BalletMet season finale to feature 3 ballets May 20-28 at Riffe Center

2022-06-04 00:33:18 By : Ms. SAMIRA CHEN

BalletMet Artistic Director Edwaard Liang didn’t expect to be choreographing a new ballet for the company’s season finale.

“Director’s Choice: A Collection of Short Ballets” — a triple bill opening Friday and continuing through May 28 at the Riffe Center’s Davidson Theatre — was first conceived as a program featuring five ballets — including several by prominent contemporary choreographers — none of which were to be choreographed by Liang.

BalletMet 2022-23:BalletMet new season to include 'Nutcracker,' 'Dracula' and 'Dorothy and the Prince of Oz'

“I was super-ambitious and wanted a feast for our community,” Liang said..

But as the program’s premiere neared, scheduling conflicts and the lingering coronavirus pandemic left some out-of-town stagers unable to come to Columbus to mount select dances. Consequently, several of the ballets first planned for the program were removed, which meant that Liang swung into action.

The artistic director then choreographed — somewhat “on the fly,” he said — an all-new ballet to complement the two ballets that remained from the original program, George Balanchine’s “Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux” and Christopher Wheeldon's "After the Rain Pas De Deux."

Liang came up with a ballet for 12 dancers titled “Seasons.” The piece is named for Antonio Vivaldi’s 1725 masterwork “The Four Seasons.”

“I have always loved this piece of music,” Liang said. “There are a lot of pieces of music that I love and someday I would love to choreograph, but ... we made the decision: ‘OK, it needed to be everything in-house.’”

In “Seasons,” the dancers will move not to the original music by Vivaldi but a reimagined “recomposition” of the work by contemporary composer Max Richter.

“(Richter’s) wish was that this recomposition and reimagining would help ... a new generation fall in love with Vivaldi,” said Liang, who, for his part, hopes his ballet will help “our community to fall in love with dance again.”

Second time around:Area native takes a gamble on rewriting obscure '60s thriller 'Private Property'

The abstract ballet will feature a minimalistic but evocative set featuring two large trees that have been painted red. The dancers might be said to embody elements of nature.

“I don’t even know how to describe what the dancers are, but they basically are the wind and the change of seasons,” Liang said.

Meanwhile, Liang himself oversaw the staging of Balanchine’s “Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux” and Wheeldon’s “After the Rain Pas de Deux.”

The Balanchine piece, first performed at New York City Ballet in 1960, will allow the dancers to strut their stuff.

“It is what (Balanchine) does best: dance for dance’s sake, with syncopation, and everything is up-tempo and bright,” said Liang, a former member of the New York City Ballet who was given permission by the George Balanchine Trust to stage the work. “It’s the perfect vehicle to showcase brilliant technicians and artists.”

Liang also has a personal history with “After the Rain Pas de Deux,” which is extracted from a longer work, “After the Rain,” that premiered at the New York City Ballet in 2005 and featured Liang in the cast.

Pick a flick:CAPA Summer Movie Series to highlight 25 films, including 'The Bodyguard,' 'Airplane!'

“I was an original dancer for this ballet,” said Liang, who praises the “quiet power” of the Wheeldon work.

“It takes real dedication and the same amount of power . . . but just different than ‘Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux,’” he said. “I felt like as if they would dovetail together very well to represent what power and artistry and technique can bring.”

BalletMet will perform “Director’s Choice: A Collection of Short Ballets” at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday , 2 p.m. Sunday, 7:30 p.m. May 26 and 8 p.m. May 27-28 in the Riffe Center’s Davidson Theatre, 77 S. High St. Tickets cost $35 to $87.50. For more information, visit www.balletmet.org.