Nantucket Atheneum Dance Festival
Using ballet as a platform to challenge conventions, inspire thoughtful discussion, and invite creative expression for all ages
23/08/2022
A romantic post: a lovey shot of George Balanchine’s “Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet” by Bill Hoenk . Choreography © The George Balanchine Trust.
17/08/2022
George Balanchine’s “Agon” in rehearsal, with Artistic Director joining fellow member , and members and . We love seeing cross-company collaborations like this! Photo by . Choreography © The George Balanchine Trust.
15/08/2022
Dancers + Nantucket 💕 Principal dancer at the Sankaty Head Lighthouse.
11/08/2022
Some lucky Nantucket kids learned some steps and choreographed dances with New York City Ballet dancers and . Watching the enthusiastic and talented kids is one of our favorite free programs during Festival week.
06/08/2022
Hope you have a wonderful weekend!
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Morning fog pastels in Nantucket with New York City Ballet’s beautiful 💙
05/08/2022
Isabella Boylston and Joo Won Ahn in the “Theme and Variations” pas de deux by George Balanchine, a glittering way to start off our 2022 Festival performances.
“The pas de deux, excerpted here, is the capstone of the work. It is deceptively simple. The leads have completed a series of fiendish, alternating solos, and they meet up at last for a reset. They begin slowly, reestablishing the rudimentary positions together, then add in element after element as the music steadily builds and repeats in a way that seems like it could go on forever. It is a lesson in the process of choreography itself. Before you know it, fundamental classroom steps have blossomed into one of the most sublime examples of art.” - excerpt from our program notes written by Faye Arthurs, former NYCBallet dancer and contributing dance critic at Fjord Review. .
Photo: Bill Hoenk. Choreography © The George Balanchine Trust.
04/08/2022
“Rodeo: Four Dance Episodes” with Jennifer Lauren and Renan Cerdeiro. Choreography by Justin Peck. Photo by Jim Waterbury. .
Mark Morris’ “Silhouettes,” performed by Jared and Tyler Angle, with Susan Walters on the piano. . From our program notes:
“This is the first time Morris’s work will be performed at the Festival, as well as the first time it will ever be performed by active NYC Ballet dancers… Morris has allowed “Silhouettes,” which was made for dancers from the San Francisco Ballet, to be performed here by Festival director Tyler Angle and his brother Jared. He even coached the pair in the piece himself, an experience that Tyler described as “a dream.” Furthermore, the brothers, who are both NYCB principals, have not shared the stage like this in over a decade…
…It is set to the bright and intermittently hokey music of Richard Cu***ng, and on the surface it appears playful — borderline silly. But its intricate phrasing and byzantine patterns give it real heft. The two dancers in “Silhouettes” share one set of pj’s: Jared sports the blue silk top and Tyler the matching bottoms. Morris gets surprising mileage from this spare premise, proving all the while that two men can dance together, plainly, without competitive or romantic overtones. The message is doubly powerful here in that, in addition to sharing a set of jammies, these two dancers also share DNA.” -from our program notes written by Faye Arthurs, former NYCBallet dancer and contributing dance critic at .
01/08/2022
We were lucky to see two William Forsythe excerpts in our program: “In the Middle…,” and “Blakeworks III,” here performed by Boston Ballet’s Daniel Randall Durrett. Photo by .
“In 2020, Forsythe created “The Barre Project (Blake Works II),” a Zoom collaboration with Tiler Peck, Lex Ishimoto, Brooklyn Mack, and Roman Mejia. “Blake Works III (The Barre Project)” is a live-performance adaptation of that work for Boston Ballet…Even as these dancers prove they can do just about anything, the barre reminds us where it all came from.” -Jeffrey Gantz, Boston Globe.
01/08/2022
Lawrence Rines and Michaela DePrince, performed an exciting pas de deux from William Forsythe’s “In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated.” Photo by .
“Commissioned by Rudolf Nureyev and created for the Paris Opera Ballet in 1987, Forsythe’s “In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated” was hailed as a contemporary masterpiece when it premiered and has become Forsythe’s most famous ballet worldwide….
Why the title? Two golden cherries hanging “in the middle, somewhat elevated,” create a minimal reflection of the vast interior of the Palais Garnier, home of the Paris Opera Ballet.” -kcballet.org .
Excerpts from “Amorada Pas de Deux” with choreography by Ariel Rose, which closed out our program on an effervescent high. Danced by Miami City Ballet Principal Dancers Jennifer Lauren and Renan Cerdeiro. .
29/07/2022
Renan Cerdeiro and Jennifer Lauren, Miami City Ballet Principal Dancers, in Ariel Rose’s sunny “Amorada Pas de Deux.” Photo by Bill Hoenk. .
28/07/2022
Boston Ballet Soloist Lawrence Rines , and Second Soloist Daniel Randall Durrett , in the final pose of their duet in George Balanchine’s “Agon.” This was the first time we’ve presented an excerpt from this iconic 1957 ballet. Photo: Jim Waterbury. . Choreography © The George Balanchine Trust. .
in “Portrait”.
Piano: .
Choreography: .
Music: “Quiet Music”
27/07/2022
in ’s “Portrait.” We were so happy to have Michaela at the Festival for the first time, and see this stunning solo. Photo by .
The exquisite end of the Intermezzo from George Balanchine's "Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet."
This ballet was a real collab: Principal Dancers and beside Soloist and Corps de ballet members and . And NYCBallet Solo pianist played alongside , , and .
Choreography © The George Balanchine Trust.
25/07/2022
We loved “Nobody’s”! Danced by Ruby Lister and Miriam Miller, and choreographed Pam Tanowitz, it was our recently debuted world premiere commission. . Photo Jim Waterbury .
Thank you to our supporters for making it possible to create exciting new works that premiere on the island, and for supporting the .
24/07/2022
We can’t believe show #2 is done! Thank you to everyone who came to the performances, classes, lectures, and helped support the . And THANK YOU to this beautiful cast and crew who made magic on the stage.
21/07/2022
We’re gearing up for tonight’s dress rehearsal. First show is tomorrow! Rehearsal shots by Jim Waterbury .
Photos:
1,4 George Balanchine’s “Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet”
2 Mark Morris’ “Silhouettes”
3 George Balanchine’s “Agon”
Balanchine Choreography © The George Balanchine Trust
19/07/2022
Our talented cast of dancers onstage after morning class, and before rehearsing for this weekend’s performances. So exciting to see them hard at work!
17/07/2022
Artists — Nantucket Atheneum Dance Festival Learn more about the dancers, singers, musicians, and visual artists who are contributing to this year’s unique festival.
17/07/2022
Tutus have made it to Nantucket! Tomorrow the dancers and musicians arrive!
16/07/2022
We are excited for the 15th anniversary Dance Festival next week! Here is the earliest performance photo we’ve been able to find: the then 23-year-old ’s “Seven by 7,” a 2011 world premiere.
13/07/2022
We are excited to hear these strings again! Happy to have violinists Pala Garcia and Alexander Fortes, violist Christian Frederickson, and cellist John Patrick Popham back again to fill the high school with sound! Visit nantucketdancefest.org to see what they’ll be playing, read bios, and buy tickets to our performances. .
12/07/2022
Miriam Miller in Abdul Latif’s “My Full Measure,” one of last year’s world premiere commissions. See Miriam in this year’s world premiere piece by Pam Tanowitz. Photo: Jim Waterbury .
11/07/2022
ONE WEEK UNTIL OUR FIRST EVENT! Next Monday: author talk with Lynn Garafola on her new book “La Nijinska: Choreographer of the Modern,” the first biography of Bronislava Nijinska.
Pictured: as the “Finger” fairy in ’s “The Sleeping Beauty.” 📸
Nijinska “transformed the choreography” of this fairy’s variation for the 1921 Ballet Russes production, later writing that the variation “was considered quite unsuccessful at the Mariinsky in Petipa’s version. This dance I completely re-created as a variation on Petipa’s theme all in spiral movements of the hands and body… (Serge) Diaghilev and (Léon) Bakst were ecstatic over it… This variation is still performed… as part of Petipa’s choreography for the Sleeping Beauty, even though it was wholly created by me.”
10/07/2022
Eric Trope’s “Made of Wood” - a 2020 Digital Festival submission that premiered last year at our outdoor 2021 Festival. .
Pictured: principal dancers Alexander Peters , Renan Cerdeiro , and Tricia Albertson . Photo: Jim Waterbury .
10/07/2022
Beach and ballet is a good combo. 💯🩰⛱ These beachgoers were enticed from the sand to watch rehearsal at our (temporary) Children’s Beach stage last year. 📸 Jim Waterbury .
08/07/2022
to some of our Dance Festival posters from 2010-2019. We like seeing pictures of dancers all around the island!
06/07/2022
Don’t miss our free Lecture Demonstration led by Artistic Director Tyler Angle, at 4pm Thursday, July 21st. You’ll get insights into the choreography and music of this year’s repertory, and get to hear from our artists, too. Nantucket High School Auditorium.
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