(NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ) -- American Repertory Ballet (ARB) presents the world premiere of Ethan Stiefel’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, April 1-3, 2022 at the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center. His first full-length ballet for the company since being named Artistic Director in the summer of 2021, Stiefel’s magicalproduction for audiences of all ages will be performed in collaboration with the Princeton Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Kenneth Bean.

Set to Felix Mendelssohn’s iconic score with additional music written for film by Erich Wolfgang Korngold, the enchanting production will transport audiences to a fantastical forest filled with fairies, elves, mischief, romance, joy and love. ARB’s Artistic Associate and American Ballet Theatre principal ballerina Gillian Murphy will dance the role of Oberon, leader of the elves. 

“I can’t wait to dance in the world premiere of this incredibly unique, magical, and entertaining production,” says Murphy. “The story of A Midsummer Night’s Dream is such a treat to watch or perform, and I’m thrilled to portray Oberon for the first time in such a brilliant new version created by the one and only Ethan Stiefel.”

Stiefel’s artistic vision employs an expansive choreographic vocabulary, with a style and dynamic that veers from tradition. Scenery by award-winning designer Howard Jones, lighting by Joseph Walls, and original costumes by ARB’s Wardrobe Supervisor Janessa Cornell Urwin will complete the modern transformation of Shakespeare’s celebrated work for a cast that includes the entire ARB Company and trainees from the Princeton Ballet School.

“Ultimately, we hope that ARB's new version of A Midsummer Night's Dream becomes a crowd favorite for many years to come,” notes Stiefel, “a production the personnel and patrons can be proud of and one that continues to promote ARB’s own unique and innovative perspectives on dance.” 

Family-friendly activities inspired by the production will take place all weekend. On April 1st, from 3:00pm-5:00pm, American Repertory Ballet will partner with the Arts Institute of Middlesex County with A Midsummer Night’s Dreamthemed programing as part of First Friday in New Brunswick. Children of all ages can enjoy fairy and elf hand painting, a beginner ballet class offered by Princeton Ballet School’s DANCE POWER Scholars, giveaways, and more. First Friday attendees will also experience fantastic art in the making with spoken word poetry, live mural creation by New Brunswick students, and a papermaking workshop from Frontline Printmaking. Children can also enjoy elf and fairy themed activities in the lobby of the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center beginning at 1:00pm on Saturday, April 2nd and Sunday April 3rd, to further enhance the performance experience.

PERFORMANCE and TICKET INFORMATION

A Midsummer Night’s Dream will be performed: Friday, April 1 at 7:30pm*; Saturday, April 2 at 2:00pm* and 7:00pm; and Sunday, April 3 at 2:00pm * Tickets start at $25 and are available for purchase online. *Free community programming at Monument Park will be available Friday, April 1, from 3:00pm-5:00pm. The park is located at 2 Livingston Avenue in New Brunswick, directly across from The New Brunswick Performing Arts Center (NBPAC). Additional family-friendly activities will take place in the lobby of the NBPAC before each matinee performance, beginning at 1:00pm.

The New Brunswick Performing Arts Center is located at 11 Livingston Avenue in New Brunswick, New Jersey. The venue can be reached by car or New Jersey Transit, and has ample parking in its attached parking deck. Beginning March 1, 2022, all patrons attending a performance at the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center must show proof of vaccination, including a booster, if eligible. If not vaccinated, a Negative COVID-19 PCR test taken within 72 hours of the performance date is required. Masks must be worn unless actively eating or drinking.

American Repertory Ballet's A Midsummer Night's Dream is made possible by a generous gift from leading sponsor Norah Orphanides. Additional support for the production comes from The Hyde and Watson Foundation and Jan Schadrack and Ngoc Nguyen. Grant funding has been provided by the Middlesex County Board of County Commissioners through a grant award from the Middlesex County Cultural and Arts Trust Fund. 

Gillian Murphy’s appointment is made possible by Lewis and Genevieve Geyser.

Ethan Stiefel is an internationally renowned Dancer, Instructor, Coach, Director and Choreographer. Stiefel was the Artistic Director of the Royal New Zealand Ballet (RNZB) from 2011-2014. Just prior to being appointed the RNZB’s Artistic Director, Stiefel served as Dean of the School of Dance at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA).

Stiefel began his professional career at age 16 with the New York City Ballet where he quickly rose to the rank of Principal Dancer. He was also a Principal Dancer with Ballett Zürich and joined American Ballet Theatre as a Principal Dancer in 1997. During his career, Stiefel performed leading roles in all of the full-length classics and danced in an extensive range of shorter works created by the industry’s foremost classical, modern and contemporary choreographers.

Guest appearances include The Royal Ballet, The Mariinsky Ballet, New York City Ballet, The Australian Ballet, Ballett Zürich, Bayerisches Staatsballett, Hamburg Ballet, The National Ballet of Canada, Teatro Colon, New National Theatre (Tokyo), Kings of the Dance and numerous tours in the United States, Japan, Russia and throughout Europe. 

He starred in the feature film Center Stage and returned to play the role of Cooper Nielsen in Center Stage 2-Turn It Up and Center Stage: On Pointe, which had its premiere on the Lifetime TV Channel in June 2016. Stiefel’s television and video credits include The Dream, Le Corsaire, Die Fledermaus, Gossip Girl and the documentary, Born to be Wild.  

Gillian Murphy is a principal ballerina with American Ballet Theatre (ABT), and her repertoire includes leading roles in all of ABT’s current full-length classics and in shorter works by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Jiri Kylian, Antony Tudor, William Forsythe, Martha Graham, Lar Lubovitch, Paul Taylor, Frederick Ashton and Agnes de Mille.

Gillian was raised in Florence, South Carolina and received her high school education and advanced dance training under the tutelage of Melissa Hayden at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. As a teenager, Gillian was awarded the Prix de Lausanne Espoir, and she joined American Ballet Theatre in 1996.

After being honored with a Princess Grace Foundation Award, Gillian was promoted to Soloist in 1999 and to Principal Dancer in 2002. She starred as Odette/Odile in ABT’s PBS television production of Swan Lake and as Giselle in the New Zealand Film Commission’s movie of Stiefel and Kobborg’s production of Giselle at the Royal New Zealand Ballet, where she was a Principal Guest Artist for three years.

Gillian has also appeared onstage in world premieres of new creations by Alexei Ratmansky, Mark Morris, Benjamin Millepied, Michelle Dorrance, Jorma Elo, Marcelo Gomes, James Whiteside, Aszure Barton, Peter Quanz, Natalie Weir, John Neumeier, Robert Hill, Christopher Wheeldon, Ethan Stiefel, and Twyla Tharp. Gillian has danced as a guest artist throughout the world, performing with the Mariinsky Ballet, the Royal Swedish Ballet, the Staatsballett Berlin, the Kiev Ballet, the Australian Ballet, as a ballerina with the Metropolitan Opera, and in numerous other international engagements and galas.  

Led by Artistic Director Ethan Stiefel, with Artistic Associate Gillian Murphy, American Repertory Ballet (ARB) is New Jersey’s preeminent ballet company, presenting classical repertory alongside new and existing contemporary work. ARB is a founding resident company of the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center while also performing in major venues across New Jersey and beyond for an annual audience of more than 30,000. Founded in 1954 as the Princeton Ballet Society, ARB has been designated a “Major Arts Institution” by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts consistently for the past two decades and has repeatedly been awarded a Citation of Excellence by the Council. The company has been recognized by the National Endowment for the Arts and other major foundations and leaders in the field as a prominent force in the field of dance. Princeton Ballet School, ARB’s official school, attracts talent from around the world while providing opportunities for local students of all ages, such as through its award-winning DANCE POWER program. 

The Princeton Symphony Orchestra (PSO) is a cultural centerpiece of the Princeton community and one of New Jersey’s finest music organizations, a position established through performances of beloved masterworks, innovative music by living composers, and an extensive network of educational programs offered to area students free of charge. Led by Edward T. Cone Music Director Rossen Milanov, the PSO presents orchestral, pops, and chamber music programs of the highest artistic quality, supported by lectures and related events that supplement the concert experience. Its flagship summer program The Princeton Festival brings an array of performing arts and artists to Princeton during multiple weeks in June. Through PSO BRAVO!, the orchestra produces wide-reaching and impactful education programs in partnership with local schools and arts organizations that culminate in students attending a live orchestral performance. The PSO receives considerable support from the Princeton community and the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, regularly garnering NJSCA’s highest honor. Recognition of engaging residencies and concerts has come from the National Endowment for the Arts, and the PSO’s commitment to new music has been acknowledged with an ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming and a Copland Fund Award. The only independent, professional orchestra to make its home in Princeton, the PSO performs at historic Richardson Auditorium on the campus of Princeton University.