The Joffrey Ballet 2023-2024 season at Lyric opera House has just been announced, featuring company debuts and a world premiere.
President and CEO Greg Cameron adds:
“Since its founding, our company has followed Robert Joffrey’s guiding principles of creating compelling performances, inspirational education, and artistic innovation. Ashley Wheater has masterfully curated our 68th season with productions that illustrate these ambitions through modern interpretations of classic tales and bold new narratives. With a nod to the past and an eye on the future, our commitment to making dance accessible to everyone through ‘Joffrey for All’ initiatives brings captivating storytelling to the Lyric Opera stage, the Chicago community, and beyond.”
Joffrey Ballet 2023-2024 Season Schedule
Frankenstein | October 12–22, 2023
Lyric Opera House
- Frankenstein by Liam Scarlett
The critically acclaimed adaptation of Mary Shelley’s gothic masterpiece, Frankenstein, is a visceral, profoundly emotional tale of life, death, love, and identity. Set to Liebermann’s original sweeping score and immersed within the stunning stage design by world-renowned artist John Macfarlane, this must-see Chicago premiere is one of the most innovative works of dance today.
Frankenstein takes the audience on a captivating journey through scientist Victor Frankenstein’s ambitious plan to animate a patchwork of lifeless body parts, setting in motion a detrimental chain of fateful events. Scarlett’s 19th century and dawn of modern science production retains the essential nature of Shelley’s novel while transforming previous notions of horror into an allegory of the human condition.
The Nutcracker | December 3–27, 2023
Lyric Opera House
- The Nutcracker by Christopher Wheeldon
Witness the magical 1893 Chicago World’s Fair with young Marie and her Nutcracker Prince in Tony Award®-winning choreographer Christopher Wheeldon’s holiday masterpiece.
It’s a celebratory Christmas Eve, and thanks to a surprise visit from the enchanting Great Impresario, Marie embarks on a spellbinding adventure into a realm of spectacle and wonder. Experience our holiday magic in this must-see tradition boldly reimagined for a new generation.
A ballet in two acts set to Tchaikovsky’s classic score, The Nutcracker features an award-winning creative team, including Tony Award®-nominated set and costume designer Julian Crouch, Caldecott Medal Award-winning author Brian Selznick, Obie and Drama Desk award-winning puppeteer Basil Twist, Tony Award®-winning lighting designer Natasha Katz and Tony Award®-winning projection designer
Ben Pearcy/59 Productions.
Studies in Blue | February 15–25, 2024
Lyric Opera House
- Yonder Blue by Andrew McNicol
- Hungry Ghosts (World Premiere) by Stina Quagebeur
- Hummingbird by Liam Scarlett
McNicol creates a sense of vastness in Yonder Blue, a Joffrey commissioned piece, with minimalist costuming and unique lighting. McNicol draws inspiration from writer Siri Hustvedt’s illuminating book A Plea for Eros. In the book, Hustvedt describes “yonder” as a word that shifts and moves, implying distance between one place and another. “Blue” similarly holds multiple associations — honesty and melancholy.
Praised for her masterful blending of classical and contemporary ballet, Quagebeur intuitively communicates universal journeys, whether that be abstract or narrative. Described in Dancing Times as a choreographer who “managed to express abstract ideas through dance with the sort of clarity that indicates serious talent,” Quagebeur is one of the most inspiring artists working today.
Quagebeur’s world premiere at the Joffrey conveys the blight of addiction, and the longing to feel connected amidst devastation. She describes this work as “the story that statistics can’t tell and that words alone cannot do justice to.”
Hummingbird takes flight in a breathtaking expression of human emotion. Set to Glass’s three-movement Tirol Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, Scarlett articulates profound love and longing through the progression of three pas de deux.
Surrounded by the striking artistry of John Macfarlane’s stage design, Scarlett’s dynamic choreography invites audiences to embrace compassion, reminding us of what it feels like to be human. Dance Europe hailed it as a “perfect mix of music, choreography, staging…it takes your breath away.”
Midsummer Night’s Dream | April 25 – May 5, 2024
Lyric Opera House
- Midsummer Night’s Dream by Alexander Ekman
Far from a Shakespearean tale, Ekman’s Midsummer Night’s Dream is a mind-bending trip to a surreal realm of unearthly delights. Set during the traditional Scandinavian summer solstice festival, dancers celebrate a day of revelry and romance under the maypole, which soon unravels into an otherworldly dream.
Ekman’s picturesque fusion of classical and contemporary ballet blurs the line between the real and the imagined and makes us wonder, is it all a dream?
Featured Photo for the Joffrey Ballet 2023-2024 Season of Jeraldine Mendoza, Dylan Gutierrez, and company in Andrew McNicol’s Yonder Blue. Photo by Cheryl Mann.
