Collaborations to mark troupe’s 40th year
NEW SEASON
For its 40th season, BalletMet will turn to collaborators near and far.
The 2017-18 season will open with a mixed bill in which company dancers share the stage with students from Ohio State University’s Department of Dance. It will conclude with a full-length ballet produced with the Tulsa Ballet in Oklahoma.
The October collaboration with OSU, titled “Parallel Connections,” will feature dancers performing works by leading choreographers Merce Cunningham, William Forsythe, James Kudelka and Ohad Naharin in the Wexner Center for the Arts’ Mershon Auditorium.
“It highlights what’s here in Columbus,” Artistic Director Edwaard Liang said. “We’re getting to be able to collaborate with the Wexner Center, which I have so much admiration for. ... It’s a great way to kick off the 40th anniversary with a bang.”
Two other mixed bills are planned: The first promises to be forward-looking, the second, backward-glancing.
In November, “Front Row” will feature new works by Liang, Ma Cong and Andrea Schermoly; next March, “Tour de Force” will present classic works by George Balanchine (1904-83) and Jerome Robbins (1918-98), plus a piece by Liang.
Balanchine’s “Rubies” — a selection from the choreographer’s three-part “Jewels” — was chosen in part to honor the company’s anniversary season.
“I’ve always wanted to bring ‘Rubies’ to Columbus,” Liang said. “It’s also very fitting because it’s our ruby anniversary.”
Robbins’ “Interplay” commemorates a different sort of anniversary: The choreographer, best known for the musical “West Side Story,” would have turned 100 in 2018.
“I really believe that Columbus should also celebrate with the world ... the centennial for Jerome Robbins,” Liang said.
On tap for December is the company’s annual, monthlong offering of “The Nutcracker”; and, for February, a new production of “Giselle.”
The season will close with “Dorothy and the Prince of Oz,” a $1 million production funded by BalletMet and the Tulsa Ballet.
Based on the 14th book in the “Wizard of Oz” series of author L. Frank Baum, the ballet will feature choreography by Liang, music supervised by Oliver Peter Graber and puppets by Basil Twist.
The Tulsa troupe premiered the production in February; BalletMet will take its turn in May 2018.
“It was a massive hit for Tulsa, and not only audience-wise and ticket-wise, but critically it was great,” Liang said, adding that he looks forward to tweaking the ambitious show for its Columbus debut.
“What’s great about it is that once you’ve done it ... you learn from certain mistakes, and certain opportunities pop up, and you get to have the ability to work on it a little bit more.”
“Tour de Force: A Collection of Short Ballets,” Riffe Center’s Davidson Theatre
“Dorothy and the Prince of Oz,” Ohio Theatre