GRAND RAPIDS BALLET 2024-25 SEASON

Peter Martin Wege Theatre

We close out our 2024-25 season with Be Here Now, a compilation of four stand-alone works, showcasing the true diversity and versatility our company offers. The program features the return of Le Grand Jazz!, choreographed by Darrell Grand Moultrie for GRB in October 2023. Moultrie’s work features classic tunes as well as songs from contemporary jazz artists, including Duke Ellington & Count Basie, Michael Bublé, Chris Botti, Ella Fitzgerald, Samara Joy, and the Melton Mustafa Orchestra. Le Grand Jazz! shares an infectious energy with the audience as it highlights a community of dancers who are playful, sometimes introspective, and always full of life. Our resident choreographer Penny Saunders will also create an entirely new work to be featured in this performance, her 9th original work for the company. George Balanchine’s Italian inspired Tarantella is an exuberant pas de deux, full of personality, speed, and spirit. Created in 1964 for New York City Ballet dancers Edward Villella and Patricia McBride, Tarantella is an exciting showcase of virtuosic dancing. The show concludes with Be Here Now, choreographed by Trey McIntyre to a playlist of music by The Mamas and the Papas, Janis Joplin, Steve Miller Band, Sly and the Family Stone, The Hollies, Jefferson Airplane, and The Youngbloods. Created in honor of the 50^th anniversary of the “Summer of Love,” Be Here Now transports us to 1967 San Francisco, during a time of cultural revolution and youthful expression, inviting us to delight in the present moment and revel in music, movement, and love.