By K.D. Norris
The Grand Rapids Ballet’s 2020-21 virtual season begins this week with the all-too-appropriately titled program Business as (un)usual — which includes a world premiere by Princess Grace Award winner and Beyoncé choreographer Darrell Grand Moultrie.
Moultrie, in fact, offered a telling observation of dance in the time of COVID-19 via a Nov. 2 commentary on an Instagram photo posted by the Ballet, one it which you see the choreographer leading a Zoom rehearsal with he remote and company dancer Adriana Wagenveld on stage.
“I love and hate this photo by Scott Rasmussen,” Moultrie writes. “I love the shot because it is beautiful but the empty seats hit me with the reality of the present state. This is hard. Hold on and hold each other tight. Keep laughing. Keep hope. Keep dreaming.”
Certainly the Grand Rapids Ballet is keeping hope and dreaming — and exploring new means of artistic expression — with its new season.
Starting this weekend, Nov. 13-15, with Business as (un)usual, available virtually either as part of a season subscription or, now, a single virtual program ticket, the Ballet will offer four programs including “a reimagined version of The Nutcracker,” produced in partnership with Grand Rapids own SALT Creative Production Studio.
The Nutcracker Experience will be available Dec. 18-27. In March 2021, Collective Force will be offered, and in April the program will be Jumpstart: on Film.
“I am proud to present a season unlike any other in our 49-year history,” James Sofranko, artistic director of the Grand Rapids Ballet, said in supplied material. “While we will miss the exhilaration of performing in a theater for a live audience, we are excited to present our art in a new way, delivered virtually to you in the comfort of your own home.”
While season subscriptions are no longer available, individual “tickets” are available for $15 for each show — and the ballet says they “kindly suggest you purchase one per person viewing.”
Each program is available to view as many times as desired for 72 hours from the time of online premiere. The Nutcracker Experience is the exception; it will be available to view as many times as desired Dec. 18-27.
The 2020-21 ballet season in brief
Business as (un)usual is a mix of new and existing works featuring the world premiere by Moultrie, a world premiere by Sofranko featuring a collaboration with violinist Gene Hahn, a world premiere by company dancer Yuka Oba-Muschiana, Christopher Stowell’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream pas de deux from the postponed 2019-20 season featuring the music of Felix Mendelssohn, works by resident choreographer Penny Saunders, and works by company dancers Gretchen Steimle and Matthew Wenckowski.
The Nutcracker Experience, a new version of the beloved holiday classic, has choreography by Val Caniparoli, with many of the “favorite on-stage moments, behind-the-scenes interviews and rehearsals” and musical accompaniment of Grand Rapids Symphony.
Collective Force will feature “the world’s most celebrated and in-demand choreographers” — Penny Saunders, Danielle Rowe, Adam Hougland, Jennifer Archibald, Amy Seiwert, Edwaard Liang, Katarzyna Skarpetowska, and Trey McIntyre — “contributing to a performance that will truly be an immersive tour de force.” In addition, Sofranko will present a new work featuring the music of Michigan-based cellist Jordan Hamilton.
Jumpstart: on Film will be choreographed by the dancers of Grand Rapids Ballet and offers an “innovative program (that) will also provide them the unique opportunity to explore a completely new layer of creativity and expression: filmmaking.
For more information on 2020-21 season at the Grand Rapids Ballet, visit grballet.com/2020-21-season/.
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