🩰BOSTON BALLET ANNOUNCES 2024–2025 SEASON 🩰

Boston Ballet Artistic Director Mikko Nissinen announces programming for the 2024–2025 season, featuring a collection of ballets that celebrate elegant contrasts, a variety of works, and stunning live music. The Company’s 61st season runs October 24, 2024 through June 8, 2025 at the Citizens Opera House.

“Our upcoming season is a bold collection of ballets that curate the best of the past and pave the way for the artists of the future. This programming is a glowing example of Boston Ballet’s versatility and expertise in performing diverse and challenging repertoire” said Artistic Director Mikko Nissinen. “Audiences will experience dance like never before with works by world-renowned choreographers, stunning classical ballets, and groundbreaking neoclassical and contemporary works.”

The season opens with the 2024 Fall Experience(October 24–November 3), featuring Crystal Pite’s The Seasons’ Canon, Sabrina Matthews’ Ein von Viel, Resident Choreographer Jorma Elo’s Plan to B, and a world premiere by Boston Ballet Principal Dancer Lia Cirio. Crystal Pite, one of the greatest choreographers on the world stage today, brings her must-see powerhouse The Seasons’ Canon to Boston for the first time. Set to Max Richter’s rendition of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, her choreography draws on human emotion from her own life experiences. Set to Bach’s beloved Goldberg Variations, Sabrina Matthews’ Ein von Viel is an intimate dance between two artists and a solo pianist. The piece was originally commissioned by Mikko Nissinen for Alberta Ballet in 2001 for two male dancers. Jorma Elo’s Plan to Bis one of the most dynamic and thrilling ballets ever created. Six dancers captivate the stage in a flurry of solos, duets, and trios that move with passion and velocity to the vivacious music of Von Biber. The ballet reflects on the inevitable unpredictability of life and the hesitation and nervous energy we experience when we take leaps into the unknown. Celebrating her 20th year with Boston Ballet, Principal Dancer Lia Cirio will create her second world premiere for the main stage. Her ballet will feature neoclassical pointe work and showcases a brilliant pairing of her own personal style and technique with her ability to highlight the unique talent of her fellow dancers.

Mikko Nissinen’s critically-acclaimed The Nutcracker(November 29–December 29) returns after record-breaking attendance in 2023 to enchant audiences. The beloved production features costumes and sets by award-winning designer Robert Perdziola, the renowned score by Tchaikovsky, and technically challenging choreography by Nissinen. Named as the “gold standard” (The Boston Globe), The Nutcracker remains a beloved holiday tradition for audiences of all ages.

The spring season opens with Mikko Nissinen’s Swan Lake (February 27–March 16, 2025). One of the most celebrated ballets in classical repertoire, Swan Lake is a timeless story of love, betrayal, and sacrifice. The classical masterpiece follows the Swan Queen Odette and Prince Siegfried in a tale of romance, sorcery, and deceit. The second act, originally choreographed by Lev Ivanov, is historically considered the finest piece of classical choreography for the corps de ballet. The production showcases the technical precision and emotional tonality of dozens of dancers, brilliantly transformed by Robert Perdziola’s impeccable costume design and set to the timeless score by P.I. Tchaikovsky.

The 2025 Winter Experience (March 20–30, 2025) features George Balanchine’s Mozartiana and Symphony in Three Movements, Claudia Schreier’s Slipstream, and Leonid Yakobson’s Vestris. Mozartiana is a wonderful example of neoclassical ballet with an enchanting romantic feel. The musical choreography is set to Tchaikovsky’s Suite No. 4, Mozartiana, and Op.61. Opening at the 1981 Tchaikovsky Festival, it was Balanchine’s third ballet set to the composer’s homage to Mozart and is one of the last ballets the choreographer created before his death in April 1983. Balanchine’s Symphony in Three Movements is a large ensemble work that premiered on opening night of the 1972 Stravinsky Festival. Set for 32 dancers, the work is considered one of Balanchine’s most celebrated leotard ballets. Claudia Schreier’s Slipstream is an innovative, unusual, and captivating ballet commissioned in 2022 for Boston Ballet’s ChoreograpHER program. Schreier brings her distinctive choreographic voice to Boston audiences, fusing together neoclassical technique with contemporary vocabulary. Leonid Yakobson’s Vestris is a solo originally created for Mikhail Baryshnikov in 1969 and performed by the best male dancers in history. Vestris is about embodying the flamboyant flavor of Auguste Vestris, a renowned Parisian dancer in the 1700’s. Boston Ballet is the only American company trusted to present this work today.

Spring Experience 2025 (May 15–25, 2025) features three ballets that showcase the breadth and beauty of ballet today: Jiří Kylián’s 27’52” and Petite Mort and Mikko Nissinen’s Raymonda. 27’52” is made for six dancers, who form three duets. When the ballet was created, four dancers from the original cast were inspired by various poems in the creation process. Quotes from these poems are also included in the work. The ballet was developed through a unique collaboration between choreographer and composer, as German composer Dirk Haubrich created the music specifically for this piece. One of Kylián’s most beloved ballets, Petite Mort is a sensuous exploration of what it means to be human. Known for its molded skirts and sword play, it is truly one of the most provocative and beautiful works in ballet today. Nissinen’s reimagined Raymonda returns after a successful world premiere in 2024. Featuring rechoreographed sections by Florence Clerc, Alla Nikitina, and Nissinen, the world premiere was praised for its lavish costumes, brilliant dancing, and sumptuous score. The ballet stays true to Boston Ballet’s values by removing outdated and offensive stereotypes and characters and focusing solely on preserving the classical choreography.

The season concludes with the Company’s premiere of Jean-Christophe Maillot’s Roméo et Juliette (May 29–June 8, 2025). The ballet is a beautifully fresh take on the timeless Shakespearean tale set to the radiant Prokofiev score performed to new heights by the Boston Ballet Orchestra. There are many versions of the ballet performed by companies from around the world; the first production was by the Kirov in 1940 (Galina Ulanova & Konstantin Sergeyev). Other versions have been created by Cranko, Lavrovsky, MacMillan, Ek, Nureyev, Ratmansky, and Vinogradov. Boston Ballet most recently performed Cranko’s version in 2018. Maillot’s version features contemporary choreography with elements of cinematography that flows freely to allow the dancers to embody the full emotion of the characters. The movements, even in moments of tragedy, are full of graceful elongation and musicality.

Subscriptions for the 2024–2025 season are on sale now. Tickets for The Nutcracker are also available as an add-on to your subscription or for groups 10+. Single tickets will go on sale on September 4, 2024. For more information, visit bostonballet.org or call 617.695.6955.

All performances take place at the Citizens Opera House (539 Washington Street, Boston, MA, 02111

Boston Ballet Season Detail

Fall Experience | October 24–November 3, 2024
World Premiere
Choreography: Lia Cirio

Ein von Viel
Choreography: Sabrina Matthews
Music: Johann Sebastian Bach
Costume Design: Carolyn O’Brien

Plan to B
Choreography: Jorma Elo
Music: Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber
Costume Design: Jorma Elo

The Seasons’ Canon
Choreography: Crystal Pite
Music: Max Richter (Recomposed by Max Richter: Antonio Vivaldi, The Four Seasons, 2012)
Scenic Design and Reflected Light Concept: Jay Gower Taylor & Tom Visser
Costume Design: Nancy Bryant
Lighting Design: Tom Visser, Staged By Douwe Beernink
Staging: Eric Beauchesne & Anna Herrmann

The Seasons’ Canon is a co-production with Boston Ballet and Pacific Northwest Ballet.

The Nutcracker | November 29–December 29, 2024
Music: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Choreography: Mikko Nissinen
Set & Costume Design: Robert Perdziola
Lighting Design: Mikki Kunttu

Swan Lake | Feb 27–Mar 16, 2025
Choreography: Adaptation and additional choreography by Mikko Nissinen, after original by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov
Music: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Set & Costume Design: Robert Perdziola
Lighting Design: Mark Stanley
Projection Design: Seághan McKay

Winter Experience | March 20–30, 2025

Mozartiana
Choreography: George Balanchine ©The George Balanchine Trust
Music: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Suite No. 4 Op. 61)
Costume Design: Rouben Ter-Arutunian
Lighting Design: Brandon Stirling Baker
Staging: Philip Neal

Slipstream
Choreography: Claudia Schreier
Music: Tanner Porter, Six Sides from the Shape of Us
Scenic Design: Evan Schreier
Costume Design: Erica Desautels
Lighting Design: Brandon Stirling Baker

Vestris
Choreography: Leonid Yakobson
Music: Gennadi Banshchikov
Costume Design: Robert Perdziola
Lighting Design: Brandon Stirling Baker
Staging: Joan Boada

Symphony in Three Movements
Choreography: George Balanchine ©The George Balanchine Trust
Music: Igor Stravinsky*
Lighting: Brandon Stirling Baker
Staging: Russell Kaiser

*Used by arrangement with European Music Distributors LLC, sole U.S. and Canadian agent for Schott Music GmbH & Co. KG, publisher and copyright owner.

Spring Experience | May 15–25, 2025

Petite Mort
Choreography: Jiří Kylián
Music: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Piano Concerto in A Major – Adagio, Piano Concerto in C Major – Andante
Set Design: Jiří Kylián
Lighting Design: Joop Caboort
Lighting Adaptation: Joost Biegelaar
Costumes: Joke Visser
Staging: Urtzi Aranburu & Shirley Esseboom

27’52”
Choreography: Jiří Kylián

Music: Dirk Haubrich, composition inspired by the original Ur-Version of Gustav Mahler’s Symphony nr. 10 (1910)

Costume Design: Joke Visser

Stage Design: Jiří Kylián

Lighting Design: Kees Tjebbes

Video Registration: Rob de Groot

Assistant to the Choreographer: Gerald Tibbs

Raymonda
Original Choreography and Concept: Marius Petipa
Reimagined by: Mikko Nissinen
Music: Alexander Glazunov
Additional Choreography: Florence Clerc and Mikko Nissinen
Character Dance Associate: Alla Nikitina
Scenic and Costume Design: Robert Perdziola
Assistant Scenic Design: Nicholas Kostner
Lighting Design: Brandon Stirling Baker

Roméo et Juliette | May 29–June 8, 2025
Choreography: Jean-Christophe Maillot
Music: Sergei Prokofiev (Op. 64, 1935–1936)
Scenic Design: Ernest Pignon-Ernest
Costume Design: Jérôme Kaplan
Lighting Design: Dominique Drillot