Vienna Ballet sets sights on Japan, Monte Carlo

After a first season rich in premieres, the Vienna Ballet under director Manuel Legris will pack its bags next season for a couple of tours to build up its name on the international stage. So far, two tours are planned: to Monte Carlo in December for two evenings, and to Japan in April 2012, where the company will perform Roland Petit’s Die Fledermaus as well as a gala evening, Mr Legris said.

At home, the Ballet will have three premieres next season: the classic ballet La Sylphide by Pierre Lacotte; a homage to Roland Petit; and a third evening dedicated to Carmina Burana by Vesna Orlic, L’Apres-Midi d’un Faune (The Afternoon of a Faun) by Boris Nebyla and Andras Lukacs’s Bolero.

“We had a great number of premieres this season and I think it is quite exceptional to have this amount of performances,” said Mr Legris.

“But I don’t think we can manage eight premieres every year,” he added, after the company presented a new performance almost on a monthly basis this season.

The Ballet should also develop outside of Vienna, for instance through tours, which will be organised on a more regular basis starting next season.

This was a chance “to show this company because the dancers deserve to travel around the world,” Mr Legris said, insisting on the need to put the Vienna Ballet on the international stage.