Galantheae

Ballet West

GALANTHEAE

WORLD PREMIERE

Choreography: Sophie Laplane
Music: Frederic Chopin / Ernst Reijseger
Music arrangement: Lucy Allan
Costume Design: Jason Hadley
Lighting Design: Joseph R. Walls

World Premiere: May 11, 2022, Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, Salt Lake City, Utah

Galantheae is an abstract piece that draws on the imagery of the Galanthus flower also know as the snowdrop to honour the strength and resilience of dancers. These small, seemingly delicate, elegant flowers have sharp, steely tips enabling them to burrow through the frozen earth to blossom, the first flowers to signal the end of harsh winter. This is a determined, resolute plant, as described in the Ted Hughes poem which was an inspiration for this work. The snowdrop embodies the duality of strength/elegance which is at the heart of dance. Visually, the white tutus of the piece evoke the bell of the snowdrops; the music of Chopin and Reijseger contrast to echo the same duality. Finally, in the classification of plants, the genre Galantheae is inspiringly known as a “tribe.”
-Sophie Laplane

Nocturne in C Sharp Minor, by Frédéric Chopin. Performed by Ólafur Arnalds, Alice Sara Ott; Tell Me Everything, by Ernst Reijseger. Performed by Ernst Reijseger; Crystal Palace XXVI and XXVIII, by Ernst Reijseger. Performed by Ernst Reijseger; 8x3 4 T, by Ernst Reijseger. Performed by Ernst Reijseger, Larissa Groeneveld, and Frank Van de Laar; Les Sylphides: 1. Prelude in A major, by Frédéric Chopin. Performed by Berliner Philharmoniker; Nocturne in F Minor, Op. 55 No. 1, by Frédéric Chopin, performed by Axel Salmona and Maxime Leschiera; Etude Op. 25 no. 12 in C minor, by Frédéric Chopin. Performed by Valentina Lisitsa

Emily Adams, Katlyn Addison, Lillian Casscells, Nicole Fanney, Olivia Gusti, Jenna Rae Herrera, Chelsea Keefer, Amy Potter, Anisa Sinteral, Beckanne Sisk, Victoria Vassos, Kristina Weimer, Claire Wilson, Dominic Ballard, Beau Chesivoir, Hadriel Diniz, Robert Fowler, Adrian Fry, David Huffmire, Vinicius Lima, Chase O’Connell, Joshua Shutkind, Rex Tilton, Jordan Veit, Joshua Whitehead

Snow Fall
Beckanne Sisk

Duet #1
Emily Adams, Hadriel Diniz

Underground
Duet
Amy Potter, Jordan Veit

Solo #1
Olivia Gusti

Solo #2
Jenna Rae Herrera

Duets
Emily Adams, Adrian Fry
Amy Potter, Jordan Veit

Double Duets
Chelsea Keefer, Amy Potter, David Huffmire, Jordan Veit

Trios
Jenna Rae Herrera, David Huffmire, Jordan Veit
Emily Adams, Adrian Fry, Rex Tilton

Ensemble
Entire Cast

Male Duet
David Huffmire, Vinicius Lima

Snowdrops
Beckanne Sisk and Artists of Ballet West

Duet #2
Nicole Fanney, Beau Chesivoir

Etudes
Artists of Ballet West

Duet Ladies
Chelsea Keefer, Amy Potter

Finale
Jenna Rae Herrera and Beau Chesivoir with Entire Cast

Galantheae is a tribe of plants belonging to the subfamily Amaryllidoideae of the Amaryllis family (Amaryllidaceae).