BalletMet announces 2024-25 season, which includes 'The Nutcracker,' 'Dracula'
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BalletMet Artistic Director Edwaard Liang will soon be leaving the company he has led for 11 years for a new position at the Washington Ballet in the nation’s capital.
But, even after he has departed, his imprint with the company will remain — for at least one more season.
“It’s definitely very bittersweet,” Liang said.
On Sunday, the company announced the productions planned for the 2024-25 season, the last to be programmed by the outgoing arts leader.
A new artistic director has not yet been named, but Liang planned the season with an eye toward making the upcoming transition a smooth one.
To that end, the new season will open with two long-standing productions in the BalletMet repertoire: “Dracula” and “The Nutcracker.”
“These are known ballets, by our dancers, by our staff,” Liang said.
With such warhorses in place, Liang reckons, the new leader can turn his or her attention to the season after next.
“This new artistic director would need to start programming and budgeting for the following year right away,” Liang said.
In the meantime, audiences can look forward to one last season under the artistic guidance of the outgoing leader.
Season to start with ‘Dracula’
Choreographed by former BalletMet Artistic Director David Nixon and based upon the classic novel by Bram Stoker, “Dracula” is a mixture of macabre storytelling and dramatic dancing.
“It has risen to cult-favorite status,” Liang said. “It’s well-paced; it’s entertaining. There’s great dancing in there.”
“Dracula” will be performed Oct. 25-Nov. 2 in the Riffe Center’s Davidson Theatre, 77 S. High St.
‘The Nutcracker’ to run for 20 performances
The holiday ballet “The Nutcracker” has long been a favorite of both serious balletomanes and more casual viewers — a fact reflected in the strength of audience numbers in recent seasons.
“This (current) season, we’re back to pre-pandemic numbers,” Liang said.
More: Opera Columbus announces its 2024-25 season schedule
Fans will have some 20 chances to check out the show in the season ahead: “The Nutcracker” will be performed Dec. 12-28 in the Ohio Theatre, 39 E. State St.
Additionally, “My First Nutcracker,” a condensed version intended for very young audiences, will be performed on Dec. 20 and 26, also in the Ohio.
‘West Side Story’ collaboration on tap
On Feb. 13-16, 2025, in the Ohio Theatre, BalletMet will join with Opera Columbus, the Columbus Symphony and the Columbus Association for the Performing Arts (CAPA) to present the 1957 Broadway musical “West Side Story.”
Liang hopes that fans of all four participating organizations will see the elaborate show.
“It just means more entry points for people to know and love the ballet, the opera and the symphony,” Liang said.
The project has personal meaning for Liang, who, as a dancer with the New York City Ballet, was in the original 1995 cast for the much-admired “West Side Story Suite,” choreographer Jerome Robbins’ condensed version of the original show he conceived and choreographed.
“It was literally a half-an-hour standing ovation,” Liang said of opening night of “West Side Story Suite.” “People would not leave the theater; it was incredible.”
‘Sleeping Beauty’ to return
Choreographed by Liang in 2016, “Sleeping Beauty” will make a comeback on May 2-4, 2025, in the Ohio Theatre. Although the show is three acts, it tells the fanciful fairy tale in a condensed, family-friendly fashion.
“Each of the acts is going to be very succinct,” Liang said.
More: 'Jersey Boys,' 'Legally Blonde,' 'Nine' among 2024-25 Short North Stage lineup
Season concludes by celebrating Black choreographers
The work of three Black choreographers — Jennifer Archibald, Dwight Rhoden and the late Ulysses Dove — will be center stage for “Black Voices,” the concluding program of the new season. The triple bill will be performed June 6-14, 2025, in the Davidson Theatre.
“I’m very excited to be a part of this program,” Liang said. “I think it’s really important that BalletMet is continuing to amplify . . . representation, and giving platforms and a voice for artists that need to be highlighted.”
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At a glance
Subscriptions for BalletMet’s 2024-25 season will go on sale March 10. Tickets to individual shows will go on sale Aug. 1; tickets for “The Nutcracker” will go on sale July 1. For more information, visit www.balletmet.org.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: BalletMet announces 2024-25 season at the Ohio Theatre
