''The Seasons' Canon'' is a

contemporary ballet Contemporary ballet is a dance genre 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 a greater range of movement of the upper ...

choreographed by

Crystal Pite Crystal Pite (born December 15, 1970) is a Canadian Choreography (dance), choreographer and dancer. She began her professional dance career in 1988 at Ballet British Columbia, Ballet BC, and in 1996 she joined Ballett Frankfurt under the tutelag ...

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 Edinbu ...

'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 a ...

, and premiered in 24 September 2016 at the

Palais Garnier The (, Garnier Palace), also known as (, Garnier Opera), is a historic 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 1861 to 1875 at the ...

. 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 als ...

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. 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 (, ) is the scientific theory that the Earth's lithosphere comprises a number of large tectonic plates, which have been slowly moving since 3–4 billion years ago. The model builds on the concept of , an idea developed durin ...

. The ballet is performed by 54 dancers. The original cast includes '' étoiles'' Marie-Agnès Gillot, Ludmila Pagliero and Alice Renavand, 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 Concert dance, 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 stron ...

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 Balletare 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

Pacific Northwest Ballet Pacific Northwest Ballet (PNB) is an American ballet company based in Seattle, Washington. 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 dancers and hosts ...

debuted the ballet in November 2022.

Boston Ballet The Boston Ballet is an American professional classical ballet company based in Boston, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1963 by E. Virginia Williams and Sydney Leonard, and was the first professional repertory ballet company in New England. ...

debuted the ballet in October 2024.

Critical reception

Laura Capelle of ''

The Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

'' 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 dancer, choreographer and Theatre director, opera director who ran the Béjart Ballet Lausanne in Switzerland. He developed a popular expressionistic form of modern ballet, tac ...

. 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. He is considered one of the greatest contemporary dance choreographers in Czech history. Life Jiří Kylián was born in 1947 in Prague, Czecho ...

was an early influence, and this is still felt in a series of short duets. The aris Opera Balletresponded to the work with wholehearted commitment, and one hopes Pite will be back to build on this first collaboration." Roslyn Sulcas of ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', 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 ballets Ballets by Crystal Pite Ballets to the music of Antonio Vivaldi Ballets premiered at the Paris Opera Ballet