Here is the 2016/17 season of the Hungarian National Ballet

The only classical ballet company of Hungary, the Hungarian National Ballet (resident at the Hungarian State Opera) is proud to announce its 2016/17 season. With over 120 performances throughout the season, fans of classical balett and contemporary dance performances are offered a wide selection in popular repertoire pieces and new productions at the Opera House and the Erkel Theatre.

The repertoire includes classic ballets like Rudi van Danztig’s Swan Lake, John Cranko’s Onegin and Sir Kenneth MacMillan’s Manon, all of which premiered in recent years whereas all-time Tchaikovsky favourite The Nutcracker got a facelift by Wayne Eagling and ballet director Tamás Solymosi last year. Another piece that is popular among younger audiences, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs cannot miss from the list of dance pieces to be seen. Renowned Hungarian dancer-choreographers also contributed significantly to the evolution of the Hungarian National Ballet. In the 2016/17 season, Spartacus by László Seregi returns to the stage of the Opera House, and we will celebrate multiple award winner Lilla Pártay on her 75th birthday with a series of her production of Anna Karenina.

The new productions of the season are Michael Messerer’s interpretation of the classic Petipa choreography of Don Quixote, and Anna-Marie Holmes’s Le corsaire in contribution with Tamás Solymosi, which will be presented at the Opera House for the first time. The new season is a Hungarian Season at the Opera. On this occasion, and as part of the nationwide Bartók Season, a triple ballet performance entitled Bartók DanceTryptich will feature the classic The Miraculous Mandarin by László Seregi as well as the premieres of Dance Suite by Zsolt Juhász, and on the 100th anniversary of its world premiere, The Wooden Prince by Pál Frenák. The world premiere of a more modern production, A Streetcar Named Desire by leading ballet master Marianna Venekei and composer László Dés will take place at the Erkel Theatre as the closure of the ballet season in summer 2017.

The stars of the Hungarian National Ballet also excel in modern dance pieces which are carefully chosen and presented in mixed bills. Audiences at the Erkel Theatre are presented with Hungarian premieres of contemporary choregraphies by internationally renowned Jirˇí Kylián and Johan Inger every season, while their popular pieces stay on the repertoire. A new tour series entitled Ballet on Wheels also takes these performances to several other Hungarian cities to enable wider audiences to enjoy ballet.

The new logistic and performance venue of the Hungarian State Opera, the Eiffel Art Studios is due to open its gates in the spring of 2017. Here, Space Fantasy, a double bill featuring choreographies by Dóra Barta and Béla Földi can be seen again after their premiere in the previous season. More contemporary dance is featured on the playbill of the Erkel Theatre. On a special night entitled Pas de quatre ’17 top ballet companies of Hungary join the Hungarian National Ballet to impress audiences with their latest modern choreographies. Another event, DanceTrend ’17 gives the opportunity for innovative artists and independent companies to show their talents: choreographies by Yvette Bozsik and the Budapest Dance Theatre are presented in this season’s event.

In 2017, the third Iván Nagy International Ballet Gala takes place at the Opera. Each year an international ballet gala night is organised, in which soloists from the greatest ballet companies in the world (such as the Royal Ballet, the English National Ballet, the Bolshoi, the Paris Opera or the HET National Ballet) join the artists of the Opera’s ballet ensemble to pay tribute to the memory of the internationally renowned ballet dancer who passed away in 2014.

Finally, several series of Billy Elliot – The Musical, which had its Hungarian premiere recently to significant critical acclaim, are featured throughout the season in the non-replica production by director Tamás Szirtes and choreographer Ákos Tihanyi. This exciting project by the Hungarian State Opera attempts to attract audiences who prefer “lighter” genres as well as to inspire children to try themselves in the world of ballet.

For detailed information about the ballet productions of the 2016/17 season CLICK HERE.

Source: opera.hu