New Video From Miami City Ballet

Yesterday, Miami City Ballet posted this video featuring two of their principal dancers, Jeanette and Patricia Delgado, and ballet mistress Crista Villella.

NPR Feature on Susan Werner - Link to Listen

As promised on Friday, here is the link where you can listen to yesterday morning's interview with Susan Werner! This interview with NPR's Liane Hansen focuses on Susan's latet album, Classics.

Listen to a Susan Werner profile on NPR Sunday

Susan Werner (who is appearing August 13 as part of our Summer Cabaret series) will be featured on Weekend Edition this Sunday, June 28 at approximately 9:45.

Last week, NPR Music called Susan "empress of the unpredictable" and "the best performer on the planet" following her radio performance on New York's WFUV. Read the full article, hear the interview with John Platt, and get Rita Houston's podcast at NPR Music.

If you can't get to the radio Sunday morning, we'll post a link to the feature on Monday.

Nina Ananiashvili still stunning as she nears retirement

Auditorium audiences have seen the phenomenal Nina Ananiashvili dance with the Bolshoi Ballet, and last season with the State Ballet of Georgia, which she leads.

Nina is dancing her farewell season with American Ballet Theatre after 16 years, but continues to wow the audiences. Her final ABT performance is this Saturday; W Magazine has an interview about her emotional good-bye.

Brett Batterson Tweets NDT

In case you missed it, our Executive Director, Brett Batterson, posted his thoughts on last Tuesday's NDT performance on twitter - check it out here: http://twitter.com/AuditoriumChgo.

Miami City Ballet and Cedar Lake on sale this morning

Single tickets for Miami City Ballet and Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet go on sale this morning (Monday, June 22) at 10am. Tickets will be available at the box office (50 E. Congress), at Ticketmaster.com and by phone at 800.982.ARTS(2787).

BUT REMEMBER - you get the best deals if you subscribe! Three show subscriptions are as low as $72 if you subscribe by July 1, so don't delay! Visit http://www.auditoriumtheatre.org/ for subscription information.

The Auditorium stage becomes a black box theatre for Apple Tree's "The Mistress Cycle"

The Auditorium is thrilled to present Apple Tree Theatre's acclaimed production of The Mistress Cycle, a musical about the lives of 5 mistresses throughout history.

This remount will feature the majority of the original cast! Chris Jones of the Tribune called this show, "a must-see for lovers and supporters of new musicals."

We're creating a theatre-in-a-theatre for this production, seating 200 audience members on the stage.

Tickets went on sale at 10am today! Call 800.982.2787, visit ticketmaster.com/auditorium or come by our box office at 50 E. Congress Parkway for tickets . Groups and ATRU subscribers can call 312.431.2357 for discount information.

The Trib's Sid Smith on the "emotional" NDT engagement

"A novelist would be hard pressed to concoct a convergence of events as dizzying or as bittersweet as those swirling around the Nederlands Dans Theater's visit to the Auditorium Theatre this week.

"Looking on with complex emotions will be the outgoing NDT head, Anders Hellstrom, and his announced replacement, Jim Vincent, former NDT dancer and, until Aug. 3, artistic leader of Chicago's top contemporary troupe, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. Just as excited -- and maybe non-plussed -- will be onetime Joffrey Ballet dancer Glenn Edgerton, who danced with NDT, ran its lead company for a while, worked recently under Vincent and was just picked to replace him as Hubbard's new artistic director -- the third in its 32-year history."

Click here to read the rest.

Even MORE NDT press!

There's a great article in today's Sun-Times about next week's NDT engagement. Jim Vincent, who takes over as Artistic Director this fall, talks about each of the pieces they'll be performing.

NDT is also a "Critic's Choice" over at the Reader.

More Press for NDT

Flavorpill: "Dark, intricate, and loaded, NDT's repertoire bets on mood and doubles down on near-flawless execution."

Windy City Times: "I'm not trying to start a brawl, but I'll go ahead and say that Czech choreographer Jirí Kylián is the most influential artist working in the field....NDT hasn't performed in Chicago in over 30 years: Get tickets today if you haven't already."

Time Out Chicago: "NDT makes a rare visit to Chicago, and the huge Auditorium should be filled to the rafters. Established in 1959 by a group of renegades from the Dutch National Ballet, NDT is world-renowned for excellence and standard bearing in the world of contemporary ballet-meets-modern choreography."

Top 6 Reasons to See NDT this month!

1. It's your opportunity to boo the dastardly villains who are stealing Hubbard Street's Artistic Director Jim Vincent away from Chicago.

2. Just because they're from the Netherlands, doesn't mean they dance in wooden shoes. (This could be a plus or a minus, depending on your interest in percussion.)

3. You'll witness some of the most intricate and daring choreography in the world. After all, when a country's native tongue produces words like "Het Muziektheater" and the "Stadsschouwburg," you know they're not afraid to take risks.

4. Because any company that seamlessly melds artistic European dance with scantily clad men and women in skin-tight outfits HAS to be good.

5. You'll kick yourself after listening to the incessant bragging of your friends who did see them - while you have to wait another 38 years for them to come back to Chicago.

6. It's like the Bolshoi on mescaline!

In all seriousness - this is a rare Chicago appearance by one of the world's great dance companies, and we are honored to host them June 16 and 17. We hope you will come to see their amazing work!

Another Take on Handel's Messiah

Since the Auditorium produces Too Hot to Handel: The Jazz-Gospel Messiah each year, our ears perked up when we heard about Handel's Messiah Rocks, premiering on WTTW tomorrow night. Another new take on this versatile classic! When we found out that our friends at HMS worked on the production, we were even more interested. Find out more about Handel's Messiah Rocks; then plan to check out our jazz-gospel version in January!

Update: When I posted this, I did not know that this was coming to the Auditorium Theatre, I promise! Just got the word it's scheduled for November 20 & 21. So see both the rock and the jazz-gospel version for the full Messiah experience!