – 28, 2013.

Macbeth
Shakespeare’s tragedy about fate, greed, power and consequence will be staged for an audience of only 200 per performance in this intimate, workshop-style setting.

This collaboration between Vasterling and Vanderbilt University School of Music Associate Professor Michael Kurek explores the psychology behind the relationships in the play, particularly the role of the witches in Macbeth’s story. This story-telling poses the question of whether the witches predict the inevitable future or manipulate Macbeth to do their bidding.

Vasterling plans to gather audience feedback from this performance before expanding it into a full-length production.

Macbeth will be held at The Martin Center for Nashville Ballet for four performances May 16 – 18, 2013.

Señoritas y Toros
Two ballets with Spanish flair -- Paquita and Ferdinand the Bull -- introduce young children to the world of movement and music.

Children will learn about Paquita, a Spanish girl born to nobles and raised by gypsies, who learns of her origin through a twist of fate and becomes a princess.

With bright, colorful costumes inspired by cubist Pablo Picasso, Ferdinand the Bull tells the story of a peaceful bull who only wants to smell the flowers in the meadow, making him unfit for the bullfighting rings in Spain.

Children and families can learn to dance like Ferdinand and Paquita during an interactive portion after the performance.

Señoritas y Toros will be held at The Martin Center for Nashville Ballet for four performances May 11 – 19, 2013.

Click here to watch a preview of the season.

Season tickets for Nashville Ballet’s 2012-2013 performance season go on sale to the public June 1 through www.nashvilleballet.com. Patrons attending Nashville Ballet’s performance of Rite of Spring and Firebird April 27 – 29 will have an exclusive opportunity to purchase season tickets before they go on sale to the public. For season ticket information, contact Logan Heinsch at (615) 297-2966 x10. Tickets to individual performances go on sale July 2, and can be purchased in person at the TPAC box office in downtown Nashville, by phone at (615) 782-4040 or online at www.nashvilleballet.com.

Nashville Ballet is the largest professional ballet company in Tennessee. Nashville Ballet presents a varied repertoire of classical ballet and contemporary works by noted choreographers, including original works by Artistic Director & CEO Paul Vasterling. Nashville Ballet and the Second Company NB2 (a pre-professional training company) serve nearly 70,000 adults and children annually through performances and our outreach and community engagement programming. Curriculum-based outreach programs bring dance education to community centers, colleges, public libraries and public elementary, middle and high schools across the state. The School of Nashville Ballet provides world-class instruction in ballet and other forms of dance for dancers of all ages.

Nashville Ballet is funded in part from grants made available through the Metropolitan Nashville Arts Commission, the Tennessee Arts Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as the Ingram Charitable Trust. Additional funding is also provided by Bridgestone Americas Trust Fund, Caterpillar Financial, ELAN, The Memorial Foundation and Publix Super Markets Charities.