Blake Works I

Last updated

Blake Works I
Choreographer William Forsythe
Music James Blake
Premiere4 July 2016 (2016-07-04)
Palais Garnier
Original ballet company Paris Opera Ballet

Blake Works I is a ballet choreographed by William Forsythe to seven songs from James Blake's album The Colour in Anything . The ballet was made for the Paris Opera Ballet, Forsythe's first work for the company since 1999, and premiered on 4 July 2016, at Palais Garnier.

Contents

Background and production

Forsythe choreographed his first ballet for the Paris Opera Ballet in 1983, a ballet titled France Dance. Four years later, he made one of his most notable works, In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated , for the company. [1] His last two works for the company before Blake Works I were made in 1999. [1]

In February 2015, the Paris Opera Ballet announced that Forsythe would become an associate choreographer with the company, and would create a new ballet for the company the following year. [1] It would be both the first large-scale ballet he made for a company other than his own since 1999. [1] Forsythe said he was not planning for a position in a ballet company until Benjamin Millepied, the new director of dance at the Paris Opera contacted him. Forsythe also noted he and Millepied started talking about making a new ballet for the company since Millipied assumed his position. [1]

The ballet uses seven songs from English musician James Blake's album The Colour in Anything , which uses electronic keyboard and syncopated percussion. [2] [3] Forsythe had previously used popular music in Love Songs (1979) and Say Bye Bye (1980). [3] Blake Works I is also Forsythe's first "ballet ballet" in over fifteen years. [2] According to a New York Times profile of Forsythe, he made use of the Paris Opera Ballet's technical heritage, while the use of arms and feet stems from the French ballet style. [3] The ballet is performed by 21 dancers. [4] Twenty of them are in blue practice clothes that resemble the Paris Opera Ballet School's uniform, and the 21st dancer, a man, is in dark jeans and a T-shirt. [2] [4]

Original cast

The principal dancers and soloists at the premiere include: [4]

Performances

Blake Works I premiered on 4 July 2016, at Palais Garnier, as part of a Paris Opera Ballet triple bill that also consisted of two other Forsythe works. [4] However, by the time it premiered, both Forsythe and company director Benjamin Millipied were about to leave the Paris Opera Ballet. [2]

The Boston Ballet, which had a five-year partnership with Forsythe, had the North American premiere of Blake Works I in March 2019. [5] [6] Other ballet companies that has performed the ballet include Stuttgart Ballet, [7] San Francisco Ballet, [8] English National Ballet, [9] and Dutch National Ballet. [10]

Critical reception

Laura Cappelle of the Financial Times commented, "Its modernity doesn't lie in extreme displays, but in the complexity, speed and changing directions of the choreography. Forsythe's vast classical vocabulary puts to shame many ballet choreographers working today: playful references to ballet history abound, alongside rare combinations that speak specifically to the French dancers' articulation and eloquent footwork." [2] Roslyn Sulcas of New York Times wrote that Blake Works I is "a celebration of the youth, spirits, talent and collective knowledge of a new generation of Paris Opera dancers, who have never, in my experience of the company, looked better than they did throughout Monday's performance." She concluded in her review, "It's a love letter to these dancers and to the art of ballet itself." [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Forsythe (choreographer)</span> American dancer and choreographer

William Forsythe is an American dancer and choreographer resident in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. He is known for his work with the Ballet Frankfurt (1984–2004) and The Forsythe Company (2005–2015). Recognized for the integration of ballet and visual arts, which displayed both abstraction and forceful theatricality, his vision of choreography as an organizational practice has inspired him to produce numerous installations, films, and web-based knowledge creation, incorporating the spoken word and experimental music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paris Opera Ballet</span> French ballet company

The Paris Opera Ballet is a French ballet company that is an integral part of the Paris Opera. It is the oldest national ballet company, and many European and international ballet companies can trace their origins to it. It is still regarded as one of the four most prominent ballet companies in the world, together with the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow, the Mariinsky Ballet in Saint Petersburg and the Royal Ballet in London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tamara Rojo</span> Spanish ballet dancer, artistic director (born 1974)

Tamara Rojo CBE is a Spanish ballet dancer. She was the English National Ballet's artistic director) and a lead principal dancer with the company between 2012 and 2022. She was previously a principal dancer with The Royal Ballet. She became the artistic director of San Francisco Ballet in late 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Benjamin Millepied</span> French multi oriented dancer and choreographer

Benjamin Millepied is a French dancer and choreographer, who has lived and worked in the United States since joining the New York City Ballet in 1995, where he became a soloist in 1998 and a principal in 2002. He has also created choreography for the company, and choreographed pieces for other major companies. He retired from the NYCB in 2011.

Bella Figura is a contemporary ballet choreographed by Jiří Kylián to music by Lukas Foss, Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Alessandro Marcello, Antonio Vivaldi and Giuseppe Torelli. The ballet was made for the Nederlands Dans Theater, and premiered on 12 October 1995, at AT&T Danstheater, The Hague.

Janie Taylor is an American ballet dancer, répétiteur and costume designer. She joined New York City Ballet in 1998, was promoted to principal dancer in 2005 and left in 2014. She then started designing costumes and staging works by Justin Peck and Benjamin Millepied, before performing again as a member of the L.A. Dance Project.

Nicolas Le Riche is a French ballet dancer, choreographer and ballet director.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexei Ratmansky</span> Russian ballet dancer and choreographer

Alexei Osipovich Ratmansky is a Russian-American choreographer and former ballet dancer. From 2004 to 2008 he was the director of the Bolshoi Ballet. He left Russia in 2008. As of April 2014 he was the artist in residence at the American Ballet Theatre.

Mathieu Ganio is a French danseur étoile of the Paris Opera Ballet.

Polyphonia is a one-act ballet choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon to music by György Ligeti, costumes designed by Holly Hynes, and was created for the New York City Ballet. It premiered on January 4, 2001 at the New York State Theater. It is regarded as Wheeldon's breakthrough, and won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Dance Production in 2003.

José Carlos Martínez is a Spanish dancer and choreographer. He was a danseur étoile of the Paris Opera Ballet and artistic director of the Spanish National Dance Company. He became the director of dance at Paris Opera Ballet in December 2022.

The Royal Ballet of Flanders is a dance company based in Antwerp, Belgium, specializing in classical, neoclassical and contemporary ballet. In its current incarnation, the company was established in 1969. It tours internationally.

<i>The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude</i> Ballet by William Forsythe

The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude is a ballet choreographed by William Forsythe to the finale of Schubert's Symphony No. 9. The ballet was choreographed for Frankfurt Ballet's programme Six Counter Points, and was presented as a ballet "in the Manner of the late 20th Century." Danced by a cast of five, the ballet features classical and technically demanding choreography. It premiered on 20 January 1996, at Frankfurt. It had since been performed by many other ballet companies.

Brigitte Lefèvre is a French ballet dancer, choreographer and teacher. She was director of the Paris Opera Ballet from 1995 to 2014.

Randy Castillo is a ballet dancer who performs with the LA Dance Project.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Justin Peck</span> American choreographer, director, and dancer

Justin Peck is an American choreographer, director, and dancer associated with New York City Ballet, of which he was appointed Resident Choreographer in July 2014, being the second person in the history of the institution to hold this title. In 2018 he won the Tony Award for Best Choreography for his work on the third Broadway revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Carousel. Peck also choreographed the 2021 Steven Spielberg film West Side Story, an adaptation of the musical.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pierre Lacotte</span> French ballet dancer and choreographer (1932–2023)

Pierre Lacotte was a French ballet dancer, choreographer, teacher, and company director. He specialised in the reconstruction of lost choreographies of romantic ballets.

Anne Deniau, known as Ann Ray, is a French photographer, artist and filmmaker. Ann Ray has published several photographic books: Nicolas Le Riche (2008), Mira Me (2009), 24 hours in a Man's Life (2011), Love Looks Not With the Eyes (2012)—13 years of work with Lee Alexander McQueen, and Les Inachevés (2018). She is self-taught in photography except for when she studied at Central Saint Martins in London.

Hugo Marchand is a French ballet dancer. He joined the Paris Opera Ballet in 2011 and was named étoile in 2017, at age 23.

The Seasons' Canon is a contemporary ballet choreographed by Crystal Pite to Max Richter's recomposition of Vivaldi's The Four Seasons. The ballet is Pite's first work made for the Paris Opera Ballet, and premiered in 24 September 2016 at the Palais Garnier. Pite won the Prix Benois de la Danse for Best Choreographer.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Sulcas, Roslyn (5 February 2015). "New Leaders at Paris Opera Unveil an Ambitious Future". New York Times.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Cappelle, Laura (6 July 2016). "William Forsythe, Paris Opera Ballet — 'Spectacular'". Financial Times.
  3. 1 2 3 Sulcas, Roslyn (1 March 2019). "William Forsythe: 'Isn't Ballet Delightful?'". New York Times.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Sulcas, Roslyn (5 July 2016). "Review: William Forsythe's Wonderful Love Letter to Ballet". New York Times.
  5. ↑ Seibert, Brian (8 March 2019). "Review: William Forsythe Brings a New Playlist to Boston". New York Times.
  6. ↑ Garcia, Maria (7 March 2019). "William Forsythe's Radical Idea: Combine Classical Ballet With Pop And Make The Audience Dance". WBUR.
  7. ↑ Laubacher, Kyra (7 June 2021). "8 Online Performances to Catch in June". Pointe Magazine.
  8. ↑ Howard, Rachel (4 February 2022). "Review: William Forsythe work explodes dance prejudices at S.F. Ballet". San Francisco Chronicle.
  9. ↑ Guerreino, Teresa (30 March 2021). "English National Ballet 2021/22 Season". Culture Whisper.
  10. ↑ Cappelle, Laura (15 June 2023). "Dutch National Ballet goes for broke with exhilarating Forsythe triple bill — review". Financial Times.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.