''Ocean's Kingdom'' is a ballet choreographed by

Peter Martins Peter Martins (born 27 October 1946) is a Danish ballet dancer and choreographer. Martins was a principal dancer with the Royal Danish Ballet and with the New York City Ballet, where he joined George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, and John Taras as ...

for the

New York City Ballet New York City Ballet (NYCB) is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company. Léon Barzin was the company' ...

to eponymous music and

libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

. The work's premiere took place on 22 September 2011 at the Fall Gala in the

David H. Koch Theater The David H. Koch Theater is a theater for ballet, modern and other forms of dance, part of the Lincoln Center, at the intersection of Columbus Avenue and 63rd Street in the Lincoln Square neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. Originally ...

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 millio ...

Synopsis

Movement I: Ocean's Kingdom

The Princess Honorata lives with her father, King Ocean, in an underwater kingdom. In charge of her handmaidens is the somewhat sinister character Scala. Their idyllic existence is one day interrupted by intruders from the earthly kingdom, ruled by King Terra. He arrives with his band of aggressive followers and his younger brother Prince Stone. They are there to deliver an invitation to a grand ball. Prince Stone begins to fall in love with Princess Honorata.

Movement II: Hall of Dance

Guests arrive at the grand Hall of Dance and are treated to a spectacle of acrobatic dancing. Wandering through their midst are three drunken lords. King Ocean and Honorata arrive and, once again, encounter King Terra's unruly retinue. The attraction between Stone and Honorarta becomes stronger as the rivalry between the dancers becomes more intense. At the end of the dance, unnoticed by Prince Stone and King Ocean, Honorata is kidnapped by King Terra, who secretly desires her himself, and his henchmen by the aid of the treacherous Scala.

Movement III: Imprisonment

Princess Honorata despairs of her fate as she is seen imprisoned in Terra's run-down palace. Prince Stone arrives, furious at Terra's actions and Scala's betrayal. He demands Honorata's release but is rebuffed by Terra. Scala realizes she was wrong to turn against her mistress and promises to aid Prince Stone with Honorata's release. The two lovers are reunited and fall into a passionate embrace before escaping.

Movement IV: Moonrise

As the moon rises outside Terra's palace, Scala, Honorata and Stone escape into the night. They are soon pursued by Terra and his warriors. Against the wishes of the lovers, Scala turns back to stop the advancing army, and though she is ignored by them she magically conjures up a storm which envelopes and destroys them. To the horror of Honorata and Stone, Scala also perishes. They escape and are met by friendly forces from the Ocean Kingdom. They return home in triumph and as the celebrations subside and the lovers are left alone, the spirit of Scala makes a final appearance to bless their union.

Cast

Original

{, class="wikitable" ! Role ! colspan=2 , Cast members , - , Honorata ''and'' Prince Stone , *

Sara Mearns Sara Ann Mearns (born 19 January 1986) is an American ballet dancer. She is a principal dancer at New York City Ballet. Early life Mearns was born in Columbia, South Carolina. Her mother is a nurse. At age three, she began dancing with Ann Brodi ...

, *

Robert Fairchild Robert Fairchild (born June 9, 1987) is an American dancer and actor. He is best known for originating the role Jerry Mulligan in the musical ''An American in Paris'', and as Munkustrap in the 2019 film ''Cats''. He was a principal dancer at the ...

, - , Scala ''and'' King Terra , *

Georgina Pazcoguin Georgina Pazcoguin is an American ballerina. She is a soloist with the New York City Ballet, and is known for challenging racism in ballet, and for performing on Broadway. Early life Pazcoguin was born and raised in Altoona, Pennsylvania. She ...

, *

Amar Ramasar Amar Ramasar (born 1981) is an American ballet dancer and former principal dancer of the New York City Ballet (NYCB). Ramasar joined the NYCB as an apprentice in 2000 and joined the corps de ballet in 2001. As of 2010, Ramasar remained the only p ...

, - , King Ocean , colspan=2 , * Christian Tworzyanski , - , The Entertainers' Leader , colspan=2 , *

Daniel Ulbricht This is a list of New York City Ballet dancers. Principal dancers Soloists This is a list of New York City Ballet soloists. Corps de ballet The following is a list of the current members of the corps de ballet. * Victor Abreu * Devin Albe ...

, - , Pas de deux ''(Exotic Couple)'' , * Megan LeCrone , * Craig Hall , - , Amazons ''and'' Drunken Lords , * Savannah Lowery * Emily Kikta , * Allen Peiffer *

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* David Prottas , - , Water Maidens , * Likolani Brown * Amanda Hankes * Lauren King * Ashley Laracey *

Brittany Pollack This is a list of New York City Ballet dancers. Principal dancers Soloists This is a list of New York City Ballet soloists. Corps de ballet The following is a list of the current members of the corps de ballet. * Victor Abreu * Devin Albe ...

* Sarah Villwock , - , Handmaidens , * Sara Adams * Callie Bachman *

Meagan Mann This is a list of New York City Ballet dancers. Principal dancers Soloists This is a list of New York City Ballet soloists. Corps de ballet The following is a list of the current members of the corps de ballet. * Victor Abreu * Devin Albe ...

* Jenelle Manzi * Mary Elizabeth Sell , - , Terra Punks , , * Devin Alberda * Daniel Applebaum *

Harrison Ball This is a list of New York City Ballet dancers. Principal dancers Soloists This is a list of New York City Ballet New York City Ballet#Soloists, soloists. Corps de ballet The following is a list of the current members of the corps de ballet ...

* Joseph Gordon * Sam Greenberg * Ralph Ippolito * Austin Laurent * Vincent Paradiso * Aaron Sanz *

Taylor Stanley Taylor G. Stanley (born May 30, 1991) is an American ballet dancer who is currently a principal dancer with the New York City Ballet. Early life Stanley was born in Philadelphia to a mixed-race family, and was raised in West Chester, Pennsylvan ...

* Giovanni Villalobos * Peter Walker , - , Courtiers , *

Marika Anderson This is a list of New York City Ballet dancers. Principal dancers Soloists This is a list of New York City Ballet soloists. Corps de ballet The following is a list of the current members of the corps de ballet. * Victor Abreu * Devin Albe ...

* Stephanie Chosniak * Emilie Gerrity *

Dana Jacobson Dana Jacobson (born November 5, 1971) is a host and correspondent for CBS News currently serving as a co host for ''CBS Saturday Morning''. She is also an anchor & reporter for CBS Sports and CBS Sports Network. She joined CBS News in 2015, 2 y ...

* Shoshona Rosenfield * Gretchen Smith * Lara Tong * Lydia Wellington , * Cameron Dieck *

Russell Janzen This is a list of New York City Ballet dancers. Principal dancers Soloists This is a list of New York City Ballet soloists. Corps de ballet The following is a list of the current members of the corps de ballet. * Victor Abreu * Devin Albe ...

Andrew Scordato This is a list of New York City Ballet dancers. Principal dancers Soloists This is a list of New York City Ballet New York City Ballet#Soloists, soloists. Corps de ballet The following is a list of the current members of the corps de ballet ...

* Joshua Thew

Footnotes

Ballets by Peter Martins Ballets to the music of Paul McCartney 2011 ballet premieres New York City Ballet repertory