The Great Masters

Two undisputed master choreographers of the 20th century are paired once again by The Sarasota Ballet, this time in a performance with the renowned Suzanne Farrell Ballet. The two companies will have performed Balanchine’s Diamonds (from Jewels) the month before in Washington, D.C. and will add Sir Frederick Ashton’s The Two Pigeons to the program for their appearances in Florida.

Sir Frederick Ashton’s The Two Pigeons, first performed by The Sarasota Ballet in Webb’s inaugural season in 2007, has become a crown jewel in the company’s repertoire. Performing with live orchestra, The Sarasota Ballet takes the poetic experience of this ballet to an entirely new level.

Diamonds, from the triptych Jewel s and one of George Balanchine’s most famous ballets, features music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky from his Symphony No. 3 and was created for Suzanne Farrell in 1967.

All performances in Sarasota and Clearwater will be performed to live orchestral accompaniment. Emil de Cou, music director of the Pacific Northwest Ballet, will be conducting the orchestra in Florida, as well as Washington, D.C.

Two performances, 2 pm and 8 pm, on November 18, 2011 at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall are followed by a Saturday 8 pm performance at The Ruth Eckerd Performing Arts Hall in Clearwater, Florida. Clearwater performance tickets will be sold at www.RuthEckerdHall.com.