Pennsylvania Ballet's Speed and Precision - 6abc Loves the Arts

October 8th, 2015 (WPVI) -- The Pennsylvania Ballet kicks off its new season in just a few weeks with a trio of masterpieces designed to showcase what the company will look like under new leadership.

This is artistic director Angel Corella's second season with the Ballet but the first in which he has chosen all of the repertoire, and he starts with a triple bill called Speed and Precision. "I wanted to start the season with a very big boom and a big blast of energy," says Corella.

Speed and Precision is 3 dances. The first, Chroma, is a company premiere choreographed by Wayne McGregor and featuring music by the rock band The White Stripes, "It's a very unique kind of movement and very unique kind of music," says Corella, "to hear the orchestra play that kind of music, it's really extreme and really powerful."

The program segues from rock to Bach with a classical ballet called Concerto Barocco choreographed by the legendary George Balanchine.

"You can almost see the music through the dancers because one ballerina is following one of the violins and the other ballerina is following the other violin," says Corella, "it's a very, very special piece. To me, it's one of the greatest Balanchine ballets."

He wraps the program with another company premiere. DGV is a piece inspired by the European speed train that goes from Lyon to Paris.

"You can almost feel in the music that speed and that precision."

The music was written by Michael Nyman known for his numerous film scores, including the movie, The Piano, and Corella says when he first saw the ballet, he was blown away.

"The dancers were flying up onstage...the men are lifting the girls; practically they don't touch the floor and the scenery is almost like the train tracks they've been exploded by all of that speed," says Corella, "it's going to be a very, very special evening."

Speed and Precision opens at the Academy of Music October 22nd and runs through October 25th.

For tickets and show times, go to www.TheArtsInPhilly.org.