October 2019 David Hallberg returns to The Royal Ballet as Principal Guest Artist for the 2019/20 Season
David Hallberg becomes a Principal Guest Artist of The Royal Ballet in the 2019/20 Season. Hallberg has a long association partnering Royal Ballet Principal dancer Natalia Osipova and during the 2018/19 Season they performed together at the Royal Opera House in Frederick Ashton ’s A Month in the Country and Kenneth MacMillan ’s Romeo and Juliet. The pair also performed the famous balcony pas de deux from Romeo and Juliet at the centenary celebration for Margot Fonteyn in June 2019.
Hallberg continues his partnership with Osipova this Season, beginning with Kenneth MacMillan’s Manon on 15 and 19 October. On 20 November he makes his debut as Prince Florimund in The Royal Ballet’s production of The Sleeping Beauty with Osipova as Princess Aurora. He will also make his debut in the first revival of the Company’s new production of Swan Lake on 11 March.
Kevin O’Hare, Director of The Royal Ballet comments ‘It’s a great pleasure to welcome David Hallberg back to the Company for this Season. His partnership with Natalia Osipova is thrilling to watch and together they have a very special chemistry. David is a much-loved principal of American Ballet Theater and it is wonderful for audiences this side of the Atlantic to have the opportunity to see him dance with The Royal Ballet across a variety of our signature repertory.’
David Hallberg adds ‘It’s such an honour to join The Royal Ballet as Principal Guest Artist and dance beside, not only a partner with whom I share a unique
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connection, but also a world-renowned Company that inspires me with its balance of rich history and a modern definition of ballet today.’
ENDS
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Notes to Editors Manon 2 October ––– 6 November David Hallberg performs the role of Des Grieux with Natalia Osipova as Manon on 15 and 19 October
The Sleeping Beauty 7 November 2019 – 16 January 2020 David Hallberg makes his debut as Prince Florimund with Natalia Osipova as Princess Aurora on 20 November and 2 December
Liam Scarlett’s Swan Lake 5 March – 16 May 2020 David Hallberg makes his debut as Prince Siegfried with Natalia Osipova as Odette / Odile on 11 and 25 March
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David Hallberg Biography American dancer David Hallberg made his Royal Ballet debut in the 2017/18 Season dancing Albrecht ( Giselle ) as a Guest Artist. He previously appeared at the Royal Opera House with the Bolshoi Ballet as Prince Desiré ( The Sleeping Beauty ) and with the Mariinsky Ballet as Prince Siegfried ( Swan Lake ) and in Scotch Symphony . He returned in the 2018/19 Season as Romeo and Beliaev ( A Month in the Country ).
Hallberg was born in South Dakota. He began formal ballet training aged 13 at the School of Ballet Arizona and continued his studies at the Paris Opera Ballet School. He joined American Ballet Theater in 2001 and was promoted to principal with the company in 2005. In 2011 Hallberg became the first American to join the Bolshoi Ballet as a principal. In 2017 he was made The Australian Ballet’s first resident guest artist. Repertory with American Ballet Theatre includes principal roles in the classical ballets, and in works by Frederick Ashton, George Balanchine, William Forsythe, Kurt Jooss, Jirí Kylián, Lar Lubovitch, Mark Morris, Jerome Robbins, Twyla Tharp and Antony Tudor, and numerous role creations for Alexei Ratmansky. He has performed as a guest artist with companies including Paris Opera Ballet, La Scala Ballet, Mariinsky Ballet, Teatro Colón Buenos Aires, The Tokyo Ballet, Kiev Ballet, Royal Swedish Ballet, Rome Opera Ballet and State Ballet of Georgia.
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Hallberg’s many awards include the 2010 Benois de la danse, a Princess Grace Fellowship and the Chris Hellman Dance Award. He created the David Hallberg Scholarship at ABT and Ballet Arizona and the Innovation Initiative at ABT. Hallberg’s many awards include the 2010 Benois de la danse, a Princess Grace Fellowship and the Chris Hellman Dance Award. He created the ABT Incubator at ABT, a platform facilitating emerging choreographers and the David Hallberg Scholarships at American Ballet Theater’s Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School and Ballet Arizona.
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About the Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House’s aim is for many more people to enjoy and engage in exceptional ballet and opera. As The Royal Ballet, The Royal Opera and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, we bring together the world’s most extraordinary ballet and opera artists in more than 500 performances every year: live events that thrill, move and excite, and that transport people to other worlds though music, dance and theatre.
About The Royal Ballet Under the directorship of Kevin O’HareO’Hare, The Royal Ballet unites tradition and innovation in world-class performances, and is a driving force in the development of ballet as an art form. Based at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, it brings together today’s most dynamic and versatile dancers with a world-class orchestra and leading choreographers, composers, conductors, directors and creative teams to share awe-inspiring theatrical experiences with diverse audiences worldwide. The Company’s extensive repertory embraces 19th-century classics, the singular legacy of works by Founder Choreographer Frederick Ashton and Principal Choreographer Kenneth MacMillan and the compelling new canon of work including pieces by Resident Choreographer Wayne McGregorMcGregor, Artistic Associate Christopher WheeldonWheeldon and Artist in Residence Liam Scarlett .
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