Madame Butterfly returns to Atlanta

This weekend is your last opportunity to see the breath-taking ballet “Madame Butterfly,” at Atlanta’s Fabulous Fox Theatre.

Atlanta Ballet brings the story, which portrays the tragic fate awaiting an innocent heart, back to Atlanta for the first time since the spring of 2002.

Premiered by the Australian Ballet in 1995, this two-act dramatic ballet tells the tragic tale of a young geisha’s love for an American naval officer and his ultimate betrayal.

Australian choreographer Stanton Welch transforms Puccini’s famous opera, “Madame Butterfly,” into dance. The ballet highlights are picturesque sets, a ravishing wedding-night pas de deux, and the heartbreaking, passionate and dishonest relationship between Butterfly and Pinkerton set to the rich and luscious score of Giacomo Pucinni.

“Madame Butterfly” premiered as a play with great success in New York in 1900, then crossed the Atlantic for a London production, which Pucinni saw and converted to an opera. Pucinni’s first version of the opera failed in 1904, but a revised version was successful the same year, the version that audiences enjoy today.

Stanton Welch was born in Melbourne, Australia. After his dance training, in 1989 Welch joined The Australian Ballet, quickly rising to soloist. His choreographic career developed during this time. Welch is one of the most sought after choreographers of his generation, having created works for such prestigious international companies as Houston Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, The Australian Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet, and Royal Danish Ballet. He was voted Best New Choreographer in London (1992) by the British magazine, “Dance & Dancers.” That same year, he was awarded a Churchill Fellowship to study choreography overseas, and he won the NSW Young Achiever Award. In July 2003, Welch assumed leadership as Artistic Director of Houston Ballet.

Tickets to the Atlanta Ballet’s current depiction of “Madame Butterfly” start as low as $10 and are on-sale now. Call the Ticketmaster Arts Line at 404-817-8700, stop by a Ticketmaster outlet or the Fox Theatre Box Office. To order on-line, visit www.atlantaballet.com. Groups of ten or more may call Atlanta Ballet Group Sales at 404-873-5811 ext. 207.

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