New York City Ballet’s resident choreographer expands on “Rodeo” to make an evening-length work set to some of Aaron Copland’s most popular music.
In his ambitious Copland Dance Episodes, Peck has merged four of Copland’s works to create an evening-length ballet that opens with the brief, galvanizing “Fanfare for the Common Man” and a kaleidoscopic painted drop by the visual artist Jeffrey Gibson, whose inspiration comes from his Choctaw and Cherokee heritage. A phrase runs down either side: “The only way out is through.”
The drop raises like a curtain to reveal dancers, frozen in place and covered in white tulle like dusty mannequins in storage. When the fabric is removed, they light the stage with flashes of color: Each sports a different one on the top and the bottom. The costumes by Ellen Warren — it’s all very vintage Capezio — echo the colors in Gibson’s palette. Brandon Stirling Baker’s wonderful lighting makes everything glow.
