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, Legris announced at a press conference Wednesday.

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 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 organized 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," Legris said, insisting on the need to put the Vienna Ballet on the international stage.

The French former etoile dancer has earned rave reviews since arriving in Vienna last summer, reviving a ballet company that was long ignored in a city of opera-lovers.

"Each performance gets better and better... the dancers are making progress on stage, they are starting to own the ballet, to own the spirit," he told Agence France Presse.

"The dancers have a contract that is renewed every year so they can leave when they wish. And since I've been here, nobody has left."

Two premieres remain this season: a homage to West Side Story choreographer Jerome Robbins and a Nureyev Gala, which will become an annual event and in which Legris is set to perform.

The tribute to Rudolf Nureyev, a former director of the Vienna Ballet and mentor to Legris, will feature some of his most famous works as well as other choreographers close to him.