Music for the Ballet

Beloved, magical and dramatic Latin American works for dance.

Auditorium Theatre Brings Malkovich, Blanchard, Dance Riches in 2023-24 Season

Special events, dance, and more are on deck for the Auditorium.

Ukrainian, Russian refugee dancers find help in Berlin

Dancers who have fled Ukraine — and Russia — due to the war have found a new temporary home in Berlin’s top ballet company, which helps with practice space, housing, even shoes.

Joffrey Announces 2021-22 Season In First Year At Lyric

From The Nutcracker to Don Quixote be the first to learn about what the Joffrey Ballet’s next season has in store!

Discover What Makes Tchaikovsky’s ‘Nutcracker’ Sound Like Sugar, Spice, and Everything Nice

Conductor Scott Speck, who leads the Chicago Philharmonic for performances of The Nutcracker with Joffrey Ballet, explained what makes Tchaikovsky’s score as addictive as your favorite holiday treats.

Quiz: What Movement of ‘The Nutcracker Suite’ Are You?

Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker isn’t just a popular holiday ballet. The composer grouped eight pieces in his Nutcracker Suite, which is often performed in concert. But, which movement of the “Nutcracker Suite” are you? Are you the “Spanish Dance?” “The Waltz of the Flowers?” Take the quiz and find out!

Exploring Chords: “Appalachian Spring”

From its premiere more than 75 years ago, this music and ballet continue to speak to the American soul. Dive into the score of Appalachian Spring with Bill McGlaughlin.

Choreographer Cathy Marston and the Joffrey Ballet Take ‘Jane Eyre’ From Page To Stage

To conceal that the book’s author was a woman, Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre was first published in 1847 under a pen name. Choreographer Cathy Marston feels the book was revolutionary: “It truly was groundbreaking for a woman to write about her emotions and station in life with such honesty.”

Alicia Alonso, the grande dame of Cuban ballet, has died

Alicia Alonso, the revered ballerina and choreographer whose nearly 75-year career made her an icon of artistic loyalty to Cuba’s socialist system, died Thursday at age 98.

Bolshoi Ballet to Return to Chicago After 16 Years

The Bolshoi Ballet is returning to Chicago for the first time in sixteen years. The Russian ballet company will perform at the Auditorium Theatre in June 2020, which will be the only Midwest stop on their United States tour. The Bolshoi Ballet will perform Yuri Grigorovich’s Swan Lake, set to Tchaikovsky’s classic score. Grigorovich, who served as the Bolshoi’s director …

Joffrey’s ‘Anna Karenina’ Features Its First-Ever Commissioned Full-Length Orchestral Score. Here’s What It Sounds Like.

“I believe that Karenina is a magical moment of looking at our beautiful art form and taking it a step forward,” says Ashley Wheater, Joffrey Ballet’s artistic director. One of the cornerstones of the production is 35-year-old composer Ilya Demutsky’s brand new, full-length orchestral score, the first such commission in Joffrey’s 62-year history.

Joffrey Ballet Announces 2019/20 Season

The season features four Chicago premieres and the return of two reimagined staples.

Joffrey’s ‘Swan Lake’ Launches a New Season of Ballet and Music

Joffrey Ballet’s artistic director, Ashley Wheater, and music director, Scott Speck, discuss “Swan Lake,” Joffrey’s 2018-19 season, and ballet’s unique and rich creative relationship with music.

Paul Taylor, giant of modern dance, dead at 88 in New York

Taylor kept working well into his 80s, venturing into his company’s Manhattan studios from his Long Island home to choreograph two new pieces a year.

Inside the Score: Adolphe Adam’s Giselle

Joffrey’s Scott Speck, who co-authored Classical Music for Dummies, explains how music helps to tell the stories you see on stage.

Video: What Choreographer Justin Peck Listens for When Picking Music for Dance

Renowned choreographer Justin Peck took a break from his rehearsals with the Joffrey Ballet to explain what he listens for when selecting music to choreograph.

10 US Presidents Who Changed Music in America, According to White House Historical Society Director Emerita

Elise K. Kirk, emerita director of the White House Historical Society, highlights ten US presidents who changed music in America through the music they presented at the White House.

Lyric, Joffrey Announce First Collaboration with 17/18 Season Opener

John Neumeier, director and chief choreographer of the Hamburg Ballet, directs, choreographs, and designs the production.

A Sneak Peek of Joffrey’s New Nutcracker Set During Chicago’s Columbian Exposition of 1893

Dancer Anastacia Holden reflected that “as an artist, we’re always looking for new challenges, because they make us grow. It’s always great to do a new work and see a fresh take on this traditional holiday story.”

The Surprising Politics of Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet

“The last time we did this production, you could hear that people were really upset by it. And yet, there is absolutely beautiful choreography — it’s absolutely stunning.”

Sono Osato, 96, Reflects on Dancing With the Ballet Russes

“I think I am one of the few American dancers who ever saw the Diaghilev ballet at the peak of its glory,” Sono Osato begins her autobiography Distant Dances. At the ripe age of 14, Osato became the first American dancer to join the Ballet Russes de Monte-Carlo, derived from Diaghilev’s famous Ballets Russes. With the company, she toured the …

Rare Ballet Sylvia Comes to Chicago

Choreographer John Neumeier said that in his reinterpretation of Sylvia, he “tried to invent a movement vocabulary that would suit each of the characters.”

5 Women on Being Modern Women in Dance

Choreographer and modern dance maven Claire Bataille: “But gender discrimination is really no different in the dance world from what it is in the corporate world…”