The Hope College Great Performance Series will feature Ballet X on Thursday and Friday, Sept. 19-20, at 7:30 p.m. at the Knickerbocker Theatre in downtown Holland.
Ballet X, Philadelphia’s premier contemporary ballet company, unites world-class choreographers with an outstanding company of professional dancers to forge new works of athleticism, emotion, and grace.
“The Philadelphia Inquirer” has said, “…the sheer professionalism of all 12 performers, and the emotional impact of the evening, are undeniable.”
With the daring vision of its award-winning founders and artistic directors, Christine Cox and Matthew Neenan, Ballet X challenges the boundaries of classical ballet by encouraging formal experimentation while preserving rigorous technique. The company is committed to producing new works of the highest quality and integrity that bring the combined visions of choreographers and dancers to life and cultivate in audiences a collective appetite for bold new dance.
Since the company’s founding in 2005, it has expanded its repertoire with more than 30 world premieres by internationally renowned artists including Jorma Elo, Jodie Gates, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, Edwaard Liang, Adam Hougland, Helen Pickett, Matthew Neenan and Darrell Grand Moultrie, among others. Firmly rooted in rigorous ballet technique, these contemporary pieces challenge Ballet X’s 10 dancers with the innovative possibilities of ballet in the 21st century.
With three annual performance series in Philadelphia, Ballet X has reached more than 24,000 people in its last five seasons as the Resident Dance Company of The Wilma Theater. Now recognized worldwide for its unique repertoire, the company participates in growing numbers of national and international tours.
Ballet X’s distinctive contribution to the American dance community has been recognized and supported in recent years by generous grants from the William Penn Foundation, Shubert Foundation, Philadelphia Cultural Fund, Jerome Robbins Foundation’s New Essential Works (NEW) Program, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, and Dance Advance, a program of the Pew Center for Arts and Heritage.
Season tickets are still available for the Great Performance Series. Season subscriptions are $65 for adults, $50 for senior citizens, and $140 for a family (no matter how many children). The subscriptions are such a savings that they are equivalent to seeing two shows for free. Individual tickets are also on sale, and are $18 for regular admission, $13 for senior citizens, and $6 for children 18 and under.
Tickets are available at the ticket offices in the main lobby of the DeVos Fieldhouse (222 Fairbanks Ave.) and the Events and Conferences Office located downtown in the Anderson-Werkman Financial Center (100 E. Eighth St.). Both offices are open weekdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and can be called at (616) 395-7890.
The Knickerbocker Theatre is located at 86 E. Eighth St., between College and Columbia avenues.
More information about the season may be obtained online by visiting www.hope.edu/gps/.