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Choose 2 Subscription and enjoy all the benefits of being a Los Angeles Ballet Subscriber. Choose-2 Subscriptions Select Venue Series A SELECT The Nutcracker Dec. 1, 2023 – 8:00 PM Pasadena Civic Auditorium Next Steps Mar. 22, 2024 – 7:30 PM The Broad Stage Firebird & Serenade May 11, 2024 – 7:30 PM Pasadena Civic Auditorium Start Now Series B SELECT The Nutcracker Dec. 2, 2023 – 6:00 PM Pasadena Civic Auditorium Next Steps Mar. 23, 2024 – 7:30 PM The Broad Stage Firebird & Serenade May 11, 2024 – 7:30 PM Pasadena Civic Auditorium Start Now Series C SELECT The Nutcracker Dec. 9, 2023 – 5 PM Royce Hall Next Steps Mar. 23, 2024 – 7:30 PM The Broad Stage Firebird & Serenade June 1, 2024 – 7:30 PM Royce Hall Start Now Series D SELECT The Nutcracker Dec 16, 2023 – 5:00 PM Redondo Beach PAC Next Steps Mar 23, 2024 – 7:30 PM The Broad Stage Firebird & Serenade May 25, 2024 – 7:30 PM Redondo Beach PAC Start Now Series E INQUIRE with Box Office The Nutcracker Dec. 23, 2023 – 7:30 PM Dolby Theatre * Next Steps Mar. 23, 2024 – 7:30 PM The Broad Stage Firebird & Serenade May 11, 2024 – 7:30 PM Pasadena Civic Auditorium Start Now Series F SELECT The Nutcracker Dec 3, 2023 – 2 PM Pasadena Civic Auditorium Next Steps Mar 24, 2024 – 2 PM The Broad Stage Firebird & Serenade May, 12 2024 – 2 PM Pasadena Civic Auditorium Start Now Series G SELECT The Nutcracker Dec 9, 2023 – 12 PM Royce Hall Next Steps Mar 23, 2024 – 2 PM The Broad Stage Firebird & Serenade Jun 1, 2024 – 2 PM Royce Hall Start Now Series H SELECT The Nutcracker Dec 16, 2023 – 12 PM Redondo Beach PAC Next Steps Mar 23, 2024 – 2 PM The Broad Stage Firebird & Serenade May 25, 2024 – 2 PM Redondo Beach PAC Start Now Series I INQUIRE with Box Office The Nutcracker Dec 23, 2023 – 2 PM Dolby Theatre * Next Steps Mar 23, 2024 – 2 PM The Broad Stage Firebird & Serenade May 11, 2024 – 2 PM Pasadena Civic Auditorium Start Now Series J INQUIRE with Box Office The Nutcracker Dec 24, 2023 – 2 PM Dolby Theatre * Next Steps Mar 24, 2024 – 2 PM The Broad Stage Firebird & Serenade May 12, 2024 – 2 PM Pasadena Civic Auditorium Start Now 2024/2025 Season / Subscribe / Choose-2 Subscriptions /

Read the full article. Los Angeles Times Includes LAB in it’s Best of 2007 Listings December 1, 2007 Los Angeles Times The corps, including the children, danced strongly. Melissa Barak, the First Sylph, gave notice of incipient major Sylph duties. The ballet, staged by co-artistic director Thordal Christensen, a former principal with the Royal Danish Ballet, was danced to pre-recorded music. READ ARTICLE AT SOURCE Home / News / New Item

Until now, that is. The Los Angeles Ballet (LAB), which kicks off its sixth season Decemeber 3 with The Nutcracker, has slowly evolved into LA's official resident company, renowned for its high-caliber dancers and next-generation repertoire- a mix of old chestnuts and original works by innovative young choreographers. Los Angeles Ballet Awarded Grant from LA County Arts Commission August 1, 2011 Company News from the Staff at LAB Los Angeles Ballet was awarded its first Los Angeles County Arts Commission grant, in support of its 2012 production of Swan Lake. LAB is grateful to LACAC staff, and LA County Supervisors Gloria Molina, Zev Yaroslavsky, Mark Ridley-Thomas, Don Knabe, and Michael D. Antonovich, Mayor. Home / News / New Item

Los Angeles Ballet is excited to appear at Santa Monica's The Broad Stage as part of the theater's Inaugural Season. LAB’s Director's Choice program was presented at the theater March 15 and 16, 2009. Los Angeles Ballet at The Broad Stage March 1, 2009 Company News from the Staff at LAB The story is simple. James, a Scottish highlander, dreams of a magical, otherworldly creature, the Sylph, on the very day of his wedding to his beloved Effie. Suddenly incarnate, the Sylph lures James away from the wedding and into the forest. There, she inexplicably appears and disappears at will, always managing to stay just out of his grasp. Home / News / New Item

Los Angeles Ballet is proud to announce the addition of a fall program beginning in the 2014/2015 Season, for a total of four programs per season, an expansion from three productions in previous years. Fall Program Added to Annual Season May 1, 2014 Company News from the Staff at LAB Los Angeles Ballet is proud to announce the addition of a fall program beginning in the 2014/2015 Season, for a total of four programs per season, an expansion from three productions in previous years. The first fall production will be Swan Lake, choreographed by LAB Artistic Directors Colleen Neary and Thordal Christensen. Home / News / New Item

Choreography by Christensen/Neary, Music by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky The Nutcracker 2019 Choreography by Christensen/Neary, Music by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky Home / Video Gallery / Video

James and the Sylph soon meet their destruction, however, James has deeply though mindlessly offended the witch Madge earlier during the wedding day. Shelling Out Dividends, Los Angeles Ballet's Version of The Nutcracker is a bright season opener... December 15, 2008 Los Angeles Times by Victoria Looseleaf James and the Sylph soon meet their destruction, however, James has deeply though mindlessly offended the witch Madge earlier during the wedding day. Now, seeking to bring his ideal Sylph into his arms, he drapes a veil he doesn’t know has been poisoned by Madge over the Sylph’s shoulders and winds it around her arms. The Sylph immediately loses her wings, comes to earth and quickly dies. James is stunned and collapses in grief. DOWNLOAD PDF Home / News / New Item

With the addition of “The Sleeping Beauty” to its repertory, the Los Angeles Ballet rounds out its Tchaikovsky trilogy, having launched the company with “The Nutcracker” in 2006 and staged “Swan Lake in 2011.” Taking on these three touchstones of classical ballet is a considerable achievement for any company but especially one only 9 years old. L.A. Ballet rounds out Tchaikovsky trilogy with 'The Sleeping Beauty' February 26, 2015 Los Angeles Times by Susan Reiter With the addition of “The Sleeping Beauty” to its repertory, the Los Angeles Ballet rounds out its Tchaikovsky trilogy, having launched the company with “The Nutcracker” in 2006 and staged “Swan Lake in 2011.” Taking on these three touchstones of classical ballet is a considerable achievement for any company but especially one only 9 years old. “We consider ourselves a classical company. We’re trying to shape the repertory so that we include everything that will also make the dancers that much better,” company co-artistic director Colleen Neary said recently by phone with Thordal Christensen, the other artistic director, and her husband. “It really is wonderful to see the growth within the company with this repertoire.” She and Christensen choreographed this premiere “after Petipa,” blending their own choreography with the well-known touchstones of French ballet master and choreographer Marius Petipa that have been passed down through ballet generations since 1890. They both had experience performing in — as well as staging — the work with the Royal Danish Ballet, which Christensen directed, while Neary worked as principal ballet mistress. “It’s the quintessential classical ballet,” Neary said. The duo researched other productions and made choices based on their specific approach and on what worked best for their 37-member company. The expansive ballet calls upon the full roster, with most dancers taking on multiple roles. “We tried to tell the story in an organic, magical way — tried to keep it fairly light,” Christensen said. “‘Sleeping Beauty’ can sometimes have a tendency to be very heavy in its storytelling. I think we tried to lighten it a little bit.” Christensen, a Dane, and Neary, an American whose extensive performing career began with New York City Ballet, recognize the important role that mime plays in the ballet. “You have to be true to the tradition of Petipa, but you’re not telling the mime in an old-fashioned way. It is very real in its storytelling,” said Neary, who performs the crucial character role of Carabosse, the irate fairy whose vengeful spell sets the plot in motion. Their new “Sleeping Beauty,” being presented in four Los Angeles-area venues, features sets and costumes designed by David Walker, originally for a 1977 Royal Ballet production. Neary emphasizes that the Los Angeles Ballet’s intention is “to bring ourselves to the communities of L.A.” “That’s what we have been about for the past nine years,” she adds. “It’s been a recipe that has worked extremely well, and we have really developed our audiences in all these venues. We’re very excited to bring a piece that’s this big and this wonderful to these audiences.” READ ARTICLE AT SOURCE Home / News / New Item

Dancing under the stars in Grand Park, Los Angeles Ballet performed George Balanchine's Agon and Rubies, both to the music of Igor Stravinsky, on July 6th in its first partnership with The Music Center. Over 3,500 Attend LAB's Performance in Grand Park July 1, 2013 Los Angeles Magazine Dancing under the stars in Grand Park, Los Angeles Ballet performed George Balanchine's Agon and Rubies, both to the music of Igor Stravinsky, on July 6th in its first partnership with The Music Center. The free performance was part of The Music Center's LA's Rite: Stravinsky, Innovation and Dance. An enthusiastic audience of more than 3,500 were in attendance. Home / News / New Item

A delightful party in honor of Los Angeles Ballet was held at the historic South Pasadena home of Paige and Scott Hornbacher, generously co-hosted by Ariel and Jeff Carpenter. Event for LAB with the Cast of “MAD MEN” May 1, 2009 Company News from the Staff at LAB A delightful party in honor of Los Angeles Ballet was held at the historic South Pasadena home of Paige and Scott Hornbacher, generously co-hosted by Ariel and Jeff Carpenter. Home / News / New Item

Despite a rocky arts landscape, Los Angeles Ballet has managed to not only survive but also prosper. What’s needed now is more attention from the local community to this admirable, and creative, company. Commentary: Los Angeles Ballet on upswing in its fifth year December 5, 2010 Los Angeles Times by Lewis Segal Despite a rocky arts landscape, Los Angeles Ballet has managed to not only survive but also prosper. What’s needed now is more attention from the local community to this admirable, and creative, company. Congratulations are in order — and maybe a sigh of relief. With its “Nutcracker” performances this weekend at the Alex Theatre in Glendale (plus repeats through the month in two other Southland venues), Los Angeles Ballet entered its fifth season as a resident professional company. Season 5 and counting: not exactly a golden anniversary but definitely a hard-won benchmark. It’s been a turbulent demi-decade for all arts organizations, one in which long-established companies such as Orange County’s Ballet Pacifica vanished from the landscape. And that was before the recession took its toll in radically diminished institutional and governmental funding for the arts. But Los Angeles Ballet hasn’t merely survived for five seasons; it’s increased the operating budget some 80%, from $900,000 in 2006-07 to $1,624,000 in 2010-11. And there are other signs of growth: increased ticket sales (up 12% last season), a new school and company center in West Los Angeles, a reconstituted board of directors, expanded support staff and audience development activities. So celebration is justified, but not complacency. After all, John Clifford’s attempt at a company of the same name in the 1970s existed for more than 10 years before it folded: a casualty of consistently under-rehearsed dancing, relentlessly mediocre home-grown choreography and the erosion of its support base. In contrast, the dancing in the new, millennial Los Angeles Ballet has always been meticulously professional and the new choreography varied and often exciting — though you can’t really measure the quality of any company from its “Nutcracker.” Clifford, however, had a knack for making his troupe seem omnipresent, a major player in local dance, while the excellences of the new company have achieved little impact or even visibility on the L.A. arts scene. Yes, it appeared as a guest on the popular “So You Think You Can Dance” reality show. And it publicized its “Nutcracker” by offering tickets on the Groupon discount site. But such innovations produced no buzz in the local community. And if you looked at the winners of the annual Lester Horton Dance Awards — an index of peer-group recognition in Southland dance — you’d scarcely know Los Angeles Ballet existed. Yet season after season, the company gives admirable performances of challenging neoclassical masterworks by George Balanchine, staged by co-artistic director Colleen Neary. The rep this March includes two highly accessible Balanchine staples: “Raymonda Variations” and “Western Symphony,” the first a tribute to the choreographer’s imperial Russian heritage, the second an expression of his enjoyment of the cowboy culture in his adopted homeland. But Balanchine isn’t the company’s sole choreographic asset. Indeed, co-artistic director Thordal Christensen’s 2009 staging of August Bournonville’s full-length “La Sylphide” easily outclassed the badly deteriorated American Ballet Theatre version and the crude approximation by the Bolshoi Ballet. The company’s first attempt at a genuine 19th century story ballet, it proved conclusively that Los Angeles Ballet can switch styles with no loss of authority. On the schedule for May: “Giselle,” another foray into the Romantic era, which Christensen previously staged for the Royal Danish Ballet. Creative partners A husband-and-wife team, Christensen and Neary danced, respectively, in Bournonville’s and Balanchine’s home companies along with other national and international ensembles. Besides their expertise on stage and in the studio, they have explored business strategies that initially seemed promising but sometimes proved counterproductive. Wisely, they quickly abandoned the notion of making Los Angeles Ballet a backup ensemble for guest stars, a practice that sells tickets but generates no company loyalty. However, their very brief repertory seasons (typically four performances) leave dancers little time to develop a personal spin on roles — to own them by an individual interpretation. So the performances often look strongly cast, coached and executed but not indelible. Worse, the directors have divided those seasons into weekend engagements in Westwood, Glendale, Redondo Beach and sometimes Santa Monica, which requires everyone to remain rehearsed at maximum firepower for nearly a month with only a performance or two in each venue as payoff. The concept of touring greater L.A. is sound in terms of audience development, for virtually every poll says that the public doesn’t want to travel more than half an hour to cultural events. But the strain on the dancers has caused Los Angeles Ballet to lose some of its most distinctive soloists to companies with longer seasons. And high-profile principals are a major reason that people keep coming back to ballet. Christensen and Neary have also had to contend with the very daunting conditions of sustaining art in Southern California — a place famed for welcoming every kind of creative expression without supporting anything for long. As far as ballet is concerned, the Los Angeles audience is highly isolated, almost never seeing the reigning international stars and classical companies that appear regularly down the 405 on the well-subsidized dance series at the Orange County Performing Arts Center. As a result, American Ballet Theatre has become the sole standard-bearer for the ballet audience in L.A., though, ironically, the company’s reputation in New York largely depends on those very same international stars who are seldom booked for its engagements at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. As the insular, old-guard ballet audience here ages and shrinks, only ABT and ABT offshoots turn up regularly on the Music Center’s classical lineup — and then only for split weeks — while widely acclaimed (and arguably better) companies such as San Francisco Ballet are increasingly unseen or undersold. So where does that leave the newbies? With a clean slate, that’s where. To survive, Christensen and Neary must build an audience from scratch — not just for Los Angeles Ballet but for the art in general — an audience that knows what it’s seeing and will still be around by the time the company celebrates its next five-year benchmark. In the works In February, the directors are scheduled to present a plan for the future to their board. A draft of that plan reveals projected budget increases that should reach $2,460,848 by the 2015-16 season. “Swan Lake” is penciled in for Season 6 or 7, and the recently inaugurated Choreographic Workshop — in which local dance-makers created works for the company — will become an annual event. A season of five productions instead of the current three will expand the dancers’ 24-week period of employment. Additional venues (Pasadena? Northridge? Orange County?) are also under consideration. But live music is not on the horizon, according to executive director Julie Whittaker (much too costly), and all this hoped-for growth will take place in an economy that experts warn may languish through the company’s 10th anniversary and beyond. Caution is warranted, but so is pride. A company founded with the highest possible standards at the worst possible time is not only news, it’s inspiring. Christensen and Neary took a chance on Los Angeles and produced the kind of art that helps us get through times like these. Isn’t it high time that Los Angeles stops ignoring the evidence and takes a chance on them? Formerly the dance critic at The Times, Segal is a freelance arts writer based in Hollywood and Barcelona. calendar@latimes.com Copyright © 2010, Los Angeles Times DOWNLOAD PDF Home / News / New Item

Five slender women in flesh-toned leotards emerge from shadows into powerful spotlights. They unpin their ballet buns. Long brown, black and blond hair cascades down. Sonya Tayeh Tells Her Dancers to Keep Their Hair Down. Why Is That So Radical? March 14, 2014 L.A. Weekly by Ann Haskins Five slender women in flesh-toned leotards emerge from shadows into powerful spotlights. They unpin their ballet buns. Long brown, black and blond hair cascades down. Leaning toward the audience, they sweep their hair over their faces; for most of the next 20 minutes, Los Angeles Ballet's classically trained ballerinas dance with their hair covering their faces during a dress rehearsal for Sonya Tayeh's Beneath One's Dignity, her fourth LAB commission. It's one of two world premieres and two company premieres in LAB's Quartet, onstage at Glendale's Alex Theater this Saturday and UCLA's Royce Hall next week. Tayeh first drew widespread attention for her ferocious combat-jazz choreography on television's So You Think You Can Dance, but she has been extending her artistic horizons since her first LAB commission enhanced her cred as a multifaceted choreographer. She relocated to New York City to choreograph Kung Fu, an off-Broadway musical bio about martial arts movie legend Bruce Lee, but returned to create Beneath One's Dignity for LAB.] Known for her own distinctive, often asymmetrical hair – sometimes shaved, sometimes punctuated with red and blue – Tayeh keeps her long, wavy dark mane pulled to one side, low-key for her, as she watches the dress rehearsal. When her dance ends, Tayeh bounds onto the stage. As she gives the dancers notes, her flannel shirt and combat boots contrast starkly with the women in their flesh-colored leotards and the quintet of men in diaphanous, long black skirts. During the ballet, the women don dresses in the same black see-through material, but at this moment the dresses lie crumpled around the stage, shed and kicked away by the women, with the men repeatedly retrieving and throwing the dresses back at the women, who continue to furiously kick the dresses away. In the final moments, they finally move their hair away from their faces. After notes, in an interview, Tayeh talks about the hair and the dresses as props. “My starting point was in the title; acts or behaviors I've done, sometimes repeatedly, that I felt uncomfortable about or even shame, things beneath my dignity, but that I found myself repeating and the shields I built up to hide behind to protect myself and keep going,” Tayeh explains. “I wanted the women to start out like newborns but then put on the dress, develop the emotions and the realization of something demeaning, something beneath their dignity. The hair is like a protective mask – they want to go without it but retreat behind the hair for protection.” Tayeh says she knew working with their hair in their face was asking a lot of the dancers. “Dancing blind” was LAB principal dancer Alyssa Bross' description.”But we have come to trust Sonya,” Bross adds. “Many ballet choreographers come in, tell us the steps, turn on the music and we dance. Sonya certainly has a direction in mind, but she wants feedback. She asks us to try things and then asks what we need to be comfortable to take it further. Finding that comfort level with her allows us to find the forceful movement and even more powerful emotional levels she wants from our dancing.” The hair made unison dancing particularly difficult. “Working with the music helped, and Sonya developed breathing cues, so we were listening to each other rather than relying on visual cues,” Bross explains. The next night at the premiere, the audience cheers. Tayeh is pleased. “I had a tear in my eye,” she admits. “The dancers captured my struggle and I feel I can make my own positive changes.” Like her dancers, kicking the dress away. READ ARTICLE AT SOURCE Home / News / New Item