Portland Ballet’s Mid-Winter offering of emerging choreographers is back for our first performance of 2025. Back for the third year in a row, this evening of premieres showcases the range of Portland Ballet’s impassioned artists as dancers and choreographers alike. Come and witness this year’s New Works take the stage for the first time.
A choreographic collaboration between Artistic Director, Nell Shipman, and Annie Kloppenberg, Associate Professor of Dance at Colby College, takes as its inspiration Maine’s landscape, history, and lighthouses as portals to explore our relationship to the land, water, wayfinding, and navigation in an original contemporary ballet.
The performance features an expanded Portland Ballet Company with dancers from Colby, who have joined the company for the month of January to develop this work and an original score by composer Caitlin Scholl, created and performed in collaboration with Colby student musicians.
The collaboration between Shipman, whose work has been called “refined and engrossing” (Portland Press Herald) and Kloppenberg, “a choreographer of nuances” (Boston Globe), will yield a richly layered work that treats Maine as history and home.
Join us for a family-friendly morning of Halloween-inspired ballet by students of the Senior and Pre-Professional Divisions at Portland School of Ballet!
Halloween-themed dances are combined with famous classical music for a performance that is ideal for all ages. This performance will include a raffle drawing and costume parade at intermission, so come dressed in your best Halloween costume!
RUN TIME: 60 minutes (no intermission)
New Works returns for the 2023/2024 season with selections by emerging and established choreographers. An evening filled with intriguing creations, New Works showcases the versatile dancers of Portland Ballet through the groundbreaking debuts of the area’s leading choreographers.
New Works is presented in collaboration with Portland Ballet and Colby Dance Company Artistic Directors, Annie Kloppenberg and Nell Shipman.
Portland Ballet’s season closes with Nell Shipman’s Sylvia. Based on Greek mythology, Sylvia tells the story of how the mild shepherd Aminta wins the heart of the huntress nymph Sylvia with the divine help of Eros and Diana. This premiere of a dynamic new work by Artistic Director Nell Shipman set to the rousing music of Delibes, will inspire and delight audiences of all ages.
Portland Ballet’s season closes with Nell Shipman’s Sylvia. Based on Greek mythology, Sylvia tells the story of how the mild shepherd Aminta wins the heart of the huntress nymph Sylvia with the divine help of Eros and Diana. This premiere of a dynamic new work by Artistic Director Nell Shipman set to the rousing music of Delibes, will inspire and delight audiences of all ages.
Portland Ballet’s Community Appreciation Concert will spotlight the voices of our dancers as they step into the role of choreographer. This evening will feature selections choreographed by the artists you have admired as dancers, as they move to the front of the studio to share what they have to say as creators of movement. Portland Ballet’s Community Appreciation Performance of New Works allows members of our community to enjoy a Portland Ballet performance at Westbrook Performing Arts Center at a reduced rate.
Portland Ballet and Colby College Department of Theater and Dance collaborate to bring to life an evening of work featuring an expanded company of dancers. Joining forces again after their celebrated partnership in 2018, this performance will thrill classical and contemporary fans alike.
Based on the classic Russian folktale, the Firebird is a powerful ballet set to the music of Stravinsky that will delight ballet audiences of all ages. Full of dynamic performance, beauty and magic, Portland Ballet’s recreation of this neo-classical ballet is an audience favorite.
RUN TIME: 1.5 hrs including intermission
In this Portland Ballet revival, the classic story of Boy Meets Girl comes to life in a 1950’s Italian restaurant on date night. Throughout the night, the stories of these individuals intertwine into a fun-filled, romantic, evening where drinks are in hand, love is in the air, and, hopefully, everyone leaves with a song in their hearts.
This is an hour long performance at the Westbrook Performing Arts Center for members of our community to enjoy a Portland Ballet performance at a reduced rate.
RUN TIME: 1 hr, no intermission