Balanchine Celebration to Highlight Carolina Ballet's 2003-2004 Season Sponsored by Progress Energy June 25, 2003 RALEIGH, NC --  Carolina Ballet announces the line up of productions for the 2003-2004 season, that will highlight two programs to honor George Balanchine on the 100th anniversary of his birth. The Raleigh-based professional ballet company’s sixth season is sponsored by Progress Energy. All performances will be presented at the BTI Center for the Performing Arts in either Raleigh Memorial Auditorium or the AJ Fletcher Opera Theater. The season is as follows: September 11-28, 2003 – Ballet Festival, AJ Fletcher Opera Theater October 16-19, 2003 – Carmina Burana & Firebird, Raleigh Memorial Auditorium November 28-30, December 19-28, 2003 – Nutcracker, Raleigh Memorial Auditorium February 12-29, 2004 – A Balanchine Celebration, AJ Fletcher Opera Theater April 1-4, 2004 – Messiah, Raleigh Memorial Auditorium May 13-16, 2004 – A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act I – Raleigh Memorial Auditorium   “I am very excited about the new season,” says artistic director Robert Weiss. “We are presenting some of the favorites from our repertoire and two Balanchine programs that are very dear to my heart.” To honor the 100th anniversary of George Balanchine’s birth, Carolina Ballet is presenting a A Balanchine Celebration that will include a selection of ballets to emphasize the artistry and legacy of George Balanchine, the founding artistic director of New York City Ballet and the most important choreographer of the 20th century. Robert Weiss danced for George Balanchine at New York City Ballet for sixteen years. Weiss is considering several ballets from a list that includes Rubies, Concerto Barocco, Allegro Brillante, La Sonambula, The Four Temperaments and Prodigal Son. To end the season, in May 2004, Weiss will faithfully recreate Act I of  Balanchine’s masterpiece A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Balanchine said that his ballet was inspired as much by the beautiful score of Felix Mendelssohn as by Shakespeare’s ever-popular play. “I have wanted to do this ballet at Carolina Ballet ever since I started the company. I can’t think of a better way to pay tribute to Balanchine than to present one of his most glorious works,” explains Weiss. The 2003-2004 season will open with Ballet Festival a program of new ballets accompanied by either solo grand piano or the Ciompi Quartet.  The "Classical Voice of North Carolina" wrote of this program during the 2002-2003 season “the pieces in the program include some of the best dancing I’ve seen by the troupe.” Carolina Ballet has collaborated with the Ciompi Quartet for five seasons. Each year on this program there are new ballets and repeats of several of the more popular ones from previous programs. Also during the fall Carolina Ballet will reprise Carmina Burana choreographed by Lynne Taylor-Corbett, accompanied by the North Carolina Master Chorale and members of North Carolina Symphony (“wonderful theater, performed by a troupe with surprising artistic depth” said the N&O). This program will also include Robert Weiss’ Firebird to the music of Igor Stravinsky of which the Winston-Salem Journal said “it has become a cliché to say that a work takes our breath away, but in this case, the phrase aptly describes the dynamic combination of subtlety, athleticism and color that imbues this timeless classic.” Robert Weiss’ Messiah rounds out the 2003-2004 subscription series April 1-4, 2004 at Raleigh Memorial Auditorium.  Messiah will be accompanied by the North Carolina Master Chorale under the direction of Alfred E. Sturgis in Raleigh Memorial Auditorium. "It is powerful, suggestive and convincing on stage" said Jochen Schmidt in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung following Carolina Ballet’s production in Budapest Hungary in April 2002. No season would be complete without Nutcracker at Raleigh Memorial Auditorium presented by Progress Energy during Thanksgiving weekend and December 19-28. For this production, Robert Weiss promises new choreography for the “Waltz of the Flowers” and new magic tricks during the Act I Party Scene. There have been over 100 Triangle area children in each of the previous Carolina Ballet Nutcracker productions and Carolina Ballet looks forward to welcoming many of those children back and any new children who would like to audition are encouraged to do so. “We want to reach as many families in the region as possible,” says Weiss. Subscribers for Carolina Ballet’s sixth season get the first choice of tickets for Nutcracker and are encouraged to sign up early. Subscribers also have the added benefit of being able to exchange tickets for any shows with no penalty. For subscription information please call 919.719.0900. Carolina Ballet, Inc. is rapidly taking its place among America’s premier arts organizations. Under the innovative direction of artistic director Robert Weiss, a talented company, fiscally responsible management and community support, Carolina Ballet exposes audiences to traditional ballet by legendary masters and new works of contemporary choreographers. This sixth season will represent the vibrant entrepreneurial spirit and ever-increasing quality of life experienced here in North Carolina. Progress Energy is the Carolina Ballet season sponsor. Media sponsors for Carolina Ballet are The News & Observer, The Herald-Sun and Metro Magazine; Time Warner Cable and Capital Broadcasting. Carolina Ballet is supported by The United Arts Council of Raleigh & Wake County, with funds from the grassroots Arts Program of the NC Arts Council, a state agency; Wake County and The United Arts Campaign. Carolina Ballet is also supported by a grant from The North Carolina Arts Council, an agency funded by the State of North Carolina and the National Endowment for the Arts and is funded in part by the city of Raleigh based on recommendations of the Raleigh Arts Commission.