Learn more about our 2012-2013 season.

It’s an exciting time at UMS. Thanks to your generosity and passion, we are coming off of a monumental season that brought us extraordinary experiences both on and off the performance stage. As we launch our 2012-2013 season, we mark 134 years of UMS and we celebrate 50 years of Chamber Music and 100 years of Hill Auditorium, a world-renowned venue right here in Ann Arbor.

As we look ahead to 2012-2013, we wonder: What will create a stir? What will give you goosebumps? What will make you think? What will get you talking? What will leave you speechless?

The only way to know the answers is to be present, in every meaning of the word.  Our locally cherished and globally respected series of classical music, theater, dance, jazz, and global performances has the ability to challenge, excite, inspire, shift perspective, and ultimately change the way you see the world.

Find out more by:

• Watching our season announcement video, with details on all 2012-2013 events
• Visit our new website at www.ums.org for a complete season listing, as well as detailed information and media on each artist in the 2012-2013 season. Or, for a quick listing, check out our series brochure.

Subscriptions go on sale to the general public on Tuesday, May 1. Subscriber benefits include access to the best seats in the house, installment billing, free parking, free ticket exchanges, and great discounts – all yours when you subscribe to any fixed or SERIES:YOU (formerly known as Monogram) package.  Tickets to individual events go on sale on Monday, August 6, so a subscription is the best way to lock in the events you know you don’t to miss.

We can’t wait to hear from you. Tell us what you’re excited to see in the comments below!

And thank you for being part of the UMS experience.

Need the season announcement video by series?

Choral Union

Chamber Arts

International Theater

Dance

Jazz

Global Music

And more

From our video booth…

More Ballet Preljocaj video booth.

Photo: A scene in Snow White by Ballet Preljocaj.

Every great story rests upon a conflict of good and evil. As children, we might encounter lessons from this kind of conflict through fairy tales, morals and legends. We hear frightening tales with themes of greed, lust, disobedience, and consequences that most often resolve with the poetic justice of a happily-ever- after ending. These age-old tales are an imaginative vehicle for children to relate to the dark side of human nature and to understand the power of choice and free will.

Fairy tales are not just for children however. There’s been an increase in fairy-tale prime time TV, ABC’s Once Upon a Time and NBC’s Grimm, for example, as well as a surge in live-action movies, Mirror, Mirror and Snow White and the Huntsman, to name a couple. As adults, we still love these stories and we still relate to their symbols and themes.

UMS is presenting two artists whose work is influenced by fairy tales: Robert Lepage’s The Andersen Project and Snow White re-staged by Ballet Preljocaj.

The Andersen Project is inspired by the life of Hans Christian Andersen and highlights the fairy tale “The Dryad,” which is set in nineteenth century Paris and follows a young dryad who lives within chestnut tree on the outskirts of the city. The dryad longs to see the Paris she hears about in the stories of those who travel past her. When her wish is granted, she is moved the heart of the city, but her happiness there is short-lived. As Her true desire is not for the city, but for the freedom of movement, it turns out. When this wish is granted, it comes with a heavy cost. Read the whole story.

The Andersen Project also references Andersen’s “The Shadow.” In “The Shadow,” a man loses his own shadow. One night, it returns, knocking on his door and appearing almost human. The shadow grows richer and fatter, while the man grows poorer and weaker. In fact, the man is so ill that his shadow proposes a trip to a health resort, on the condition that the shadow can act as the master. At the resort, the shadow meets a princess, and later when the two are about to be marry, the shadow offers the man a position within the castle if he agrees to become his own shadow permanently. In the end, the secret swap is revealed and the consequences are deadly. Read the whole story.

We interviewed The Andersen Project’s lead actor Yves Jacques. Start at 3:16 mark to learn about how old ways of storytelling influenced director Robert Lepage’s construction of this project.

Snow White may be a more familiar story for most. Choreographer Angelin Preljocaj explains that his narrative ballet is not the myth or legend of Snow White, but the story of Snow White herself. He follows the Grimm brothers’ version version but adds small variations. The wicked stepmother is  the central character of the tale. He examines her through her narcissistic determination not to give up on seduction and on her role as a woman, even if this means sacrificing her stepdaughter. Do you need a Snow White refresher? Read the whole story.

We are living during a climatic time in history and our choices can be felt globally thanks to technology. Is it any wonder that artists are turning to the world of fairy tales to highlight the fight between good and evil or the power of choice? Fairy tales allow us to reach into our imagination and to examine the good and evil that reside in all of us.

Why do you think fairy tales are on the rise? What are your favorite fairy tales?