Boston Ballet: Spring Experience

Visit the ballet performance calendar to view dates of all showings of this program.

World Premiere
Choreographer: Ken Ossola
BLAKE WORKS III (THE BARRE PROJECT)
Choreographer: William Forsythe
BELLA FIGURA
Choreographer: Jiří Kylián

◆ Boston Ballet

Next month, Boston Ballet closes their 2023-2024 season at Citizens Opera House with nine performances featuring a world premiere by Ken Ossola along with works by William Forsythe and Jiří Kylián.

“Our 60th season comes to a close with this powerhouse program with works by the world’s most in-demand choreographers today. We are so fortunate to work with William Forsythe and perform his groundbreaking works, and Jiří Kylián’s Bella Figura is simply a masterpiece that cannot be missed.

I am very excited to introduce a new choreographer to Boston Ballet audiences. We know Ken well from his work with us for Bella Figura for many years, and through Zoom In, his virtual piece created for us during the pandemic.”

– Mikko Nissinen, Artistic Director of Boston Ballet

In the choreographer’s own words, Ossola’s world premiere is inspired “from works of Michelangelo, the ‘non-finito’ sculptures such as the Prisoners, which could be felt as a perpetual feeling of incompleteness and emergence. His non-finito approach leaves an open door to the imagination in a poetic way for the viewer.”

Music for his piece is composed by Boston Ballet Music Director Mischa Santora and also includes electronics composed by Michael Cain.

The Swiss-born former Nederlands Dans Theater dancer also describes what it’s like working with Nissinen’s company:

“Working with the dancers is an emotional and enriching experience, as I try to dive deep into their own experiences in order to make my work more relatable to them. Their versatility allows me to pull them in different directions, inviting them to leave their comfort zone while honoring their background and who they are as individuals and part of a group.”

The second work on the triple-bill is Blake Works III (The Barre Project), a ballet choreographed by Forsythe for the company in 2022. The Barre part of the Blake series began during the COVID pandemic as a for-film project and has since expanded to incorporate new choreography created specifically for companies around the globe.

Closing Spring Mix is one of Kylián’s most recognized pieces – Bella Figura – is set to a medley of compositions by Lukas Foss, Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Alessandro Marcello, Antonio Vivaldi, and Giuseppe Torelli.

Featured photo for Boston Ballet’s Spring Mix program of Daniel Durrett in William Forsythe’s Blake Works III. Photo by Liza Voll; courtesy of Boston Ballet.