Festival Ballet Providence’s popular series, Up Close on Hope, returns with an exciting new program February 11-20, 2022 at the company’s famed Black Box Theater, 825 Hope Street, in East Providence. This innovative series offers audiences a unique perspective on dance – a visual feast of movement, athleticism and creativity. The show features two world premieres as well as classic and contemporary works. Click on here for more information and tickets.
Kathleen Breen Combes, Director of FBP, said: “We are delighted to re-open our Black Box theatre, where audiences experience a sense of closeness that you don’t get in a larger venue. She continued, “We are especially thrilled to present new work from bold and innovative choreographers, continuing a season that featured daring works from our most diverse range of choreographic voices.”
Ja’ Malik is the founder of Harlem-based Ballet Boy Productions @balletboyproductions, an arts organization he started in response to the growing death toll of young black men in America. His new neo-classical piece will feature three couples and a soloist, and will be set to contemporary music by Peter Greyson and Max Richter.
Paulo Arrais, principal dancer with Boston Ballet, is the recipient of numerous awards, including a New York Choreographic Institute award, and named one of El Mundo’s “30 under 30”. Arrais’s piece, a fluid pas de deux between genres to an excerpt from Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lane, will feature same-sex couples in some castings. The new work is based on a digital piece he created during the pandemic for Boston Ballet.
The program also includes classic selections, including the iconic Pas de Quatre, a classic pillar for four women, showcasing technique, virtuosity and grace. Also included is a revival of Returning Points by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, one of the acclaimed choreographer’s contemporary masterpieces which was performed by FBP in its Fall 2021 program. This intimate space will offer audiences a new preview of this internationally renowned piece.
All performances require the audience to wear a mask, proof of the Covid vaccine or proof of a negative Covid test. A special reduced capacity show will be presented on February 18, accommodating groups of up to 4 with a reduced capacity of 40 people in total.
