In the News: Check out this press roundup for BalletX's 'The Four Seasons Reimagined'
From the Airmail to Broadway World, this captivating dance experience earned attention and praise.
BalletX's The Four Seasons Reimagined premiered June 4-5 at BalletX's Festival at Highmark Mann!. A reimagining of Vivaldi’s iconic score, this bold new composition garnered plenty of ink.
How can we think about the future if there is no planet Earth? This is the foundational question that struck BalletX artistic director Christine Cox while pondering the future of the United States. Last year, Cox had been asked to envision a new forward-looking ballet for a program celebrating America’s 250th at Philadelphia’s Highmark Mann Center for the Performing Arts. “For me, there is no future without this beautiful Earth,” she says.
BalletX did well to ditch the famous music for an original score by Dan Deacon, whose allover electronic anthems Justin Peck deployed for his melancholic everyman epic The Times Are Racing. Four choreographers—one per season—have written this “love letter to Mother Nature”: the Ailey-bred Jamar Roberts, who grounds his evocative, socially vibrant work in sensuality and the music; Trey McIntyre, contemporary ballet’s endearing answer to scrappy indie rock; the Brit Morgann Runacre-Temple, half of the much-in-demand duo Jess and Morgs, whose exceptional integration of livestream video into the onstage drama has got ballet directors calling; and Penny Saunders, that rare thing in contemporary ballet—a storyteller.
Dan Deacon's score is performed live onstage with a nine-piece ensemble, blending electronic composition, orchestral textures, and the energy of live performance. A Baltimore-based composer, performer, and electronic music innovator, Deacon is known for his immersive concerts and wide-ranging work across music, film, and performance...
“I was genuinely scared by the challenge — which is usually a good sign,” said Deacon. “The Four Seasons has been reimagined so many times. I wasn't interested in simply making another version. What unlocked it for me was thinking historically — how our relationship with nature has evolved.”
Image via BalletX.