Simply Sublime includes three powerful works by three master choreographers George Balanchine, Michel Fokine and Christopher Wheeldon.
Symphony in Three Movements is a large ensemble work, distinct in both its complexity and energy. The work is set to a score by Stravinsky, Balanchine?s long-time collaborator, and premiered in 1972 at the Stravinsky Festival at New York State Theater. The choreography, marked by its turned in movements and athletic sequences, is set to three movements originally composed by Stravinsky for three different films.
Florence Clerc?s world premiere staging of Michel Fokine?s Les Sylphides, is also included in this program. This one-act romantic work follows a poet as he dances with ghostly sylphs in a forest. The corps de ballet is integral to the feeling and character of Les Sylphides and appears onstage throughout almost the entire work.
Polyphonia, Christopher Wheeldon?s playful romance for four couples, completes the program. The New York Times has described the work as ?[handling] the classical vocabulary of Balanchine, Ashton and others without being inhibited or retro? with a constant supply or inventiveness.?