In an interview available on the New York City Ballet’s YouTube channel, Wheeldon paraphrases George Balanchine in the course of describing his own creative processes: “make no fuss, just make a ballet. Don’t worry about it too much as you’re doing it, but just make dance, and get better because you make a lot of dance”. He continues, with an equally nonchalant flair, “we’ve got three weeks, let’s make a ballet”. With so little time, one can presume that the choreography develops in a way which emphasises the dancers’ own strengths, particularly as they wouldn’t have much time to fine tune their interpretations working under such hectic conditions. As a result, Wheeldon’s repetitor, Jason Fowler, a former NYCB dancer, is left with the challenge of reproducing works that emerged quite instinctively and spontaneously.

– LUKE AARON FORBES

Excerpt of an article published by Dance Europe, Issue 198, August/Septmeber 2015. Purchase the entire issue here: http://www.danceeurope.net/store/issue-198