The captivating convergence of contemporary ballet and music

How are music and movement linked in contemporary ballet? Music can be composed for dance moves, dance can be created for music, and sometimes they are created independently – coming together on stage. Susan Lewis of WRTI has more.

radioscript:

Suzanne Lewis: Choreographer Kevin O’Day says his longtime collaboration with composer John King has allowed for a great deal of independence in their work. Often the movements are not set to music, as in traditional dancing, but are timed to coincide periodically.

Kevin O’Day: There is a duration from beginning to end, and meeting points.

SL: Their work for BalletX’s Spring 2016 series – called Time curves — is a contemporary ballet with original live music, performed by a cellist on stage, with additional electronic elements.

K.O.D.: There will be a segment of this particular piece that will last six minutes, and there will be meeting points every minute. There is a fixed line that the cellist plays every minute, but between the two it’s very free.

SL: A freedom that gives rise to fortuitous moments — perhaps a musical accent coinciding with a sudden movement of a dancer. The heightened awareness between musicians and dancers is also changing the audience experience.

KO: Leaving independence and space between sound and movement also allows for the possibility of independence between performer and viewer and this space for them to meet and feel something that might be theirs alone.

SL: O’Day is artistic director of Kevin O’DayBallettNationaltheaterManheim in Germany. He created dozens of ballets with John King, whose works also include operas, chamber music and songs.