The Boston Ballet is back, the company opened the 2023-2024 season on Thursday October 5 with the Fall Experience. The program consists of four ballets including the world premiere of Form and Gesture choregraphed by Boston Ballet’s very own My’Kal Stromile.
Form and Gesture was segmented into four thought provoking “exhibits”.
In ‘Exhibit A’ there was a feeling of mystery and whimsy. The backlighting gave the audience the allusion that the dancers could be shadows dancing across the stage.
The transition to ‘Exhibit B’ grips the audience’s attention with the sharp opposition in lighting. Dancers are illuminated with bright front lighting and spot lights. There are moments where a single dancer stands in the spotlight against a black abyss, an eerily beautiful reminder that in the darkest moments music and beauty prevail.
Then ‘Exhibit C’ makes use of filtered screens and reflective costumes, challenging the audience to think about how the same experience can be viewed very differently depending on the lens one looks through. It important to be conscious of the lens’ we view life through and sometimes in order to understand people we must consider the their lens’.
The final segment, ‘Exhibit D’ was energetic, using expressive, bold movement to tie the whole performance together. When asked about Form and Gesture, Stromile said, “My goal as a choreographer is to use movement to tell stories, express emotions that are beyond words, and to create moments of beauty and transcendence that stay with the audience long after the curtain has fallen.”
And achieve that goal he did! Bostonians can see the world premiere run of Form and Gesture through October 15, an opportunity to be one of the first to see a special debut that is destined to captivate audiences everywhere.
Form and Gesture is the third of four ballets that makes up the Boston Ballet season opening program: Fall Experience. Attendees will also see Bach Cello Suites, back on the Boston stage for the first time since 2018 followed by Trois Gnossiennes. Then the program concludes with Vertical Road (Reimagined), performed for the first time by an American company. The Boston Ballet’s Fall Experience is a wonderfully curated, emotionally cathartic experience that audiences will not want to miss. Get tickets to the Fall Experience and explore more upcoming ballets here.