(PRINCETON, NJ) -- Douglas Martin, the innovative artistic director of American Repertory Ballet, will discuss his newest full-length ballet, Pride and Prejudice, with professor and renowned Jane Austen scholar Claudia Johnson at the Princeton Public Library (65 Witherspoon Street) on Wednesday, April 5 at 7:00pm.
Jane Austen’s beloved tale of love, manners and marriage comes to life in this brand-new story ballet which will have its world premiere at McCarter Theatre on April 21 and 22. The performance features live musical accompaniment by Princeton Symphony Orchestra under the musical direction of John Devlin. This marks the first-time Austen’s stories have been used for a full-length ballet.
Martin started his ballet training with Dimitri Romanoff at the San Jose Ballet School and was one of six dancers selected by Mikhail Baryshnikov to study in the newly-formed American Ballet Theatre School. He was invited to join the Joffrey Ballet in 1984 where, as a principal dancer, he performed roles in by many of the great 20th century choreographers. In 1993, Martin was invited to join the American Repertory Ballet. After retiring from ARB as a performer, Martin expanded his teaching, production and choreographic work. In 2010, Martin became Artistic Director of American Repertory Ballet. Since then, he has premiered a new production of Nutcracker, choreographed several new works including Ephemeral Possessions, Pathways,Rite of Spring, Firebird and a full-length Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream and has commissioned 29 company premieres, including 18 world premieres.
Johnson is the Murray Professor of English Literature at Princeton University Her numerous books include Jane Austen: Women, Politics, and the Novel (Chicago, 1988), Equivocal Beings: Politics, Gender and Sentimentality in the 1790s, The Blackwell Companion to Jane Austen, ed. with Clara Tuite, and Jane Austen’s Cults and Cultures. She has also prepared critical editions of Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park, Sense and Sensibility, Northanger Abbey, and (with Susan Wolfson) Pride and Prejudice. She joined the faculty at Princeton in 1994 and was Chair of the English Department from 2004-2012.
The talk, which will be held in the Community Room, is FREE and open to the public. For information, call (609) 924-9529 or visit www.princetonlibrary.org.
To learn more about American Repertory Ballet, visit www.arballet.org