Editor’s Pick: NEXTsteps at The Washington Ballet
The Washington Ballet kicks off its new season with an annual series celebrating contemporary new works created exclusively for the company's artists.
The Washington Ballet kicks off its 2022-2023 season with the latest in an annual series celebrating contemporary new works created exclusively for the company’s artists.
This year’s NEXTsteps program features new pieces from two choreographers who have become company favorites, Silas Farley and Dana Genshaft.
“Silas and Dana are both sensitive choreographers who are helping to move this art form forward into the 21st century. They’re wonderful, sympathetic collaborators,” Artistic Director Julie Kent said in an interview with Metro Weekly last year.
Dowland Dances, a new work from Farley, the recently appointed dean of the Trudl Zipper Dance Institute at Los Angeles’s Colburn School, showcases ancient music with a modern voice.
The work features music by Shakespearean-era composer John Dowland as recorded by British singer Sting, inspired by the erstwhile rocker’s 2006 album Songs from the Labyrinth.
“In this new work, Farley uses his gift of mesmerizing, powerful, and poetic movement to create an intimate and breathtaking performance that transcends time,” the official description reads.
Genshaft’s All the Little Boxes, devised in collaboration with the company’s dancers, “explores the theme of today’s intertwined relationship between humanity and technology,” says the Moscow-born, San Francisco-based artist. All the Little Boxes will be performed to excerpts of music by Alva Noto, Dustin O’Halloran’s Quintett N. 1, and “Dusk Tempi” by Eluvium and Field Works.
The program — performed with two 20-minute intermissions between the new ballets — also features choreography developed in-house by Andile Ndlovu. Now in his 10th season as a Washington Ballet dancer, the South African artist will debut remember, his fourth piece for the ballet.
Telling the story of the human experience, remember is performed to the songs “Human Range” by Nils Frahm, “Garden” by fellow South African native Sun-El Musician, and “Ekki Hugsa” by Olafur Arnald.
“People spend very little time getting to know each other or understanding one another,” Ndlovu says in an official statement. “This work is about change and breaking out of the structures in our everyday lives.”
Performances are Wednesday, Oct. 12, through Friday, Oct. 14, at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 15, at 1:30 and 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, Oct. 16, at 1:30 p.m.
At Sidney Harman Hall, 610 F St. NW. Tickets are $45 to $115. Visit www.washingtonballet.org or call 202-677-5193.
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