The guts and glory of staging a ballet

"To name a few: costs, costumes, casting, choreographic choices, music selection and rights, lighting and venue possibilities and then, that scary toss of the dice. Will the audience love it? As part of its Destination Innovation season, City Ballet of San Diego will present 'Rhapsody in Blue' at two venues this month, one of its most ambitious concerts yet."

"City Ballet rightfully guessed that the familiar music that Gershwin described in his biography as a 'musical kaleidoscope of America' would be advantageous in introducing a contemporary ballet, which can be a hard sell when it comes to devoted balletomanes. The audience response was enthusiastically positive, and for Gonzalez, creating a movement language to Gershwin's masterpiece was fun to film."

"I thought, 'This is scrambled eggs,' Gonzalez recalled. 'There were so many sounds and themes. I tried to put a move or a dynamic to every note. But now, I'm taking a step back.' A recent trip to New York inspired the revised version of 'Rhapsody in Blue.'"

Staging a ballet performance requires months of preparation involving numerous considerations including costs, costumes, casting, choreography, music rights, lighting, and venue selection. City Ballet of San Diego's 'Rhapsody in Blue' represents one of its most ambitious projects, featuring works by Tony Award-winning choreographer Christopher Wheeldon and internationally renowned dancemaker Annabelle Lopez Ochoa. Resident choreographer Geoff Gonzalez is reworking the contemporary ballet, originally created as a dance film during the pandemic and performed on stage in 2022. The production pairs contemporary dance with Gershwin's famous orchestral jazz score, which the composer described as a 'musical kaleidoscope of America.' Gonzalez initially attempted to choreograph movements for every musical note, but has since revised his approach after a recent New York trip inspired a new direction for the piece.

Read at San Diego Union-Tribune