Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre (PBT)\u2019s \u201cAmerica 250\u201d opens Friday at the Benedum Center. <\/p>\n
This mixed repertory production is an ode to America\u2019s 250th anniversary. The family-friendly program includes four classical and contemporary Americana-themed ballets that honor the American spirit. The works will be accompanied by live music from the PBT Orchestra.<\/p>\n
The program includes:<\/p>\n
-\u201cCompany B\u201d captures the optimistic spirit of 1940s America amid the sobering shadow of World War II. Choreographed by Paul Taylor, it is set to popular music by the Andrews Sisters from the 1940s, \u201cCompany B\u201d blends jitterbug, jazz and an athletic modern dance style, making it both a unique challenge for the dancers and an audience favorite.<\/p>\n
-\u201cStars and Stripes Pas de Deux\u201d is a patriotic, classical ballet choreographed by George Balanchine as a tribute to his adopted country of America. Balanchine is often credited as the \u201cFather of American Ballet\u201d for his influence and for developing his distinct neoclassical style, which swept the ballet world. It is set to a buoyant march by John Philip Sousa.<\/p>\n
-\u201cThree Preludes\u201d is an internationally award-winning work created by Ben Stevenson in 1969 and is performed to selections of Sergei Rachmaninoff\u2019s \u201cPreludes.\u201d This romantic pas de deux centers on two dancers who fall in love while working at a dance studio. The three movements develop in both speed and intensity as the dancers\u2019 emotions evolve into passion.<\/p>\n
-\u201cThe Mighty Casey\u201d was created by choreographer Lisa de Ribere as an original ballet for Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre in 1990. Told in flashback, the story depicts Casey, who famously struck out in Mudville in 1888, redeeming himself 20 years later. The ballet about America\u2019s favorite pastime features music from John Philip Sousa and Stephen Foster.<\/p>\n
Showtimes are Friday at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m; and Sunday at 2 p.m. For information, go online to pbt.org or call 412-456-6666.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre (PBT)\u2019s \u201cAmerica 250\u201d opens Friday at the Benedum Center. This mixed repertory production is an…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":121308,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[73,29028,75,74],"class_list":["post-121307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-ballet-theatre","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121307"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121307\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/121308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}