The Royal Winnipeg Ballet is teaming up with Atlanta Ballet to present a brand new, full-length ballet by acclaimed choreographer Twyla Tharp.

RWB artistic director André Lewis joined John McFall, his counterpart at the American company, in Atlanta on Tuesday to announce the partnership.

The award-winning American choreographer Tharp revealed that the new production will be a narrative work exploring a young girl's coming of age. Adapted from a story by author George MacDonald, it will highlight the music of romantic composer Franz Schubert.

"A full-length [ballet] is a big undertaking. The audacity to do that... comes about from experience, from having done them before, from having questions about them, from having a curiosity," said Tharp, whose choreography has ranged from contemporary ballets to film and TV productions to the hit Broadway dance shows Movin' Out and Come Fly Away.

The idea behind the production had been percolating in her head for 20 years, the Emmy and Tony Award-winner added, though her concept has changed somewhat over the years.

For instance, she admitted struggling with the notion that "'Schubert isn't edgy. What are we doing?' What we're doing here is going back to that which we've been spent our entire century moving against: the romantic movement."

The as-yet-unnamed production, which will also feature professional dancers as well as children, is slated for a February 2012 premiere in Atlanta.

Subsequently, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet will present the work on its stage in Manitoba in fall 2012.

Risk-takers

Atlanta Ballet and Royal Winnipeg Ballet have gravitated together over the years because of their similar size, appetite for a diverse repertoire, and shared appetite for risk-taking, McFall said, noting his company's performances of RWB ballets such as The Magic Flute and Moulin Rouge.

Tharp said she was attracted to pursuing the project with the two companies because of their "focus, enthusiasm and resources," along with their shared commitment to the art form.

"I don't like risk. Risk is not my idea of a good time, but I love it that they do," she said to laughter from an audience made up of journalists, company officials, orchestra members and the general public.

"They're up for an adventure. I'm always up for an adventure."