Timothée Chalamet notwithstanding, ballet is alive and well.
West Michigan offers aficionados any number of chances to experience the power, beauty, and range of the form, including Grand Rapids Ballet’s Broken Wings (October 16-25), Deos Ballet’s Giselle (November 13-15), and Wellspring's Tendrils (November 20-22).
Tendrils (Wellspring, November 20-22)
First performed in the spring of 2024, Tendrils was conceived as a study in the ways in which we’re both connected to, and disconnected from, the natural world, as well as to and from each other.
That initial performance was well-received; audience members found it to be original, resonant, and visually stunning. The cohesion of the musical, visual, and dance elements received particular praise.
That original program has been reimagined and expanded. Aurora & Antheia, a self-described “improvisational chamber folk trio,” has provided musical elements. Wellspring’s artistic director, Marisa Bianan, created the choreography. Tendrils has been expanded to a full hour, featuring three full-company works as well as a sextet, trio, and solo performance, all accompanied by live music from Aurora & Antheia.
Bianan wrote that “Tendrils began as an exploration of nature and the lessons we can draw from it. The connections and disconnections found in the natural world can also be seen in our own human relationships. As we revisited the work and began to reimagine it, the musicians introduced a new piece they had been developing, inspired by glaciers. This offered a new metaphor for connection: something formed gradually through accumulation and time. The choreography and music build in a similar way, inviting us to notice how small movements can become something larger.”
Photo: Broken Wings, courtesy of Ballet Arizona & Rosalie O'Connor ALO
Broken Wings (Grand Rapids Ballet, October 16-25)
Frida Kahlo was 18 when a catastrophic bus accident changed her life. Her spine, pelvis, and ribs were fractured; more than thirty surgeries would be performed on her young body, leaving her, for a time, immobilized in a full-body cast. A custom mirror was mounted on her bed, allowing her to see herself. She began to paint. In time, she would become an icon.
Prominent choreographer Annabelle Lopez Ochoa's Broken Wings presents the artist’s life in bold, bright colors. Famous images from Kahlo’s work are brought vividly to life, and the score (by Peter Salem) blends traditional Mexican folk music with a grand, theatrical sound. The result is one of the most acclaimed new ballets of the last decade.
Paired with Broken Wings will be Artistic Director James Sofranko’s A Dreamer, inspired by the life and work of Stephen Hawking. Like Kahlo, he experienced immobilization, but in his case it was for 55 years, the result of ALS. And, like Kahlo, he managed to transcend his circumstances.
Photo: Giselle at Deos Ballet.
Giselle (Deos Ballet, November 13-15)
What’s better than vengeful female ghosts? Nothing, that’s what. No wonder Giselle’s endured 185 years. It’s the story of a peasant girl betrayed in love by a nobleman. So tender is her heart and so deep the wound that Giselle dies, but the story doesn’t end there; after death, she finds herself among the Wilis: vengeful spirits of young women betrayed in love. When her former lover visits her grave, she must make a choice: allow him to be destroyed or find a way to protect him.
In true Deos Ballet fashion, though, that isn’t the whole story. By setting Giselle in a factory in New York City’s garment district, in 1906, the production illuminates issues of class in a fresh way. That approach is in keeping with the company’s history; Deos productions often stand witness against the brutalities of history, and of today.
“It’s impressive that a story created in 1841 still resonates with audiences worldwide," said Deos Contemporary Ballet Artistic Director Tess Sinke. "Giselle is an inherently simple narrative, with two well-defined acts that each feels like their own world. I wanted to find a way to bring the complexity of the characters to new heights in my reimagining for Deos Ballet."
You can come for the “gothic wisps of old bridal dresses,” the power of love to transcend death, or an exploration of power and class—or all three, in this classic tale made new again.
