Featured photo of ARB dancer Clara Pevel by Harald Schrader Photography
Event Type: Performance
Spirit of the Highlands
Featured photo of ARB dancer Andrea Marini by Harald Schrader Photography
The Nutcracker
*With orchestra and choir
Featured photo by Harald Schrader Photography
Summer Intensive Performance
Elevate
Meredith Rainey
Amy Seiwert
Ethan Stiefel
Meredith Rainey began dancing at 15 in his hometown of Fort Lauderdale. In 1985, he became the first African American dancer of the Milwaukee Ballet. In 1987, he was invited to join the newly formed Pennsylvania-Milwaukee Ballet, when the collaboration ended, he remained with the Pennsylvania Ballet for 17 years—much of that time as a soloist—until his retirement in 2006. Among other awards and fellowships, Rainey has been the recipient of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Fellowship (1995 & 2002), the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation Artist as Catalyst Grant (2001), the Independence Foundation Fellowship in the Arts (2002), a finalist for the Pew Fellowship in the Arts (2003), and a Pew Center for Arts and Heritage Grant (2010). He has been commissioned to create works for Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, BalletX, Delaware Ballet, Hubbard Street 2, National Ballet De Cali, Danse4Nia Repertory Ensemble, and institutions such as The University of the Arts, Drexel University, Stockton University, Georgian Court University, Goucher College, Swarthmore College, and Bryn Mawr College. His work has been performed in North and South America and throughout Spain. In 2009, Rainey founded and directed Carbon Dance Theatre, a contemporary ballet company in Philadelphia. In 2014 after deciding to concentrate on artistic projects, he closed the company and remained a sought-after teacher, mentor, and independent choreographer. In the fall of 2019, Rainey graduated with top honors as a member of the first cohort of candidates for the Master of Fine Arts in Dance from The University of the Arts. (Photo credit: Portia Jones)
Amy Seiwert enjoyed a nineteen-year performing career dancing with the Smuin, Los Angeles Chamber, and Sacramento Ballets. As a dancer with Smuin Ballet, she became involved with the “Protégé Program,” where her choreography was mentored by the late Michael Smuin. She was Choreographer in Residence there upon her retirement from dancing in 2008 until 2018. Named one of “25 to Watch” by Dance Magazine, her first full evening of choreography was named one of the “Top 10” dance events of 2007 by the SF Chronicle. Other awards include a Bay Area IZZIE Award for Outstanding Choreography and a “Goldie” from the San Francisco Bay Guardian. Her ballets have been supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Kennedy Center, and the Joyce Theater in New York City. Seiwert’s ballets are in the repertory of BalletX, Smuin Contemporary Ballet, Ballet Austin, BalletMet, Washington, Atlanta, Oakland, Colorado, Louisville, Cincinnati, Carolina, Oklahoma City, Milwaukee, and American Repertory Ballets as well as Imagery, ODC/Dance, and AXIS Dance. Ms. Seiwert will be joining Smuin Contemporary Ballet as Associate Artistic Director for the 23/24 Season.
Ethan Stiefel is an internationally recognized Instructor, Coach, Director and Choreographer. Stiefel became American Repertory Ballet’s Artistic Director in July, 2021. In 1989, Stiefel began his professional dance career at age 16 with the New York City Ballet where he quickly rose to the rank of Principal Dancer. Stiefel was also a Principal Dancer with Ballett Zürich followed by being a Principal Dancer with American Ballet Theatre (ABT) from 1997-2012. Stiefel has served as Dean of the School of Dance at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) as well as the Artistic Director of the Royal New Zealand Ballet. During his celebrated performing career, Stiefel danced leading roles in all the full-length classics and performed in an extensive range of shorter classical, contemporary, and modern works. Guest appearances include dancing with The Royal Ballet, The Mariinsky Ballet, New York City Ballet, Teatro Colon, The Australian Ballet and many others. He has appeared in numerous film, video and television productions including the feature film Center Stage and the documentary Born to be Wild. As a choreographer, he has created new works for the Royal New Zealand Ballet, The Washington Ballet, American Repertory Ballet, ABT Studio Company, Northern Ballet (UK), The Royal Ballet School, UNCSA, Jimmy Kimmel Live! and the television series Flesh and Bone on the STARZ network. Stiefel has received a number of prestigious awards such as the Statue Award of the Princess Grace Foundation and the Dance Magazine Award. (Photo credit: Harald Schrader)
Princeton Ballet School Summer Dance 2023
Princeton Ballet School, the official school of American Repertory Ballet, presents its highly anticipated, annual Summer Intensive performance. Students from across the United States and around the world have come to Princeton Ballet School to train with our exceptional faculty, and will showcase their technical and artistic progress. The performance program is a culmination of their hard work and will feature the re-staging of a traditional classical ballet along with several other pieces created specifically for this year’s summer students.
Running time is about 1 hour 30 minutes with one intermission. Seating is general admission.
The Princeton Festival with Attacca Quartet
Aldeir Monteiro and Ryoko Tanaka in Ethan Stiefel’s Wood Work, by Eduardo Patino; Attacca Quartet by David Goddard
Program
John ADAMS / John’s Book of Alleged Dances (Selections)
CIRCADIA (Excerpts)
Choreography by Caili Quan
Music – Carrot Revolution by Gabriella Smith
Caroline SHAW / The Evergreen
WOOD WORK (Excerpts)
Choreography by Ethan Stiefel
Music – Wood Works Nordic Folk Tunes (arr. Danish String Quartet)
Movin’ + Groovin’
Claire Davison
Ja’ Malik
Caili Quan
Claire Davison
Inspired by six songs from the legendary band Fleetwood Mac, Time Within A Time reflects on recent years and how it might feel to return to a place, such as a theater, studio, workplace – or to each other. It is also a celebration! “We are happy to be together again,” says Claire Davison. “I am thrilled to be returning to ARB as the dancers are a dream to work with: talented, eager, passionate and willing to play. And, the music of Fleetwood Mac is unbeatable.”
Davison currently dances with American Ballet Theatre (ABT). Her choreographic credits include One of Us (2019) for Boulder Ballet and Por Ti for Kaatsbaan Cultural Park’s 2021 Summer Festival. In 2021, Davison was also the selected choreographer for New York Theatre Ballet’s Lift Lab. She participated in ABT’s 2022 Incubator program and created a one-woman show, Crash Test Dummy, for which she received the Bindlestiff Family Cirkus First of May award.
Ja’ Malik
Newly appointed Artistic Director of Madison Ballet, Ja’ Malik, has been called a “choreographer to watch” by The New York Times. Describing his piece Moving to Bach, Malik says he was “inspired by both the dancers of ARB and Bach’s beautiful Sonata for Violin Solo No. 1. This new work for five dancers will create an ever evolving world of exhilarating physicality in both a direct relation and counter relation to the rhythmically serene and sometimes explosive score by Bach.”
Malik previously danced with North Carolina Dance Theater (now Charlotte Ballet), BalletX, Ballet Hispanico, in addition to working with Camille A. Brown (For Colored…at the Public Theater), Juel D. Lane, and College Dance Collective among others. With a deep connection to music, Malik’s choreography draws on his own personal life experiences as well as the world around him to create physically emotional works that allow both dancers and audiences to experience a connection through the language of movement.
Caili Quan
Caili Quan is a New York-based choreographer and a Creative Associate at The Juilliard School. Her new piece for ARB is inspired by how the body is affected during sleep. “Sleep gives us a place to recover, but it is also where our minds choose memories to keep. It also allows us space to reminisce and dream,” she says. “The music for the work is an eclectic mix that made me want to move, but also felt like a soundtrack to our dreams.”
Quan danced and choreographed for BalletX, and has created works for The Juilliard School, Nashville Ballet, and others. Her short documentary called Mahålang weaves familial conversations of her Chamorro Filipino upbringing on Guam with scenes from BalletX’s Love Letter, and was shown at the Hawai’i International Film Festival, CAAMFest, and the Dance on Camera Festival at Lincoln Center. She will be an artist in residence at the 2022 Vail Dance Festival.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
American Repertory Ballet proudly presents A Midsummer Night’s Dream,
a new one-act ballet conceived and choreographed by Artistic Director Ethan Stiefel. Set to Felix Mendelssohn’s iconic score, with additional music arranged by Erich Wolfgang Korngold, this enchanting production will transport audiences to a fantastical forest filled with fairies, mischief and romance, joy and love. Stiefel’s visionary interpretation of this beloved comic masterpiece, featuring sets and costumes by an award-winning design team, is certain to cast its spell on audiences of all ages.
The Story of A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Act I
THE PARTY
The scene opens with the annual Christmas Eve Tree Lighting party at the home of the Silverhaus’. Clara and Fritz anxiously wait outside the parlor for the lighting of the tree, when to Clara’s horror and Fritz’s delight, the maid enters the hall, chasing a mouse from out of the pantry.
Father calls the children in, and the tree is lighted. As the guests arrive, we are introduced to the Elegant Family, the Widow, her daughter, the Dapper Gent and the Big Family with their nine children. After a festive dance performed by the children, the mysterious Uncle Drosselmeyer and his Nephew arrive. Drosselmeyer demonstrates wonderful mechanical dolls, and then presents his favorite niece Clara with a beautifully carved Nutcracker. As all of the children watch Drosselmeyer’s demonstration of the Nutcracker, Fritz becomes jealous and grabs the gift from Clara. In his flight, he drops and breaks it.
Drosselmeyer bandages it and re-presents it to Clara. The party winds down, the guests depart and the Silverhaus family goes to bed.
Unable to sleep, Clara sneaks downstairs to visit her Nutcracker. As she dances in the parlor with the Nutcracker, the shadows and the movement of little mice disturb her delight. Drosselmeyer reappears and casts her into a dream world -transforming the parlor into a battleground between an army of soldiers and rats.
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A Midsummer Night’s Dream
American Repertory Ballet proudly presents A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a new one-act ballet conceived and choreographed by Artistic Director Ethan Stiefel. Set to Felix Mendelssohn’s iconic score, with additional music arranged by Erich Wolfgang Korngold, this enchanting production will transport audiences to a fantastical forest filled with fairies, mischief and romance, joy and love. Stiefel’s visionary