Onstage This Week: Annabelle Lopez Ochoa's "Frida" at Dutch National Ballet, Atlanta Ballet Gets Jazzy, and More!
Wonder what’s going on in ballet this week? We’ve rounded up some highlights.
Annabelle Lopez Ochoa Explores the Life of Frida Kahlo for Dutch National Ballet
In 2016, prolific choreographer Annabelle Lopez Ochoa created Broken Wings for English National Ballet, a short piece diving into the life of iconic Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. Soon after, Dutch National Ballet artistic director Ted Brandsen offered her the chance to expand that work into a full-length ballet. The result, simply titled Frida, makes its premiere February 6-25 in Amsterdam.
In collaboration with British composer Peter Salem and Dutch designer Dieuweke van Reij, Ochoa’s ballet explores Kahlo’s fraught relationship with artist Diego Rivera, her bisexuality, the physical and emotional pain she endured and the way that she crafted her own image through her paintings. Dutch National Ballet has put out a series of YouTube videos exploring the creation of the piece; catch the first one above.
Atlanta Ballet Presents Three Jazzy Company Premieres
Atlanta Ballet celebrates the rhythms and energy of jazz music this week in Heart/Beat: Gospel, Brubeck & Rhythms of the City, a triple bill of company premieres. The program, running February 7-15, includes Lar Lubovitch’s Elemental Brubeck to the music of Dave Brubeck, Alexander Ekman’s Tuplet to compositions by Mikael Karlsson and Victor Feldman, and Dwight Rhoden’s Sunrise Divine to an original score by Kevin Johnson.
Ballet West Brings Back “Giselle”
February 7-15
, Salt Lake City-based balletomanes can enter the spectral world of Giselle. Ballet West’s version of the classic ballet was conceived and produced by artistic director Adam Sklute after Jean Corrali and Julles Perrot, with additional choreography by Pamela Robinson Harris.
World Premieres by Yury Yanowsky and Christopher Huggins at Festival Ballet Providence
Festival Ballet Providence’s Game Changers triple bill, running February 7-9, features a diverse mix of contemporary works, all performed to live music. The first is Christopher Wheeldon’s Morphoses, followed by two world premieres: Same, a collaboration between choreographer Yury Yanowsky and singer/songwriter Josh Knowles, former Alvin Ailey Dance Theater member Christopher Huggins’ I Think.
Diablo Ballet Mixes a Balanchine Classic With Works New and Old
Diablo Ballet’s second program of the season, Balanchine & Beyond, hits stages February 7-8. The Walnut Creek, CA–based company presents George Balanchine’s Who Cares? alongside three works by contemporary choreographers—Penny Saunders’ Berceuse, Sally Streets’ Bach Suite for Strings and Michael Well’s Forward Thinking—as well as excerpts from Jules Perrot’s Esmeralda.
Gabrielle Lamb Presents Full Length World Premiere as Part of CUNY Dance Initiative
Choreographer Gabrielle Lamb’s company, Pigeonwing Dance, presents a new evening-length work at New York’s Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College February 7. The premiere is titled Plexus: a work in knots, and is set to a commissioned electroacoustic score by James Budinich. Catch a preview in the above video.
Roxey Ballet Presents “Carmen” and “Frida”
New Jersey–based company Roxey Ballet presents a double bill February 7-16 at the Canal Studio Theater in Lambertville. Audiences can see artistic director Mark Roxey’s Carmen, a one-act abstract telling of Propser Merimee’s classic novella, and Frida, an exploration of the life of surrealist painter Frida Kahlo choreographed by Giovanni Ravello.
Pittsburgh Company Bodiography Welcomes Guests from Buglisi Dance Theatre
Pittsburgh’s Bodiography Contemporary Ballet heads to the Byham Theater February 7-8 in a program titled Unveiled. Guest artists from Buglisi Dance Theatre join the company in works by guest choreographers Virginie Mecene and Ze’eva Cohen for a mix of premieres and older works.
