Carolina Ballet Presents Carmina Burana April 19-22 Backed By The North Carolina Master Chorale

RALEIGH, NC, April 13, 2012 (Press-News.org) Robert Weiss, artistic director and CEO of Carolina Ballet (http://www.carolinaballet.com), has announced that Carl Orff's scenic cantata Carmina Burana will be presented at Raleigh Memorial Auditorium Thursday, April 19 through Sunday, April 22 in five performances choreographed by Lynne Taylor-Corbett, principal guest choreographer of the ballet, and backed by more than 140 singers with the North Carolina Master Chorale, vocal soloists, and an orchestral accompaniment, all conducted by Music Director Alfred E. Sturgis. The second half of the program will feature the world premiere of three ballets inspired by the Alexander Calder exhibit at Duke University's Nasher Museum of Art, choreographed by principal dancer Timour Bourtasenkov, company member Zalman Raffael, and Tyler Walters, the director of Carolina Ballet's Ruth Shur Summer Intensive and a member of the dance faculty at Duke University. Bourtasenkov's ballet, called Calderiana, is set to selections of music by the Kronos Quartet, while Walters has selected the Prokofiev "Flute Sonata" for his ballet, I Mobile, and Raffael is using the music of Darius Milhaud for his Calder ballet titled The Ghost. The exhibit of Alexander Calder's mobiles, subtitled "Form, Balance, Joy," lends itself absolutely to ballet as it is all about the graceful juxtaposition of movement and light.

Performance times are 8 p.m. for the Thursday, Friday and Saturday evening performances April 19-21 and 2 p.m. for the Saturday and Sunday matinees April 21-22. Ticket prices range from $25-$65, and discounts are available for groups of 10 or more. For more information, visit http://www.carolinaballet.com or call (919) 719-0800.

QUOTES:
"Carolina Ballet is proud to present a production that uses other expression of art including music and sculpture as inspiration for our choreographers," said Weiss. "This event is a celebration of our area's creativity, as it will feature contributions by the North Carolina Master Chorale, the Nasher Museum of Art and others that will result in an unforgettable unique experience for those who attend."

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DETAILS:
- Both Timour and Tyler are recipients of grants from the prestigious New York Choreographic Institute, and each has choreographed at least seven ballets on Carolina Ballet.

- During this past winter, Raffael presented a choreographic workshop ballet that he created on Carolina Ballet dancers to Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue."

- This is the third time that Carolina Ballet has collaborated with the Nasher Museum - the previous programs inspired by works at the museum were Don Quixote after the exhibit "El Greco to Velasquez, Art during the Reign of Philip III," and the Picasso evening of four ballets inspired by the exhibit called "Picasso and the Allure of Language."

ABOUT CAROLINA BALLET:
Carolina Ballet is a world-class professional ballet company based in Raleigh, N.C. Since its professional launch in 1998 under the leadership of Artistic Director/CEO Robert Weiss, the company has staged more than 80 world premiere ballets, toured internationally in China and Hungary, and has been acclaimed as one of the premiere arts organizations in the country. The mission of Carolina Ballet is to entertain and enlighten audiences in Raleigh, the greater Triangle area, North Carolina and beyond. The organization seeks to accomplish this mission by presenting traditional ballets of legendary masters; commissioning new works by innovative choreographers; educating current and future audiences through programs for school-aged children and other performance outreach activities; and attracting, developing, and retaining excellent dancers and artistic personnel, combined with a fiscally responsible management and board of directors. For more information, please visit http://www.carolinaballet.com or call (919) 719-0800.

Emily Packard
MMI Public Relations
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emily@mmipublicrelations.com
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