Ballet Des Moines once again brings back the father of American ballet, George Balanchine, alongside work from internationally renowned choreographer Christopher Wheeldon. This triple bill concludes with the world premiere of Love Letters, Tom Mattingly’s ode to the queer community of Iowa. The full program includes:

Sleeping Beauty Act III, Jewels Pas de Quatre
Choreography by Tom Mattingly
Music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Dancers: Megan Boyette, Savannah Cox, Eddie Kidd, Noah Klarck

Pas de Deux from There Where She Loved
© Christopher Wheeldon
Repetiteur: Michele Gifford
Music by Kurt Weil
Dancers: Amelia Grubb Hillman, Logan Hillman

Pas de Deux from The American
© Christopher Wheeldon
Repetiteur: Michele Gifford
Music by Antonín Dvořák
Dancers: Cameron Miller, Chiyo Nishida

Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux
Choreography by George Balanchine
© The George Balanchine Trust
Repetiteur: Michele Gifford
Music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Dancers: Kate Anderson, Rune Houchin

Love Letters
Choreography by Tom Mattingly
Music by Bright Light Bright Light
Dancers: Kate Anderson, Megan Boyette, Savannah Cox, Amelia Grubb Hillman, Logan Hillman,
Rune Houchin, Eddie Kidd, Noah Klarck, Cameron Miller, Andrea Stephanie Mish, Thomas Montgomery, Chiyo Nishida

Friday, March 8, 8PM
Saturday, March 9, 7PM

Production Manager: Felix Campbell
Rehearsal Director: Michele Gifford
Costume Design: 
Sleeping Beauty Pas de Quatre: Sarah Dornink
The American Pas de Deux: Costumes courtesy of Avant Chamber Ballet
There Where She Loved Pas de Deux: Costumes courtesy of Director Ian Webb and the Sarasota Ballet
Tchaikovsky Pas De Deux: Costumes courtesy of Daniel Ulbricht 
Love Letters: Sarah Dornink
Lighting Design: Felix Campbell

This season, Ballet Des Moines invites those identifying as a member of the LGBTQ+ community to write a love letter to your past self or your future self. Your letters will serve as the inspiration for a new work by choreographer and Ballet Des Moines Artistic Director, Tom Mattingly.

Dancers in order of appearance

ABOUT THE CHOREOGRAPHERS

GEORGE BALANCHINE

George Balanchine, born Georgi Melitonovitch Balanchivadze in 1904, was accepted into the ballet section of St. Petersburg’s rigorous Imperial Theater School at the age of nine where he appeared in productions at the Maryinsky Theater including Marius Petipa’s The Sleeping Beauty. The son of a composer, Balanchine also had extensive musical training that ultimately enabled him, as a choreographer, to translate music into dance in an unprecedented way. Growing up in the upheaval of the Russian Revolution, he often relied on his musical abilities by playing in cabarets and silent movie houses in exchange for bread when money was worthless.

Balanchine began to choreograph in his teens, creating his first work around 1920, La Nuit, for himself and a female student. In 1924, Balanchine and his small troupe of dancers, including Tamara Geva, Alexandra Danilova, and Nicholas Efimov, were permitted to leave the newly formed Soviet Union for a tour of Western Europe. They never returned. The dancers were invited by the impresario Serge Diaghilev to audition for his renowned Ballets Russes and taken into the company. Diaghilev also hired Balanchine as a principal choreographer. Balanchine’s first substantive effort was Ravel’s L’Enfant et les Sortilèges, then a reworking of Stravinsky’s Le Chant du Rossignol, in which a 14-year-old Alicia Markova made her stage debut. Through 1929, when the Ballets Russes collapsed with Diaghilev’s death, Balanchine created nine more ballets, including the quintessential Apollon Musagète and Prodigal Son.

After a period of uncertainty, Balanchine subsequently formed Les Ballets 1933 with Boris Kochno, Diaghilev’s last private secretary, as artistic advisor and the backing of British socialite Edward James. For the company’s first and only season he created six new ballets in collaboration with leading artistic figures including Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill (The Seven Deadly Sins), artist Pavel Tchelitchew (Errante), and composer Darius Milhaud (Les Songes). Though the troupe disbanded in a matter of months, during its London engagement a meeting occurred that changed the history of 20th century dance. The young American arts patron Lincoln Kirstein had a dream to establish a ballet company in America, filled with American dancers and not dependent on repertory from Europe. Kirstein met Balanchine after a Les Ballets 1933 performance and outlined his vision; Balanchine agreed to come to the United States and arrived in New York in
October 1933.  

“But first, a school,” Balanchine is famously reported to have said to Kirstein, and the first product of their collaboration, the School of American Ballet, was founded in 1934 and remains in operation to this day, training dancers for the New York City Ballet and companies worldwide. The first ballet Balanchine choreographed in America, Serenade, to Tschaikovsky, was created for students of the School and originally performed at the summer home of Kirstein’s Harvard colleague and funder of the school Edward M. M. Warburg. Balanchine and Kirstein then created the American Ballet, which for three years was the resident ballet company at the Metropolitan Opera. Ultimately this was not an amicable partnership as the Met had little interest in furthering the cause of the ballet and the relationship ended in 1938, inspiring Balanchine to explore choreography in musical theater and Hollywood.

In 1941, he and Kirstein assembled another short-lived classical company, American Ballet Caravan, and the repertory included two major new Balanchine works, Concerto Barocco and Ballet Imperial (Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2). Between 1944 and 1946 Balanchine was engaged to revitalize Sergei Denham’s Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, and choreographed Danses Concertantes, Raymonda, and Night Shadow (later La Sonnambula) for extensive touring around the country for nine months of the year.

In 1946 Balanchine and Kirstein formed Ballet Society, presenting such new works as The Four Temperaments and Orpheus, on the strength of which Morton Baum, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the New York City Center of Music and Drama, invited the company to join City Center. With the performance of October 11, 1948, consisting of Concerto Barocco, Orpheus, and Symphony in C, New York City Ballet was born.

From that time until his death in 1983, Balanchine served as ballet master and chief choreographer for the New York City Ballet. The Foundation’s catalogue of Balanchine’s output lists over 425 works, beginning with La Nuit and ending with Variations for Orchestra in 1982. These include Balanchine’s work in musical theater and for Hollywood. Balanchine staged many of his ballets (or excerpts) for television, allowing a significantly wider audience to see his work, and he also created new work especially designed for the medium.

As his reputation grew, Balanchine was the recipient of much official recognition. In 1975, the Entertainment Hall of Fame in Hollywood inducted Balanchine as a member, the first choreographer so honored. That same year, he received the French Légion d’Honneur. In 1978, he was one of five recipients of the first Kennedy Center Honors and was also presented with a Knighthood of the Order of Dannebrog, First Class, in Denmark. In 1980, Balanchine was honored by the National Society of Arts and Letters with their Gold Medal award, the Austrian government with its Austrian Cross of Honor for Science and Letters, First Class, joining his previous honors as French Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters and the National Institute of Arts and Letters award for Distinguished Service to the Arts. The last major award he received, in absentia, was in 1983 for the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

On April 30, 1983, George Balanchine died in New York at the age of 79.

CHRISTOPHER WHEELDON

CHRISTOPHER WHEELDON, OBE (Director & Choreographer) trained at The Royal Ballet School and joined The Royal Ballet in 1991. In 1993, he joined New York City Ballet and was promoted to Soloist in 1998. He was named NYCB’s first Resident Choreographer in July 2001. Since then, Mr. Wheeldon has created and staged productions for many of the world’s major ballet companies: San Francisco Ballet, The Bolshoi Ballet, The Mariinsky Ballet, The Paris Opera Ballet, and Hamburg Ballet among others.

In 2007, Mr. Wheeldon founded Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company and was appointed an Associate Artist for Sadler’s Wells Theatre in London. Mr. Wheeldon now serves as Artistic Associate of The Royal Ballet. He has created many works for the company, including the full-length Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and The Winter’s Tale, both of which were co-productions with The National Ballet of Canada. 

In 2012, his ballet Cinderella premiered at Het Nationale Ballet and is making its way to audiences worldwide. For the Metropolitan Opera, he choreographed Dance of the Hours for Ponchielli’s La Gioconda (2006) and Richard Eyre’s production of Carmen (2012) as well as ballet sequences for the feature film Center Stage (2000) and the musical Sweet Smell of Success on Broadway (2002).

Mr. Wheeldon created a special excerpt for the Closing Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics, and in April 2016, he was the Artistic Director for the Fashion Forward exhibition in Paris at La Musee Arts et Decoratif.

In 2014, Mr. Wheeldon directed and choreographed the Broadway musical version of An American in Paris, which had productions in Paris, New York, and London and has toured extensively through America, China, Japan and Australia. The Joffrey Ballet presented the world premiere in 2016 of The Nutcracker reimagined by Mr. Wheeldon and in 2017 he directed and choreographed Lerner & Loewe’s Brigadoon starring Kelli O’Hara and Patrick Wilson at New York City Center. 2019 saw the premiere of Corybantic Games at The Royal Ballet and a re-staged version of Cinderella for the English National Ballet at Royal Albert Hall.

Like Water for Chocolate is his latest full-length ballet for The Royal Ballet which had its premiere in June 2022 and its American premiere with American Ballet Theater in 2023.

Most recently he directed and choreographed MJ The Musical which opened on Broadway in February 2022, winning four Tony Awards, including Best Choreography. It is soon to open in London’s West End in March 2023.

Among Mr. Wheeldon’s other awards are another Tony Award for Best Choreography for An American in Paris, 2 Tony Nominations for Best Director, an Outer Critics Award for Best Choreography and Direction for An American in Paris, the Martin E. Segal Award from Lincoln Center, the American Choreography Award, the Dance Magazine Award, South Bank Show Award, multiple London Critics’ Circle Awards, and the Léonide Massine Prize for new choreography. Mr. Wheeldon’s productions of Cinderella and The Winter’s Tale received the Benois de la Danse, and he is an Olivier Award winner for his ballets Aeternum for The Royal Ballet and Polyphonia for Morphoses.

In 2016, Mr. Wheeldon was named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) and was made an Honorary Fellow of American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Christopher is a dual citizen of the United States and the United Kingdom and resides in New York City with his husband, Ross Rayburn, and their dogs, Hattie and Theo.

TOM MATTINGLY

Born in Sidney, MT, Tom Mattingly began his dance training at the Sierra Academy of Dance in Ridgecrest, CA. Following full scholarships to the summer intensives of San Francisco Ballet School, Boston Ballet School, American Ballet Theatre, and the Rock School for Dance Education, Mattingly completed his studies at Virginia School of the Arts and is the 2005 recipient of the Dame Margot Fonteyn Award for Artistic Excellence.

Mattingly’s professional career included Richmond Ballet, Chautauqua Ballet, and Cincinnati Ballet before joining Ballet West in 2008. There he tackled many leading roles under the watchful eye of industry experts such as Cynthia Gregory, Anna Marie Holmes, and Sir Anthony Dowell. Proving to be a versatile and dynamic performer, Mattingly quickly rose through the company ranks and by 2013 was promoted to principal dancer.

“My passion to see dancers realize their potential was fostered by the visionaries who helped me grow from apprentice to principal dancer,” said Mattingly. “Sir Anthony Dowell illuminated the seemingly minute details that create magic for an audience. Choreographer Val Caniparoli taught me that collaboration, rather than control, is the key to creative success. Richmond Ballet Artistic Director Stoner Winslett demonstrated how to confidently lead an organization based on the principles of innovation and adaptation. As mentors, these three empowered me to reach my full artistic potential, and I believe I will carry on their tradition of excellence as a leader at Ballet Des Moines.”

In 2014, Mattingly relocated to Chicago to join the newly formed contemporary ensemble Visceral Dance Chicago. After two years, he was hand picked to join the first national tour of “An American in Paris”, the four time Tony Award winning musical directed & choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon. In 2019, Mattingly joined Madison Ballet as Ballet Master.

Now retired from the stage, Mr. Mattingly is a passionate teacher, choreographer, and coach. To date he has created world premieres for National Choreographers Initiative, Ballet West, Ballet West II, Ballet West Academy, Dance in the Parks, Richmond Ballet, Madison Ballet, Utah Arts Festival, Ballet Arkansas, Charlottesville Ballet, Elite Choreographic Initiative, Arova Contemporary Ballet, Beijing Ballet Invitational, World Ballet Competition, and Youth America Grand Prix.

Mattingly joined Ballet Des Moines in 2021 as Artistic Director, and as since created thought-provoking works including the world premiere’s Salem, Jekyll & Hyde, choreographed Beau Kenyon’s of Gravity and Light, Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini and most recently Love Letters, his ode to the queer community of Iowa.

past EVENTS SUPPORTING
love letterS

Since the fall of 2023, Ballet Des Moines has been connecting with queer organizations in anticipation of the world premiere ballet Love Letters, collecting stories of hope and compassion, encouragement and joy. 

In an effort to broaden collaboration, awareness and inclusivity, Des Moines Performing Arts and Ballet Des Moines have engaged with local queer arts organizations to curate a calendar of events this spring. It is our hope to fill our audiences with members of our community, people of all ages who identify as queer and LGBTQ+ allies, using joy and creativity as tools for advocacy, community activism, and even rebellion.