''The Seasons' Canon'' is a

contemporary ballet Contemporary ballet is a genre of dance that incorporates elements of classical ballet and modern dance. It employs classical ballet technique and in many cases classical pointe technique as well, but allows greater range of movement of the u ...

choreographed by

Crystal Pite Crystal Pite (born December 15, 1970) is a Canadian choreographer and dancer. She began her professional dance career in 1988 at Ballet BC, and in 1996 she joined Ballett Frankfurt under the tutelage of William Forsythe. After leaving Ballett ...

Max Richter Max Richter (; ; born 22 March 1966) is a German-born British composer and pianist. He works within postminimalist and contemporary classical styles. Richter is classically trained, having graduated in composition from the University of Edinbur ...

's recomposition of Vivaldi's '' The Four Seasons''. The ballet is Pite's first work made for the

Paris Opera Ballet The Paris Opera Ballet () is a French ballet company that is an integral part of the Paris Opera. It is the oldest national ballet company, and many European and international ballet companies can trace their origins to it. It is still regarded ...

, and premiered in 24 September 2016 at the

Palais Garnier The Palais Garnier (, Garnier Palace), also known as Opéra Garnier (, Garnier Opera), is a 1,979-seatBeauvert 1996, p. 102. opera house at the Place de l'Opéra in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, France. It was built for the Paris Opera from ...

. Pite won the

Prix Benois de la Danse The Benois de la Danse is a ballet competition held annually in Moscow. Founded by the International Dance Association in 1991, it takes place each year on or around April 29 and it's judged by a jury. The members of this jury change every year and ...

for Best Choreographer.

Production

Canadian choreographer

was invited by artistic director

Benjamin Millepied Benjamin Millepied (; born 10 June 1977) is a French dancer and choreographer, who has lived and worked in the United States since joining the New York City Ballet in 1995, where he became a soloist in 1998 and a principal in 2002. He has also ...

to create the ballet for the company's opening gala for the season, though he resigned months before the premiere and was succeeded by

Aurélie Dupont Aurélie Dupont (born 15 January 1973 in Paris) is a French ballet dancer who performed with the Paris Opera Ballet as an '' Étoile''. She began her career in dance in 1983 when she entered the Paris Opera Ballet School (''L’École de danse de ...

. At the time, Pite was already an established choreographer, though she was largely unknown in France. ''The Seasons' Canon'' is set to

's recomposition of Vivaldi's '' The Four Seasons''. The choreography is inspired by the movements of

tectonic plates Plate tectonics (from the la, label=Late Latin, tectonicus, from the grc, τεκτονικός, lit=pertaining to building) is the generally accepted scientific theory that considers the Earth's lithosphere to comprise a number of large te ...

. The ballet is performed by 54 dancers. The original cast includes '' étoiles''

Marie-Agnès Gillot Marie-Agnès Gillot (born in 1975) is a French ballet dancer and choreographer. She danced with the Paris Opera Ballet as an ''étoiles''. She is also POB's first in-house female dancer to choreograph for the company. Early life Gillot was born i ...

Ludmila Pagliero Ludmila Pagliero (born 15 October 1983) is an Argentinian ballet dancer. Since 2003, she dances with the Paris Opera Ballet, where she is a '' danseuse étoile'' (the highest rank of the Paris Opera Ballet) since 2012. Early life Pagliero was b ...

and

Alice Renavand Alice Renavand is a French ballet dancer. After joining the Paris Opera Ballet in 1997, she became a principal in 2012 and a star (''danseuse étoile'') in December 2013. Shortly afterwards, she was described as having "''la beauté du diable''" ...

, as well as several ''premier danseurs''. Despite casting some dancers from the higher ranks, she noted, "They have featured roles, but it was important to me that they were women into the community as well." Pite was only given four weeks to work on the choreography, which she described as "a sprint." Pite regards herself as a

contemporary dance Contemporary dance is a genre of dance performance that developed during the mid-twentieth century and has since grown to become one of the dominant genres for formally trained dancers throughout the world, with particularly strong popularity in ...

choreographer, and found it difficult to fit into ballet when she was a dancer. However, she enjoyed working with classical ballet dancers because "the kind of architecture they have in their bodies is so ecstatic and beautiful." She added, "The dancers at

aris Opera Ballet Aris or ARIS may refer to: People * Aris (surname) Given name * Aris Alexandrou, Greek writer * Aris Brimanis, ice hockey player * Aris Christofellis, Greek male soprano * Aris Gavelas, Greek sprinter * Aris Howard, Former President of the Jam ...

are amazing, but they have a very different skill set and vocabulary. It stretches me to find a way to deliver their excellence while still staying true to the values that I hold as a choreographer." She described the dancers as "open, willing, generous, patient and delightfully hungry." The costumes were designed by Nancy Bryant, with khaki green trousers, the men bare-chested and the women in sheer tops. The dancers' throats are painted blue-green. The set and lighting were designed by Jay Gower Taylor and Tom Visser respectively.

Performances

''The Seasons' Canon'' premiered in 24 September 2016 at the

. The

Pacific Northwest Ballet Pacific Northwest Ballet (PNB) is a ballet company based in Seattle, Washington, in the United States. It is said to have the highest per capita attendance in the United States, with 11,000 subscribers in 2004. The company consists of 49 dan ...

is set to perform the ballet in November 2022.

Critical reception

Laura Capelle of ''

The Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nikk ...

'' gave ''The Seasons' Canon'' five stars. She commented, "The sculptural tableaux and mass effects are far from today's pas de deux-centric work and practically a throwback to

Maurice Béjart Maurice Béjart (; 1 January 1927 – 22 November 2007) was a French-born dancer, choreographer and opera director who ran the Béjart Ballet Lausanne in Switzerland. He developed a popular expressionistic form of modern ballet, talking vast th ...

. Their musicality and grounded articulation demonstrate Pite's craft;

Jiří Kylián Jiří Kylián (born 21 March 1947) is a Czech former dancer and contemporary dance choreographer. Life Jiří Kylián was born in 1947 in Prague, Czechoslovakia, to his father Václav who was a banker and to his mother Markéta, who was as a ...

was an early influence, and this is still felt in a series of short duets. The

responded to the work with wholehearted commitment, and one hopes Pite will be back to build on this first collaboration."

Roslyn Sulcas Roslyn Sulcas is a dance critic and culture writer for ''The New York Times''. She was raised in Cape Town, South Africa, and studied English literature at university, receiving post-graduate degrees from the University of Cape Town and Paris VII ( ...

of ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', wrote that "Pite has created massed blocks of movement that focus on large-scale patterning to often thrilling effect," but "the piece feels all about effect." For her work on ''The Seasons' Canon'', Pite won the

for Best Choreographer.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seasons' Canon, The 2016 ballet premieres Ballets by Crystal Pite Ballets to the music of Antonio Vivaldi Ballets premiered at the Paris Opera Ballet