{"id":79581,"date":"2026-03-03T19:48:25","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T03:48:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=79581"},"modified":"2026-03-03T19:48:25","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T03:48:25","slug":"segerstrom-center-for-the-arts-presents-american-ballet-theatres-sylvia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=79581","title":{"rendered":"Segerstrom Center for the Arts Presents American Ballet Theatre\u2019s Sylvia"},"content":{"rendered":"

Choreography by Frederick Ashton<\/strong><\/p>\n

Music by L\u00e9o Delibes<\/strong><\/p>\n

Original Designs by Robin Ironside and Christopher Ironside<\/strong><\/p>\n

Additional Designs (Revival) by Peter Farmer<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lighting by Mark Jonathan<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Segerstrom Hall | 5 performances April 9 – 12<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tickets at\u00a0<\/strong>SCFTA.org<\/strong><\/u><\/a><\/p>\n

COSTA MESA, CA |<\/strong>\u00a0Segerstrom Center for the Arts presents American Ballet Theatre\u2019s\u00a0Sylvia,\u00a0<\/em>a captivating ballet combining the elegance of classical ballet with elements of folklore and mythology.\u00a0 With\u00a0choreography by Frederick Ashton and music by L\u00e9o Delibes,\u00a0America\u2019s National Ballet Company\u00ae<\/sup>\u00a0will give five performances of the beloved classic\u00a0<\/em>from April 9-12, 2026. Tickets are on sale now at\u00a0scfta.org<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n

The audience is transported on an epic journey to the splendors of Ancient Greece. Here, in this world of short-tempered gods and fantastical creatures, an unlikely romance unfolds between the regal huntress Sylvia and the handsome shepherd Aminta. As with all great love stories, their bond is put to the test – in life and in death – but love\u2019s transformative power prevails. This is a bold retelling of a classic ballet, promising all the passion and humor of Greek myth, tangled love affairs and ballerinas with bows and arrows.<\/p>\n

Ivy Lin wrote in\u00a0Bachtrack,<\/em>\u00a0\u201cI walked out of the theater feeling airborne and filled with the kind of joy you only feel after a truly special performance.\u00a0Sylvia<\/em>\u00a0is an absolute treasure. It is a wondrous ballet. Ashton\u2019s choreography has a perfect mix of his trademark humor and romanticism with extremely difficult steps that challenge the entire company. The mythical story has it all: love, betrayal, danger, harmony restored. The costumes and sets are sumptuous and look like something from Imperial Russia. And it is a great vehicle for the corps.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Casting for American Ballet Theatre\u2019s\u00a0<\/strong>Sylvia<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

ABT Artistic Director Susan Jaffe has released principal casting for\u00a0Sylvia<\/em><\/p>\n

*Debut in the role<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Thursday, April 9 at 7:30 p.m.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Chloe Misseldine (Sylvia)<\/p>\n

Joo Won Ahn (Aminta)<\/p>\n

Cory Stearns (Orion)<\/p>\n

Carlos Gonzalez (Eros)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Friday, April 10 at 7:30 p.m.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Devon Teuscher* (Sylvia)<\/p>\n

Thomas Forster* (Aminta)<\/p>\n

James Whiteside (Orion)<\/p>\n

Takumi Miyake (Eros)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Saturday, April 11 at 2:00 p.m.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Catherine Hurlin (Sylvia)<\/p>\n

Isaac Hern\u00e1ndez* (Aminta)<\/p>\n

Jose Sebastian (Orion)<\/p>\n

Carlos Gonzalez (Eros)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Saturday, April 11 at 7:30 p.m.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Skylar Brandt (Sylvia)<\/p>\n

Jake Roxander (Aminta)<\/p>\n

Patrick Frenette (Orion)<\/p>\n

Elwince Magbitang (Eros)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sunday, April 12 at 1:00 p.m.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hee Seo (Sylvia)<\/p>\n

Aran Bell* (Aminta)<\/p>\n

Cory Stearns (Orion)<\/p>\n

Takumi Miyake (Eros)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

*role debut<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This exciting revival is of a rarely staged ballet.\u00a0Sylvia<\/em>\u00a0was first performed in Paris over 150 years ago and has since attracted some of the world\u2019s leading choreographers, including Lev Ivanov, George Balanchine, John Neumeier, and Frederick Ashton.<\/p>\n

One of the world\u2019s greatest and most distinctive choreographers and a principal architect of 20th-century classical ballet, Frederick Ashton’s 1952 revival of\u00a0Sylvia<\/em>\u00a0popularized the work, and it has become the basis for all productions since. This engagement of\u00a0Sylvia<\/em>\u00a0is part of the Ashton Worldwide 2024\u20132028 Festival, celebrating the universal appeal of Ashton\u2019s ballets across the globe and fostering the spread and influence of his legacy.<\/p>\n

Sylvia\u00a0<\/em>was Frederick Ashton\u2019s second full length work and The Royal Ballet\u2019s most ambitious venture to date when it premiered in 1952, conceived as a vehicle for Margot Fonteyn and as an homage to the great three-act ballets of Petipa.\u00a0 In 2005, when The Royal Ballet reinstated the ballet in a season that marked the centenary of Ashton\u2019s birth,\u00a0Sylvia\u00a0<\/em>had not been performed since 1965, and only two of its original cast were still alive.<\/p>\n

Christopher Newton, who danced in many performances, was assigned to stage the 2005 revival. He said\u00a0Sylvia\u00a0<\/em>\u201coffers a really challenging role for the ballerina, dramatic as much as technical. She starts off as an Amazon figure, then becomes lovelorn, then distressed, then seductive. She\u2019s on stage for most of Act I, all of Act II, and most of Act III.\u00a0 She has as much dancing as the ballerina in\u00a0Swan Lake<\/em>\u00a0\u2013 and today\u2019s audience will love that.\u00a0 They love a full-evening ballet, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Margot Fonteyn said, \u201cFrederick Ashton\u2019s ear for music, his eye for movement and his perception of human nature make him to ballet as William Shakespeare is to drama. His choreography shows us the heart of the matter as no one else has ever done. He has an extraordinary understanding of the human heart and mind, and an ability to illuminate them through his own art form.\u201d<\/p>\n

Robert Greskovic wrote in\u00a0The Wall Street Journal,<\/em>\u00a0\u201cSylvia,<\/em>\u00a0in\u00a0Frederick Ashton\u2019s\u00a01952 staging, provides the company with the grandest and most lustrous showcase of them all. Choreographed to reimagine\u00a0Louis M\u00e9rante\u2019s\u00a0work of French ballet theater from 1876 to a glorious score by\u00a0L\u00e9o Delibes, its three richly textured acts of entertainingly detailed dancing are replete with narrative twists and turns telling of gods, goddesses and mythical figures along with some rustic mortals.<\/p>\n

Brian Seibert wrote in\u00a0The New York Times<\/em>, \u201cThere is a winning quirkiness to the whole ballet, in which the choreography and characterizations alternate between sincerity and tongue-in-cheek playfulness. Then there is Delibes\u2019s score, dance friendly and extremely catchy, filled with distinctive orchestral colors that set each scene, like the horns in the opening, a translucent flute melody for Sylvia\u2019s love interest, a young shepherd, and the saxophone, a novel instrument at the time whose mellow timbre Delibes used in the final act to suggest an atmosphere of bucolic calm.\u201d<\/p>\n

L\u00e9o Delibes\u2019s enchanting music adds an extra dimension to the show as his haunting melodies and rich orchestrations gracefully accompany the dancers’ movements, helping to create a perfect harmony between the choreography and the music. In fact, Delibes\u2019s score was so admired by Tchaikovsky that he purportedly declared: had he known the music existed at the time, he would never have composed\u00a0Swan Lake<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Tchaikovsky wrote, \u201cSylvia<\/em>\u00a0is a jewel. Such grace! Such melodic richness! Such refined orchestration! Better than anything Minkus or Adam did. If I manage to do something at the same level, I will have fulfilled my role.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ana Claudia Paix\u00e3o in her\u00a0MiscelAna\u00a0<\/em>blog,<\/em>\u00a0wrote Delibes\u2019s\u00a0Sylvia\u00a0<\/em>\u201cplunges into ethereal, sensual, and heroic atmospheres. Right from the overture\u2014a flawlessly constructed symphonic piece\u2014one notices the elevation of language: the ballet no longer begins lightly but with grandeur and dramatic tension \u2026 Delibes\u00a0explores the orchestra freely\u2014highlighting woodwinds, harps, and brass with clarity and daring. The sensuality of the nymphs, the bravery of the hunter Aminta, the dominion of the goddess Diana: all is translated musically with precision and poetry.\u201d<\/p>\n

For\u00a0Sylvia,<\/em>\u00a0the original designs are by Robin Ironside and Christopher Ironside with additional designs by Peter Farmer. The lighting is by Mark Jonathan.<\/p>\n

Tickets for American Ballet Theatre\u2019s\u00a0Sylvia\u00a0<\/em>at Segerstrom Center for the Arts start at $59.00 and are available for purchase online at\u00a0scfta.org<\/a>, in person at 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa, CA 92626, and by phone at (714) 556-2787. For inquiries about group ticket discounts for 10 or more, call the Group Services offices at (714) 755-0236.<\/p>\n

About Frederick Ashton by Julie Kavanagh<\/strong><\/p>\n

Excerpt from The Frederick Ashton Foundation Website<\/p>\n

What we have come to call \u201cthe English style\u201d was embodied by Frederick Ashton\u2019s muse, Margot Fonteyn, whose own restraint, simplicity and poise was enriched by traces of the lush, romantic plastique he had loved in Anna Pavlova. After the war, de Valois\u2019 company \u2013 renamed The Royal Ballet \u2013 moved to the Royal Opera House, and in 1963, when she retired, Ashton took over as director, remaining in the post for the next seven years.<\/p>\n

With an oeuvre of over one hundred works \u2013 at least four of which,\u00a0Symphonic Variations, Sc\u00e8nes de Ballet, The Dream<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0La Fille mal gard\u00e9e<\/em>, are 20th century masterpieces \u2013 Frederick Ashton is unquestionably one of the most important choreographers in the history of ballet. He was also a major figure in the cultural landscape of the day: Gertrude Stein pronounced him a genius; Yeats wanted him to direct plays at The Abbey Theatre; Matisse was inspired by the spontaneous flow of his movements; the three Sitwell siblings all sought his company.<\/p>\n

He took delight in cultivating a dazzling life outside his profession, drawn into the Bright Young set of the \u201920s, and launched into English society in the 1930s, by the American millionairess Alice Astor. Success in this world was Ashton\u2019s fieldwork. The aristocratic manners and mores he observed, like his ability to capture the very essence of a person and their surroundings, imbued ballets such as\u00a0A Wedding Bouquet<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Enigma Variations<\/em>\u00a0with their vividness of character and period.<\/p>\n

Sylvia\u00a0<\/em>is performed by arrangement with The Frederick Ashton Foundation and is one of over 100 ballets created by Frederick Ashton. These performances are given as part of the Ashton Worldwide 2024\u20132028 festival. For further information, visit\u00a0frederickashton.org.uk<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

American Ballet Theatre\u2019s\u00a0<\/strong>Sylvia<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Segerstrom Center for the Arts<\/strong><\/p>\n

Segerstrom Hall<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Thursday, April 9 at 7:30 p.m.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Friday, April 10 at 7:30 p.m.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Saturday, April 11 at 2:00 p.m.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Saturday, April 11 at 7:30 p.m.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sunday, April 12 at 1:00 p.m.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tickets start at $59.00<\/p>\n

In-Person\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Box Office<\/p>\n

600 Town Center Drive<\/p>\n

Costa Mesa, CA 92626<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Choreography by Frederick Ashton Music by...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-79581","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arts","category-ca-local"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79581","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=79581"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79581\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79582,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79581\/revisions\/79582"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=79581"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=79581"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=79581"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}