PETER PAN
February 21-23, 2025 at DeVos Performance Hall
Take flight with Grand Rapids Ballet as we present Peter Pan February 21-23, 2025, at DeVos Performance Hall. Embark on a magical journey to enchanting realms with this captivating full-length ballet choreographed by Septime Webre, inspired by J.M. Barrie’s renowned tale about the boy who won’t grow up. Immerse yourself in the nostalgic narrative brimming with pixie dust, the spirited Lost Boys, the notorious Captain Hook, daring pirates, a voracious crocodile, and the fearless Peter Pan flying high above the stage! With live accompaniment from the Grand Rapids Symphony playing a score by Carmon DeLeone, Peter Pan is a humorous, family-friendly ballet that seamlessly blends classical ballet technique with a timeless story.
PETER PAN | DATES & TIMES
Friday, February 21, 2025
- Evening performance at 7:30 p.m. | Get Tickets
Saturday, February 22, 2025
- Matinee performance at 2 p.m. | Get Tickets
Sunday, February 23, 2025
- Matinee performance at 2 p.m. | Get Tickets
PETER PAN | CREATORS
Septime Webre
Biography
Septime Webre is an internationally recognized ballet director, choreographer, educator and advocate. He is the Artistic Director of the Hong Kong Ballet after 17 years as artistic director of The Washington Ballet from 1999-2016. Previously he served as Artistic director of the American Repertory Ballet, based in Princeton, New Jersey from 1993-1999. In addition, Webre serves as the artistic director of Halcyon, a Washington DC-based foundation, launching an annual international Festival for Creativity in Washington DC in June 2018.
During Webre’s tenure at The Washington Ballet, the institution’s budget grew by 500%, and it enjoyed unprecedented advances in the scope and quality of its work on stage, in the size and reach of its professional school, and in the development of several far-reaching community engagement programmes, which he founded. Webre launched an array of artistic initiatives including The American Experience, which developed great works of literature into full-length ballets, including The Great Gatsby and Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises among others.
As a choreographer, Webre’s works appear in the repertoires of ballet companies throughout North America, including Pacific Northwest Ballet, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, Colorado Ballet, Ballet West, Atlanta Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, Ballet Austin, Ballet Memphis, Milwaukee Ballet, Kansas City Ballet, Ballet Concierto de Puerto Rico, and many others, and he has worked frequently in theatre as well as opera. As a dancer, Webre was featured in solo and principal roles from the classical repertoire as well as in contemporary works by choreographers such as Twyla Tharp, Paul Taylor and Merce Cunningham. He has served on the juries of a number of international ballet competitions, including those in Varna, Bulgaria, Istanbul, Cape Town, New York, Seoul, and elsewhere. He has served on the board of Dance/USA and his work has received numerous honors, grants and awards. He holds a degree in History/Pre-Law from the University of Texas at Austin, and is the seventh son in a large, boisterous Cuban-American family.
Carmon DeLeone
Biography
For well over 50 seasons, Carmon DeLeone has served as Music Director of The Cincinnati Ballet. He is Conductor Laureate of The Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra and The Middletown (OH) Symphony Orchestra and possesses an impressive list of accomplishments. At New York’s Carnegie Hall, he has served as Conductor and Host of the “Family Concert” Series with the Orchestra of St. Lukes, and he has lead orchestras in Luxembourg, Germany, Canada, Puerto Rico and London. Maestro DeLeone has been named the Illinois “Music Director of the Year,” and under his leadership, The Illinois Philharmonic was twice named the “Illinois Orchestra of the Year.”
Maestro DeLeone is a talented composer, having written such works as “Fanfare, Funk & Fandango” (An American Dance Set) along with many original scores for the ballet. His newest ballet composition, “Dancing To OZ!” was recently premiered by Cincinnati Ballet, and his best-known work, the full-length ballet in two acts, “Peter Pan,” is enjoying continued praise in major cities from coast to coast, as well as overseas. Maestro DeLeone conducted the debut of “Peter Pan” in London during a 28-performance run with the Atlanta Ballet at the prestigious Royal Festival Hall. His list of ballet score creations also includes “The Princess and the Pea,” “Frevo,” “Guernica,” “With Timbrel and Dance,” and Ruth Page’s “Billy Sunday,” which was nationally televised on PBS.
During his 12-year tenure as Assistant, and later Resident Conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Maestro DeLeone served on its staff with Music Directors Max Rudolf, Thomas Schippers, Walter Susskind, and Erich Kunzel. He was also selected personally by Maestro Erich Leinsdorf to participate in an intensive master conducting seminar at Lincoln Center.
His diverse talents are demonstrated by the wide range of his musical interests. He is experienced in both the classics and jazz, whether leading his own “Studio Big Band” from the drum set, or playing French horn in both idioms.
Maestro DeLeone earned B.M., B.S., and M.M. degrees from the Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music. He served at CCM as Adjunct Assistant Professor of Opera and Music Theatre. During this tenure, he conducted productions of Prince Igor, La Cenerentola, Gianni Schicchi, The Crucible, La Callisto (American Premiere), and The Secret Marriage. He has been presented with the Conservatory’s “Distinguished Alumni Award.” At Indiana University, he conducted the world premiere and nationally televised production of John Eaton’s children’s opera, The Lion and Androcles.
Maestro DeLeone made his New York conducting debut with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater at City Center. Most recently, he was awarded the esteemed MacDowell Medal by the Cincinnati MacDowell Society. His very popular eclectic weekly radio show, Sunday Morning Music Hall, can be heard live online nationally at WDJO-AM & FM.
PETER PAN | SPONSORS
