Madison Ballet puts a contemporary spin on a century-old favorite this fall.
2024 marks 100 years since George Gershwin produced his beloved Rhapsody in Blue. To celebrate the milestone, Madison Ballet artistic director Ja’ Malik choreographed a short ballet set to the composition, to be performed in the season opener, Sept. 27-29 in the MYArts Starlight Theater.
“I thought it was fitting that we’re celebrating 100 years of this beautiful score at a point where Madison Ballet is moving into its future,” Ja’ Malik tells Isthmus. “So it struck me as a great way to tie in where we’re going with the company and where the legacy of this piece of music lives.”
It’s Ja’ Malik’s third season as executive producer and artistic director of Madison Ballet. The ballet’s new season is titled “Momentum,” which Ja’ Malik says reflects the distance the company has come and how Madison Ballet is now coming into its own by growing its staff and putting on more productions each season.
“Over the past two and a half years, we’ve become something that the Madison community as a whole can enjoy and feel proud of,” Ja’ Malik says. “We’re going to use that momentum to keep building and become better and better.”
The company is welcoming two new artists for its upcoming season, and, Ja’ Malik says, enrollment at the School of Madison Ballet has also grown over the past few years.
Ja’ Malik says he wanted to highlight Rhapsody in Blue because of its popularity, which may help audience members feel connected to the production, even if they don’t know much about ballet.
“Everyone loves Rhapsody in Blue,” he says. “You hear that opening clarinet and everyone knows it. The audience may not know what’s going on movement-wise, but when you’re familiar with the music, that can draw you in.”
Four pieces will follow the Gershwin: “Fragments of Hope,” also choreographed by Ja’ Malik; “In Grief” by Yusha-Marie Sorzano, who is an Alvin Ailey company alumna; “Something to Remember You By” by Stephanie Martinez; and a new piece to be choreographed by the School of Madison Ballet principal and teaching director, Richard Walters.
“In this program you’re going to get a taste of everything. You’ll see contemporary ballet, you’ll see classical ballet, you’ll see more modern ballet,” Ja’ Malik says. “You’ll see some live music, you’ll see some recorded music. It really shows the breadth of what Madison Ballet can do.”
The rest of Madison Ballet’s season includes its annual performance of The Nutcracker at the Overture Center, a group of dances set to Mozart pieces, a collaboration with the Wisconsin Symphony Orchestra, and a one-act production of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, choreographed by Ja’ Malik.
Ja’ Malik says the improvements within the company will impress audience members this season.
“There are truly high class professional dancers on stage really showcasing their talents, their skills, their ambitions, their desires,” he says. “I see a pride in them that they really belong to Madison Ballet.”
