Universal Ballet

In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated

Universal Ballet Premiere LG Arts Center on October 18, 2008
Choreography William Forsythe
Music Thom Willems in collaboration with Leslie Stuck
Staging Agnès Noltenius
Set Design William Forsythe
Costume Design William Forsythe
Lighting Design William Forsythe
Running Time 26 minutes

A new movement vocabulary with bold, brash rhythmic movements, executed with great technical finesse.

​In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated, created for the Pairs Opera Ballet in 1987, is perhaps William Forsythe’s most widely performed work, found in the repertory of the Royal Ballet, the Kirov Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Houston Ballet and many other companies. This tone of this groundbreaking work is set by the strong, mechanical driving beat of Thom Willems’ distinctive score. The movements of the nine dancers, sleekly attired in teal unitards, part of a new movement vocabulary created by William Forsythe, break with traditional ballet conventions, and feature flexed feet, angular arm movements, and bold brash rhythmic movements executed with great technical finesse. The structure of the piece also breaks with ballet tradition, as the dancers portray not so much individual characters, relating to each other as port of an identifiable story, but rather individual elements of energy and movement, relating to each other inasmuch as their movements are prescribed to orbit within the same time and space frame.

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