'Atonement,' 'Alice in Wonderland' among the Joffrey Ballet's upcoming season

Evening-length adaptations of a 2001 novel-turned-film and a beloved, 19th-century children’s story by two internationally recognized British choreographers — Cathy Marston and Christopher Wheeldon — will bookend the Joffrey Ballet’s 2024-25 season, the Chicago-based company announced Monday.

Joffrey’s 69th season, and its fourth at the Lyric Opera House, will open Oct. 17-27 with the American premiere of Marston’s “Atonement,” based on Ian McEwan’s novel, shortlisted for the Booker Prize and turned into a 2007 movie.

The story focuses on Briony Tallis, an aspiring writer in the novel who becomes a wannabe choreographer in this version. Aged 13 as the story opens in 1935 England, she makes a false accusation that affects the rest of her life.

Marston, director of the Zurich Ballet since August 2023, has choreographed two previous works that the Joffrey has performed including the 2022 world premiere of her adaptation of John Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men.”

“After an opening sequence, in which the entire story is foretold in dreamy, fast-action fashion, the action largely follows the book, with one scene blending into the next, with high-energy athleticism, push-off partnering and leg-extended turns propelling the action forward,” wrote a Sun-Times critic.

Culminating the Joffrey’s season June 5-15, 2025, will be the company premiere of Wheeldon’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” an adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s famed fantasy with all the familiar characters, including the Mad Hatter and Queen of Hearts. The piece debuted 2011 at the Royal Opera House in London, and New York Times critic Roslyn Sulcas called it an “extravaganza of color and costume, madcap action and fluent dance.”

Cheryl Mann

In the Windy City, Wheeldon, a former resident choreographer at the New York City Ballet, is best known as the creative force behind the Joffrey’s Chicago-focused take on “The Nutcracker,” which has become an annual tradition. It returns Dec. 6-28.

Rounding out the season Feb. 20-March 2 is “Golden Hour.” The mixed bill incorporates the world premiere of Dani Rowe’s contemporary take on the beloved fairy tale “Princess and the Pea"; Marston’s “Heimat,” an interpretation of Wagner’s symphonic poem “Siegfried Idyll"; Nicolas Blanc’s “Under the Trees’ Voices,” set to Bosso’s Symphony No. 2, and a new work for three dancers by Yuri Possokho.

The Joffrey also announced that it will return to the Ravinia Festival in Highland Park on Sept. 13-14 and travel to Germany Sept. 23-27 for the Baden-Baden Festival.

Three-program subscriptions (excluding “The Nutcracker”) are currently available at joffrey.org.

Single tickets for all performances, including “The Nutcracker,” will be available this summer by phone at (312) 386-8905 or online.