Works

Landmark Works, Examined

Deep dives into individual contemporary ballet works — their origins, what makes them distinct, and how they've shaped the repertory since.

An ensemble of dancers in grounded, weighted formation, illustrative of Awáa

Awáa

Aszure Barton, 2012 — the body as origin and vessel

An ensemble work built around the many cross-cultural words for 'mother,' exploring motherhood and womanhood through visceral, weighted movement and live voice.

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Dancers in dramatic dark lighting, illustrative of Betroffenheit

Betroffenheit

Crystal Pite & Jonathon Young, 2015 — grief staged as a haunted vaudeville

A dance-theatre work built from actor Jonathon Young's own experience of loss, co-created with choreographer Crystal Pite.

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A dancer on pointe in a clean, melodic line, illustrative of Blake Works I

Blake Works I

William Forsythe, 2016 — deconstruction, resolved into song

William Forsythe returns to melodic, pointe-driven ballet vocabulary, setting songs by musician James Blake for the Paris Opera Ballet.

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Dancers moving with eyes closed among scattered chairs, illustrative of Café Müller

Café Müller

Pina Bausch, 1978 — a stage of chairs, eyes closed against memory

Pina Bausch's own semi-autobiographical piece, danced with eyes closed through a stage cluttered with chairs, later made famous worldwide by a film excerpt.

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A dancer in an extreme, off-balance extension, illustrative of In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated

In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated

William Forsythe, 1987 — ballet vocabulary pushed to its outer edge

Forsythe's 1987 work for the Paris Opera Ballet became the most widely performed piece of contemporary ballet repertory in the world.

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Dancers in loose, grounded postures on a bare stage, illustrative of Pavement

Pavement

Kyle Abraham, 2012 — a neighborhood remembered in movement

Kyle Abraham weaves John Singleton's Boyz n the Hood and W.E.B. Du Bois's sociology of Black Philadelphia into a meditation on his own Pittsburgh neighborhood.

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An ensemble of dancers in crisp, musically phrased formation, illustrative of Pictures at an Exhibition

Pictures at an Exhibition

Alexei Ratmansky, 2014 — a gallery walk translated into steps

Alexei Ratmansky's abstract, wittily musical response to Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, made for New York City Ballet.

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Dancers moving under harsh stage lighting with a raised band platform behind them, illustrative of Political Mother

Political Mother

Hofesh Shechter, 2010 — history's violence played at full volume

A large-scale, deafeningly loud work for a stage packed with dancers, electric guitarists, and drummers, staring directly at authoritarianism and political violence.

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Dancers moving before a tall white wall on a bare stage, illustrative of Sadeh21

Sadeh21

Ohad Naharin, 2011 — twenty-one fields, one continuous body

Ohad Naharin builds Batsheva Dance Company's Sadeh21 from 21 sequential 'fields,' performed on a bare stage dominated by a tall white wall dancers fall from and into.

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A dancer partnered closely with another representing an instrument, illustrative of The Cellist

The Cellist

Cathy Marston, 2020 — a life, and an instrument, danced as one

Cathy Marston's narrative ballet on cellist Jacqueline du Pré, danced with a partner embodying her cello as a living, physical presence.

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Dancers in sneakers moving in a bright, energetic group formation, illustrative of The Times Are Racing

The Times Are Racing

Justin Peck, 2017 — ballet unlaced from pointe shoes

Justin Peck's high-energy ensemble piece, danced largely in sneakers rather than pointe shoes, became known for its socially engaged tone and a landmark same-sex principal pairing.

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Two dancers in an intimate, close embrace, illustrative of This Bitter Earth

This Bitter Earth

Christopher Wheeldon, 2012 — a duet built for one dancer's second act

A duet made for New York City Ballet's Wendy Whelan, set to Max Richter's mashup of his own score with Dinah Washington's voice, that became a defining contemporary pas de deux of its decade.

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A dancer in fluid, contemporary lines against abstract light, illustrative of Woolf Works

Woolf Works

Wayne McGregor, 2015 — three novels, one dancer's return to the stage

Wayne McGregor's three-act meditation on Virginia Woolf's novels and life, made with Alessandra Ferri's return to The Royal Ballet.

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A solo dancer in a dust-lit, war-torn setting, illustrative of Xenos

Xenos

Akram Khan, 2018 — a soldier's memory, danced as farewell

Announced as Akram Khan's final full-length solo as a dancer, Xenos follows a colonial Indian soldier's unraveling memory in the trenches of WWI.

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Two dancers in close, mirrored contact on a bare stage, illustrative of zero degrees

zero degrees

Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui & Akram Khan, 2005 — two bodies, one border

A duet co-choreographed and danced by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Akram Khan themselves, built around a life-cast figure standing in for a dead body.

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