BalletNext will spin out something classical and something contemporary during its two-night run March 19 and 20 at the Park City Library’s Jim Santy Auditorium.
The first night, titled “Once Upon a Time,” will feature excerpts from Marius Petipa’s “Swan Lake” and “Sleeping Beauty.”
The March 20 performance will showcase the company’s Founder and Artistic Director Michele Wiles’ trademark work “Petrichor” along with a new work set to the music of Post Malone.
“I titled the first night ‘Once Upon a time’ because it’s a gala performance,” Wiles said. “I think it’s the first time I’ve done this type of event, and I’ve selected ballets that were done to Tchaikovsky music.”
The production will feature the third-act pas de deux from “Sleeping Beauty” that will be danced by Ava Prentice from the Connecticut Ballet and Hunter Solomon from Ballet Tucson, Wiles said.
“They will be absolutely gorgeous,” she said. “I think this is one of Ava’s dream roles. So I’m happy to provide that opportunity.”
The evening will also feature BalletNext’s Youth Project performing the Dance of the Cygnets from “Swan Lake,” and Pre-Professionals from Ogden who will dance the Prince’s number with BalletNext Resident Dancer Matthew Helms.
“Matthew and I will also perform the ‘Black Swan’ pas de deux,” said Wiles, who shares a May 7 birthday with Tchaikovsky.
“Swan Lake” is Wiles’ all-time favorite ballet.
“It’s what I got into classical ballet for, and it’s the final performance I did at American Ballet Theatre,” she said.
Wednesday’s performance will wrap up differently from a regular ballet production, according to Wiles.
“We’ll have the dancers take time to talk with the audience about their experiences dancing these iconic works,” she said. “We’ll discuss how Tchaikovsky’s music tells the story in these works and how the audience can kind of understand what he is saying through the music.”
Wiles will also lead the audience through the structure of a classical pas de deux.
“That will include the different variations and the coda, which the ballerina has to perform,” she said. “So, it’s about understanding how Tchaikovsky and Petipa helped develop classical ballet. They were inventors, pioneers back in their day.”
In addition to the post-production discussion, BalletNext will perform a surprise work for Wednesday’s finale.
“It’s a little more contemporary, and the audience will be able to compare between the classical and contemporary,” she said. “The piece will also give a little introduction into the next night, which is Mixed Repertory, all new works.”
That program will feature Wiles’ work, “Petrichor,” which marked its world premiere last spring in Park City.
The work’s title means “The smell of rain,” Wiles said.
“People do get emotional with ‘Petrichor,’ and it’s become an iconic piece for BalletNext,” she said. “I did not think it would become such, because, as with anything, you really don’t know. It’s about the dancers you have at that time when you create it and the process you go through.”
Solomon and Prentice will dance together in “Petrichor” the first time, Wiles said.
“So it will be myself and Matt and Ava and Hunter,” she said. “I’m looking forward to it.”
The night will also feature a brand new work set to the music of Post Malone, which Wiles workshopped in front of Park City Library audiences during last month’s Works in Process performance.
“People were interested in it when they saw it,” she said. “I think they love those ballets I do with contemporary music by Post Malone and Josh Kelley. I think there’s a carefreeness to the dancing when we use popular music.”
Still, Wiles knows classical ballet is the root of dance performance.
“I love investigating those classic ballets, and that influences what I do with new choreography,” she said. “My ballets happen over time, where hired choreographers usually have two weeks to get one done. So, with me, my dancers have to go through a lot because my pieces are always evolving. The dancers get the amount of time it takes for me to breathe and evolve a work. And while we get a lot of feedback from the audience during Works in Process, the different dancers bring different emotions and different physicality to them. It’s what makes the work new again.”
BalletNext: ‘Once Upon a Time’
- When: 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, March 19
- Where: Park City LIbrary’s Jim Santy Auditorium, 1255 Park Ave.
- Donation-based tickets: tinyurl.com/ya44epvz
- Web: balletnext.org
BalletNext: ‘Mixed Repertory’
- When: 6:30 p.m., Thursday, March 20
- Where: Park City LIbrary’s Jim Santy Auditorium, 1255 Park Ave.
- Donation-based tickets: tinyurl.com/4muj39ft
- Web: balletnext.org