International Evenings of Dance II set for Saturday in Vail

International Evenings of Dance II, set for Saturday night at the Ford Amphitheater, will excite audiences with new premieres and classic works, as well as bring back some of the festival’s favorite artists and repertoire for its 25th anniversary.

Argentine tango sensations Analia Centurion and Gabriel Misse have teamed up with the festival’s artistic director, Damian Woetzel, and American Ballet Theatre star Herman Cornejo to choreograph a new work, entitled “Tango Trio” and set to Astor Piazzolla’s “Libertango.”

Former Martha Graham Company principal dancer Fang-Yi Sheu will also premiere her own work, entitled “All Will Be Still” and set to a poem by the legendary Russian poet Maria Tsvetaeva, arranged by Max Richter. Sheu combines her unique style of modern dance with powerful footwork and rich, dramatic movement.

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Memphis jooker Charles “Lil Buck” Riley has also choreographed a solo piece in collaboration with Woetzel, named “Partita.” The piece will be performed with violinist Jonathan Gandelsman. Lil Buck will also perform an improvisation accompanied by Galician bagpipe master Cristina Pato, to traditional music from Galicia.

New York City Ballet soloist Lauren Lovette and principal dancer Daniel Ulbricht will dance the pas de deux from August Bournonville’s classic ballet “La Sylphide;” Brian Brooks plans to star in his own piece, “sunshowers,” before artists-in-residence Tiler Peck and Robert Fairchild from New York City Ballet take the stage for the pas de deux from George Balanchine’s timeless ballet “Apollo.”

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Also on the evening’s program is Balanchine’s classic “Stars and Stripes,” danced by American Ballet Theatre’s Isabella Boylston and New York City Ballet’s Robert Fairchild. Another new partnership appears in Balanchine’s virtuosic gala number “Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux,” as Boston Ballet star Misa Kuranaga and New York City Ballet principal Chase Finlay dance together for the first time.

Dance Theatre of Harlem dancers Ashley Murphy and Jehbreal Muhammad Jackson, who made their debut appearance at the festival’s Friday night performance, will perform an excerpt from Donald Byrd’s “Contested Space.”

Another dancer that made his Vail debut on Friday is Moscow Stanislavsky Ballet principal dancer and international dance rock star Sergei Polunin, who will dance Ben Van Cauwenbergh’s whimsical solo “Les Bourgeois,” set to Jacques Brel’s song of the same name.

Kuranaga will re-appear to close the evening in her celebrated Vail partnership with Cornejo, dancing the show-stopping Act III Pas de Deux from “Don Quixote.”

Tickets for the International Evenings of Dance II start at $20 and lawn tickets are free for all kids 12 years of age and younger. For more information, or to purchase tickets, visit vaildance.org or call 888-920-2787.