Choreographer Ashley Page Premieres Joffrey Work in ‘Bold Moves’

CHICAGO — After nearly three decades dancing and choreographing with the Royal Ballet in his native London, and another in Glasgow as the director of the Scottish Ballet, award-winning choreographer Ashley Page struck out on his own as a freelancer. After leaving the Scottish Ballet in 2012, Page now travels the globe creating contemporary ballets for some of the world’s most reputable companies; his latest project is a commission for Chicago’s Joffrey Ballet as part of its upcoming mixed bill: Bold Moves.

Page was approached by Joffrey’s Artistic Director Ashley Wheater  in 2012, while creating an abstract work for San Francisco Ballet called Guide to Strange Places (set to the John Adams score of the same name). The Brits trained together at the Royal Ballet School, but hadn’t seen much of each other since the 1970’s. “Ashley [Wheater] knew of my work and felt it would be a good ‘fit’ for me to create something new with his company,” said Page in an email interview. Four years later, the idea is becoming a reality as Page prepares a world-premiere for 12 dancers. The yet untitled work is an abstract ballet set to British composer Thomas Adès’ violin concerto, Concentric Paths. Page draws additional inspiration from Lars von Trier’s 2011 apocalyptic film Melancholia and his creative team: scenic/costume designer and long-time collaborator Jon Morrell and David Finn, whose lighting was the backbone of Guide to Strange Places.

Page refers to Adès’ music as the “primary investigator,” transforming its dark, dramatic tones into physical form. “It’s not easy to write so specifically about an abstract dance work that hasn’t been created yet,” he said, “but I want to stress that this will not be a narrative ballet… My task as choreographer is to try to harness this complex, often powerfully dark material and make it ‘visible’ to the audience.”

Christine Rocas and Rory Hohenstein in Forgotten Land. Photo by Herbert Migdoll
Christine Rocas and Rory Hohenstein in Forgotten Land. Photo by Herbert Migdoll

Also on the program is last season’s exquisite company premiere RAkU by San Francisco Ballet’s resident choreographer Yuri Possokhov, and a reprise of Jiří Kylián’s Forgotten Land, danced by Wheater when the company premiered it in 1985.

The Joffrey Ballet presents ‘Bold Moves’ Feb. 10 – 21 at The Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University (50 E. Congress Pkwy). Tickets are $32-155, available at Joffrey Tower (10 E. Randolph St), the Auditorium Theatre Box Office, all Ticketmaster Ticket Centers, by telephone at (800) 982-2787, or online at www.ticketmaster.com

Author: Lauren Warnecke

Lauren Warnecke is a freelance dance critic, contributing to the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Magazine. She is senior editor of See Chicago Dance. Lauren covers dance across the Midwest and writes regularly for Dance Magazine and Pointe with additional bylines in Milwaukee Magazine, St. Louis Magazine and Dance Teacher. Forthcoming publications include essays on ballet training in Chicago (University of Illinois Press) and Shirley Mordine (University of Akron Press). In 2020, Lauren published an opinion piece on the impact of COVID-19 on the arts in the South African journal Agenda. Lauren holds degrees in dance and kinesiology and has presented research on dance training practices at the National Dance Education Organization and the International Association for Dance Medicine and Science. She has co-facilitated critical dance writing intensives in Chicago and Durban, South Africa, and participated in writing residencies at the National Center for Choreography, Bates Dance Festival and JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Experience. Lauren teaches dance history and kinesiology for dancers, with part-time appointments at Loyola University Chicago and Illinois Wesleyan University.

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