WHEN:
March 07–08, 2026
WHERE:
Auditorium Theatre
50 East Ida B. Wells Drive
Chicago, IL 60605
We begin where every ballet dancer’s day begins— at the barre. In The Barre Project, Blake Works II however, the barre seems more like an energizing launch pad. Tiler Peck — sometimes in black, sometimes in red, and always in flat shoes—fast dances with three men. From barre to stage front and back, their limbs sometimes seem to be activating the electro-soul sounds of James Blake’s music, and not the other way around. Then, as if they are now fully charged with barre energy— in solo moves, ensemble or grouplets—they dance stage forward and then back as if recharging.
Electric!— this Tiler Peck choreographed opener announces that Turn it Out is all about virtuosic skill in dance.
When the curtain opens on the frozen pastel-clad six-dance ensemble performing Thousandth Orange an audible gasp fills the hall. The dancers are in a connected ball-like ensemble with each dancer in a delicate pose.
Beside them on the stage is the Bergamot Quartet. This is classic ballet where the ballerinas in toe shoes— and especially Mira Nadon— seem to float in a gravity-free dimension. Exquisite! The finale is a bookend of the dancers returning to their ensemble of frozen poses. You too may find yourself especially admiring how the soft-hued costumes (Harriet Jung and Reid Bartelme) add to the feeling of Thousandth Orange’s delicacy.
Choreographer Alonzo King’s piece, Swift Arrow, was created specifically for Tiler Peck, who asked for a slower work where she could feel the music. We can see the metaphor at the center of this work— a bow that becomes itself only when it has its arrow, and vice versa. This pas-de-deux showcases not only Tiler Peck’s dance prowess, but also that of her partner Roman Mejia. Here too the dancers share the stage with the musician—here, jazz pianist Sequoia Snyder.
Dancers Unleashed in New York City Center Commission TIME SPELL
After an intermission and before the curtain rises, we hear the rhythmic beats of Michelle Dorrance’s feet summoning us into Time Spell. Two vocalists— whom we often get confused as to whether they are on a reverb clone or not— animate the dance propelling it from tap to ballet to hiphop with lots of in-betweens.
For any one who has, like this writer, sometimes experienced the cringeworthy interruption of clunking toe shoes seeming to break the reverie of a graceful ballet, Time Spell is the antidote you have always craved. Here, Tiler Peck on pointe hops on to Michelle Dorrance’s tap board peck pecking a rhythm of her own. It’s as though Dorrance is doing a quick two-thumbed text and Peck is giving quick point-finger texts in responses. India Bradley, also on pointe, wields her preternaturally long legs like scaffolding supporting her body in improv. The singers are in scat mode and she is too.
Enter street-style from Jillian Meyers and we see the same Lex Ishimoto who shined in the opener at the barre, go totally hip hop, spicing the fun with those one-armed twirls you expect to see in a roped off corner of Times Square.
We can imagine that the dancers have rehearsed this work to the perfection we see, yet it feels totally spontaneous.
Time Spell is an apt finale where the performers shout with their bodies— We love the beat, We love the music, We love dance! It shows.
Expect to leave City Center feeling uplifted.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
CAST:
India Bradley, Chun Wai Chan, Michelle Dorrance, Lex Ishimoto, Roman Mejia, Mira Nadon, and more
THE PROGRAM
The Barre Project, Blake Works II
Choreography WILLIAM FORSYTHE
Music JAMES BLAKE
Production Design WILLIAM FORSYTHE
Costume Design WILLIAM FORSYTHE, TILER PECK,
HARRIET JUNG & REID BARTELME
Lighting Design BRANDON STIRLING BAKER
Digital World Premiere
March 25, 2021
By CLI Studios at: clistudios.com
Live World Premiere
March 4, 2022
New York City Center
New York, NY
Dancers
JEFFREY CIRIO LEX ISHIMOTO
ROMAN MEJIA TILER PECK
Thousandth Orange
Choreography TILER PECK
Music CAROLINE SHAW
Costume Design HARRIET JUNG & REID BARTELME
Lighting Design BRANDON STIRLING BAKER
Premiere
August 5, 2019
Vail Dance Festival
Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater
Vail, CO
Dancers
INDIA BRADLEY CHUN WAI CHAN
CHRISTOPHER GRANT MIRA NADON
QUINN STARNER RYAN TOMASH
Musicians
BERGAMOT QUARTET
LEDAH FINCK, Violin (Oct 16 & Oct 17)
SARAH THOMAS, Violin (Oct 18 & Oct 19)
MARTINE KINSELLA THOMAS, Viola
IRENE HAN, Cello
BARON FENWICK, Piano
Swift Arrow
Choreography ALONZO KING
Music JASON MORAN
Costume Design ROBERT ROSENWASSER
Original Lighting Design AJ GUBAN
Premiere
May 1, 2021
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Washington, DC
Dancers
TILER PECK ROMAN MEJIA
Musician
SEQUOIA SNYDER, Piano
Om is the bow, the arrow is the individual being, and Brahman is the target.
With a tranquil heart, take aim.
Lose thyself in Him, even as the arrow is lost in the target.
Time Spell
subdivisions of time and space, and intersections of isolation and
community, longing and joy
Choreography MICHELLE DORRANCE, JILLIAN MEYERS, and TILER PECK
in collaboration with and improvisation by the dancers
Associate Choreographer BYRON TITTLE
Music AARON MARCELLUS and PENELOPE WENDTLANDT
Costume Styling AMY PAGE
Lighting Design BRANDON STIRLING BAKER
Sound Design CHRISTOPHER MARC
Premiere
March 4, 2022
New York City Center
New York, NY
Dancers
INDIA BRADLEY CHUN WAI CHAN MICHELLE DORRANCE
CHRISTOPHER GRANT LEX ISHIMOTO ROMAN MEJIA JILLIAN MEYERS
MIRA NADON TILER PECK QUINN STARNER BYRON TITTLE
Musicians
AARON MARCELLUS PENELOPE WENDTLANDT
Find more Picture This Post dance reviews in the latest roundup — CHOREOGRAPHERS WE LOVE. Also, watch a short preview video here —
Images courtesy of New York City Center
