Opening Night

Performance Details

GERALD R. FORD AMPHITHEATER

“It is hard to imagine a more open-minded cultural event than the Vail Dance Festival.” – The Denver Post

An all-star Opening Night samples and celebrates what is to come at this year’s Festival with performances by stars of New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, and other celebrated individual artists, along with an appearance by Alonzo King LINES Ballet. The program features a range of choreographic genius demonstrating the ambitious reach of the Festival, from works by iconic choreographers George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins to dances by today’s leading creative voices including Michelle Dorrance.

PROGRAM DETAILS

Jam Session 2025

Music and Choreography by the Artists

Michelle Dorrance, Lil Buck
Emiko Nakagawa, Dario Natarelli

Musicians: Joel Wenhardt, Youba Cissokhoa

Feeling Uneasy

Choreography: Alonzo King
Music: Etta James

Adji Cissoko, Shuaib Elhaasan

Loose Time

Choreography: Merce Cunningham
Music composed and performed by Joel Wenhardt

Melissa Toogood

O’Clock (excerpt)

Choreography: Juliano Nunes
Music: Philip Glass

Kayla Mak
Piano: Tony Siqi Yun

Other Dances

Music: Frederic Chopin
Choreography: Jerome Robbins

Isabella Boylston, Roman Mejia

INTERMISSION

Black Swan Pas de Deux (excerpts)

Choreography: Marius Petipa
Music: Piotr Tschaikovsky

Mira Nadon, Chun Wai Chan

The Two of Us (Excerpt)

Choreography: Christopher Wheeldon
Music: Joni Mitchell

Sara Mearns, Robbie Fairchild

Scheherezade (excerpt)

Choreography: Alonzo King
Music: Zakir Hussain after Rimsky Korsakov

Alonzo King LINES Ballet

Generously Underwritten by Lisa Tannebaum & Donald Brownstein additional support provided by Martin Atkin & Reid Balthaser.

Casting and repertory are subject to change.

Photo credit: Festival artists perform their original work “Jam Session 2024” on the Opening Night program of the 2024 Vail Dance Festival.
Photo by Christopher Duggan.