Contemporary works expanding the horizons of balletic choreography.
New York City Ballet continually invests in works by new generations of choreographers. Pam Tanowitz’s Law of Mosaics, set to Ted Hearne’s score, combines moments of resonant silence with propulsive string-based music, and is further illuminated by the colorful costumes of Reid Bartelme and Harriet Jung. Despite its simplicity, This Bitter Earth, a pas de deux danced to a remix of Dinah Washington’s recording of the title song, ranks among Christopher Wheeldon’s most delicate and moving works. For many followers of the Company, William Forsythe’s Herman Schmerman Pas de Deux remains a totemic example of the adventurousness that Balanchine always championed and exemplified. The Company’s ongoing interest in a wide variety of music and the dancing it inspires is illustrated in Kyle Abraham’s Love Letter (on shuffle), which draws on the pop music of singer-songwriter James Blake and combines classical steps with a distinctly 21st-century aesthetic.
Set to Ted Hearne’s sonic patchwork for string ensemble, Law of Mosaics features ten dancers in color-blocked unitards of various hues who demonstrate a post-modern approach to ballet technique, closing with a solo for a barefoot dancer.
Pam Tanowitz’ Law of Mosaics is her third work created for NYCB. The ballet for 10 dancers is set to Law of Mosaics, by composer, singer, bandleader, recording artist, and two-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for music, Ted Hearne. The ballet also features costumes by Reid Bartelme and Harriet Jung, and lighting by Brandon Stirling Baker.
This breathtaking and poetic dance for a couple explores the haunting, tenuous melodies set to a remix of Dinah Washington’s soulful rendition of “This Bitter Earth” and Max Richter’s “On the Nature of Daylight.”
This Bitter Earth is a pas de deux from Christopher Wheeldon’s Five Movements, Three Repeats. The full work was originally created for Fang-Yi Sheu & Artists, a group led by former Martha Graham Dance Company star Fang-Yi Sheu that included NYCB dancers Wendy Whelan, Tyler Angle, and Craig Hall. Set to a remix of Dinah Washington’s performance of Clyde Otis’ This Bitter Earth, and Max Richter’s On the Nature of Daylight, the ballet had its Company premiere at NYCB’s 2012 Fall Gala.
Forsythe’s angular, contemporary choreography for this striking and inventive pas de deux is paired to an electronic score by his long-time collaborator Thom Willems.
William Forsythe choreographed Herman Schmerman, his second work for NYCB, as part of the 1992 Diamond Project. Originally choreographed for five dancers, Forsythe said at the time, "The ballet means nothing. It’s a piece about dancing that will be a lot of fun."
In 1993, Forsythe added a pas de deux to the ballet, and when NYCB revived the ballet in 1999, Forsythe decided to present just the pas de deux.
Building on the momentum of 2018’s The Runaway, Kyle Abraham reunites the pop stylings of singer, songwriter, and producer James Blake and eye-catching costume designs by Giles Deacon, inspiring the Company’s dancers to new physical and emotional heights in a mashup of phenomenal classical feats and contemporary swagger.
Following The Runaway (2018) and the films Ces noms que nous portons (2020) and When We Fell (2021), Love Letter (on shuffle) is Kyle Abraham's fourth work for New York City Ballet. The ballet for 16 dancers features music by London-born singer, songwriter , and producer James Blake . Love Letter (on shuffle) premiered at the 2022 Fall Fashion Gala with costumes designed by fashion designer Giles Deacon, and lighting by Dan Scully
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