Boston Ballet's DREAMState Opens In March

Two audience favorites are highlighted by a world premiere in Boston Ballet’s DREAMstate which opens on March 17, 2022 at the Citizens Bank Opera House.

“From the heavenly dancing of Balanchine’s Chaconne to Kylián’s breathtakingly beautiful masterwork of art that is Bella Figura, and finally to the special world premiere of DEVIL’S/eye choreographed to the iconic music of The Rolling Stones, this program is a feast for eyes, ears, and soul. I can’t wait for audiences to experience such divine beauty and dynamic excitement.”

Mikko Nissinen

Artistic Director of Boston Ballet

George Balanchine’s Chaconne – with music composed by Christoph Willibald Gluck – is a work of pure ballet for 27 dancers that weaves together life, love, and transcendent movement.

A chaconne is a dance, built on a short phrase in the bass, that was often used by composers of the 17th and 18th centuries to end an opera in a festive mood. This choreography was first performed in the 1963 Hamburg State Opera production of Orfeo ed Euridice and was somewhat altered for presentation as the ballet Chaconne, particularly in the sections for the principal dancers.

Creative powerhouse Stephen Galloway creates a much-anticipated world premiere DEVIL’S/eye.

Set to the iconic music of The Rolling Stones, Galloway’s world premiere fuses his experience in both the dance and fashion industries. This ballet will feature The Rolling Stones’ “Midnight Rambler”, “Jumpin’ Jack Flash”, “Paint It Black”, “Wild Horses”, and “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking”.

Galloway is working with Boston Ballet’s Costume Shop to create fashion-forward costumes for DEVIL’S/eye. In addition to dance, Galloway has enjoyed a successful career in fashion and costume design, consulting for fashion powerhouses like Gucci and Calvin Klein, and designing award-winning costumes for ballet companies worldwide, including Kirov Ballet and American Ballet Theatre.

“Creating DEVIL’S/eye on Boston Ballet has been so rewarding. My goal was to make a ballet that’s both fun to dance and fun to look at—something that would have audiences dancing through the aisles—and I think we did that. It’s a ballet about joy, relationships… all of the things that we experience on a daily basis.
Above all, DEVIL’S/eye is a celebration of these incredible dancers. The artists of Boston Ballet fed me with so much inspiration throughout this process. I realize I’m working with some of the greatest dancers in the United States, and I can’t think of another Company I would trust to come along on this journey with me.
This is the first time these Rolling Stones songs have been set on a classical dance company using a classical dance vocabulary. You’re not used to hearing rock and roll in this context. DEVIL’S/eye invites audiences to experience these songs in a new way, and perhaps appreciate them even more. I hope this ballet is a bright and surprising addition to Boston Ballet’s repertoire,” Galloway said.

Boston Ballet's DREAMstate

Set for nine dancers, Jiří Kylián’s Bella Figura highlights the “expressive potential of the human body” while subverting the Baroque compositions that form its backdrop (The Boston Globe).

Bella Figura is set to a selection of Baroque music, including selections by Lukas Foss, Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Alessandro Marcello, Antonio Vivaldi, and Giuseppe Torelli. Kylián created the work in 1995, Boston Ballet was the first American company to present Bella Figura in 2011, and it was last performed by Boston Ballet in 2014.

DREAMstate Performance Schedule