arts & entertainment

Ballet Vero Beach is thrilled to announce the highly anticipated lineup for the 2024-2025 Season! The season will be one to remember, full of live performances, unique collaborations, new celebrations, and programming for all!
 
The season begins when The Riverside Dance Festival arrives at Riverside Theatre on August 2 and August 3, 2024. Continuing our pursuit of bringing the best of dance to our own backyard, Ballet Vero Beach is thrilled to present, in partnership with Riverside Theatre, Pigeonwing Dance. Headed by master choreographer Gabrielle Lamb, the company pushes ballet and contemporary dance forms beyond what we currently believe possible. Vero Beach audiences will be treated to Lamb’s Rising, an evening-length work performed to live music, which examines humanity’s rising awareness of our connection to and dependence on the Earth’s oceans.
 
Nutcracker on the Indian River retains all the whimsy and magic of the original ballet but moves the action to the year Vero was founded (1919). Taking the ballet’s heroine, Marie, on a holiday journey from New York to Florida, Fifth Avenue Mansions, Grand Central Station, and rail cars become settings. Instead of a second act featuring candy characters, Marie dreams of the shores of the Indian River Lagoon and is entertained by all manner of local flora and fauna. From land crabs to manatees and river otters to bougainvillea, our production has become an instant classic, which takes all the magic of the stage and uses that magic to both entertain and inspire. Performances run December 29 –  31, 2024.
 
Program 1 “Seasons” on January 17 and 18, 2024, promises a monumental program featuring works by George Balanchine, Christopher Wheeldon, and the world premiere of Artistic Director Adam Schnell’s The Four Seasons. The company adds a third work by George Balanchine, the sparkling Glinka Pas De Trois, and a second work, the neoclassical and athletic duet from The American, by Christopher Wheeldon, to our repertoire. Schnell’s take on The Four Seasons uses Vivaldi’s masterful score as a jumping-off point for a neoclassical romp decked out in art nouveau style.
 
Program 2, “Latines”, will take the stage at the VBHS Performing Arts Center on March 14 and 15, 2025. Ballet Vero Beach is thrilled to present a program of world premieres solely choreographed by some of our favorite Latine choreographers. Yanis Eric Pikieris presents his second work for the company. Long-time company collaborator (and former Ballet Vero Beach Dancer) Chloé Watson uses memories of family dinners with her grandfather for her contribution to the mix. And of course, we could not miss the opportunity to add an exciting world premiere by Ballet Master and Principal Dancer Camilo A. Rodriguez.
 
Program 3, “Choreographer’s Notebook: Peter Anastos”, draws our season to a close as so many have, with laughter bringing down the house. The company is thrilled to present a complete program of works by the godfather of comedy ballet, Peter Anastos. From a troupe of bonkers pirates to a cadre of frustrated ballerinas to an absolutely dismal ballet school full of untalented little darlings, Anastos’s works have helped define Ballet Vero Beach’s signature comic timing. Don’t miss your chance to see La Trovatiara Pas De Cinq, Go For Barocco, and Ecole de Ballet all on one bill on April 11 and 12, 2025! 
 
Additionally, the 2024-2025 Season features the return of our Accessible/Family Friendly Series. This initiative aims to assist Ballet Vero Beach in continuing to become the most enmeshed and accessible arts organization in the area. Ballet Vero Beach’s signature fundraisers, Bid For Ballet Vero Beach and Ballet Under The Stars, will also return, and the company promises new film initiatives to reach more audiences than ever!
 
Subscriptions for the entire 2024-2025 Season are available now. For more information about the new season, please visit our website at www.balletverobeach.org or call 772-269-1065.