Richmond Ballet
Carmina Burana and Thrive
with Richmond Symphony & Chorus
and The City Choir of Washington
Wolf Trap Opera Artists
A Kay Shouse Great Performance
Gates Open:
6:30 PM
Showtime:
8 PM
Acclaimed as “a jewel among U.S. dance companies,” (Dance/USA), the Richmond Ballet performs Ma Cong’s joyful Thrive and John Butler’s masterwork Carmina Burana.
The exquisite evening features the Richmond Symphony & Chorus and the City Choir of Washington, in addition to Wolf Trap Opera artists soprano Esther Tonea, tenor Lunga Eric Hallam, and baritone Daniel Rich. Butler’s powerful, impassioned Carmina Burana uses the full breadth of Carl Orff’s choral score to explore the melding of classical ballet’s structure with the earthiness of contemporary dance.
Tonight's Program
Before the performance, Governor Glenn Youngkin and First Lady Suzanne S. Youngkin will present the Richmond Ballet Lifetime Achievement Award to the illustrious actor, dancer and choreographer, and Kennedy Center Honoree, Carmen de Lavallade. Ms. Lavallade was one of the four principal dancers from the original 1959 cast of Carmina Burana.
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THRIVE
Choreography by Ma Cong
Music by Oliver Davis
Costume Design by Monica Guerra
Lighting Design by Trad A. Burns
with Richmond Symphony,
Richmond Symphony Chorus,
and The City Choir of Washington
View Full Casting
Ma Cong embraces his heritage and identity, painting a hopeful portrait of the future with his ninth work for Richmond Ballet. Thrive is an exquisite jewel, with multi-faceted and intricately layered choreography exploring the depth and intensity of energetic connections.
World Premiere: September 20, 2022, Richmond Ballet, Richmond Ballet Studio Theatre, Richmond, Virginia
Thrive. Music by Oliver Davis. © 2023 Eaton Music Limited
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INTERMISSION
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CARMINA BURANA
Conceived and Choreographed by John Butler
Music and Latin Text by Carl Orff
Staging by Igor Antonov and Lauren Fagone
Costume Design by John Butler
Original Lighting Design by Richard Moore
Tenor: Lunga Eric Hallam
Soprano: Esther Tonea
Baritone: Daniel Rich
with Richmond Symphony,
Richmond Symphony Chorus,
and The City Choir of Washington
View Full Casting
Carmina Burana is a choral theater piece based on poems discovered in the library of an ancient Bavarian monastery. The 13th-century poems and songs were composed by minstrels and monks, who had freed themselves of monastic discipline. The ballet, which begins after the first chorus, is an abstract landscape of movement, not a realistic re-telling of the poems. The prologue regrets the ever-changing fate of man, first riding the Wheel of Fate with success, then ground under by it. The first part relates the joy of spring. The second relates the pleasures, extravagances, and despairs of tavern life. The third part is a series of love poems, while the epilogue returns to the plaintive bemoaning of the ruthless Wheel of Fate.
—Clive Barnes
World Premiere: September 24, 1959, New York City Opera, City Center, NY; Richmond Ballet Premiere: October 15, 1987, Carpenter Theatre, Richmond, VA
Carl Orff CARMINA BURANA – Cantiones profanae. Used by arrangement with European American Music Distributors Company, sole US and Canadian agent for Schott Music GmbH & Co. KG, Mainz, Germany, publisher and copyright owner.
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