Photos:

1: American Ballet Theatre performing Her Notes. The New York Times, Photo by Andrea Mohin.

2, 5, 6, 9: Scene from Her Notes. Photo by Rosalie O'Connor, courtesy of American Ballet Theatre

3: Stella Abrera and James Whiteside in Her Notes. Photo by Rosalie O'Connor, courtesy of American Ballet Theatre

4: Misty Copeland in Her Notes. Photo by Rosalie O'Connor, courtesy of American Ballet Theatre

7: Devon Teuscher and Stephanie Williams in Her Notes. Photo by Rosalie O'Connor, courtesy of American Ballet Theatre

8: Gillian Murphy and Marcelo Gomes in Her Notes. Photo by Rosalie O'Connor, courtesy of American Ballet Theatre

Her Notes

Choreography: Jessica Lang

Music: Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel

Set Design: Jessica Lang

Costume Design: Bradon McDonald

Lighting Design: Nicole Pearce

Rehearsal Assistants: Clifton Brown, Christopher Vo

Length: 20 minutes

Number of Dancers: 10

Originally commissioned and premiered by American Ballet Theatre

World Premiere October 21, 2016 at the David H. Koch Theater, New York

Cast: Gillian Murphy, Misty Copeland, Skylar Brandt, Cassandra Trenary, Devon Teuscher, Stephanie Williams, Marcelo Gomes, Jeffrey Cirio, Cory Stearns, Blaine Hoven
"Lang’s dance is a delightfully accomplished piece of work. Her Notes is a gentle but distinctive dance that succeeds in delivering its simple message in an original, coherent, and entertaining way. It’s one of the best “new ballets” by a choreographer other than Alexei Ratmansky that ABT has premiered in a very long time."

- Jerry Hochman, Critical Dance, October 29, 2016

“a subtle ballet, emotionally intense, yet never melodramatic...Bits of scenery also rose and fell mysteriously, but with more restraint, in Jessica Lang's Her Notes. Here, the shapes were grey rectangles, designed by Lang, that might have symbolised the walls, windows and doors of a house that both confined its occupants and also gave them occasional opportunities to depart. Lang emphasises trios of various male and female combinations, thereby creating a sense of both pictorial effectiveness and emotional restlessness. It's an often lovely ballet.”

- Jack Anderson, Dancing Times

December 1, 2016

“Set to a beautifully haunting score by Fanny Mendelssohn, the dancers were effortlessly dynamic, as they slowly came to life with rhythmic waves of motion. Using the dancers' gorgeous musculature to experiment with syncopation, Lang's choreography seesawed between modern and classical through the width of curved port de bras and fluid bourrées. With a playful self-consciousness, the piece experimented with different pas de deux and pas de trois pairings, showcasing the dancers' rapturous passion - for each other, for the music, and for the movement. There was such joy in the clarity of the expression, it was delightful to watch.”

- Christina Pandolfi, BroadwayWorld.com

November 1, 2016

“Folk and sylph haunt patterns that follow fast on one another, with a poof of surprise at each new turn. The men's brisk lines cede to a cluster of women enfolding Murphy in hushed steps. Just as often, scenes share the stage, illuminating - without somehow distracting from - one another. The world intrudes via ominously sculptural partnering. At one point, Marcelo Gomes swings Murphy by hand before yanking her into a fetal position, then dropping her back down with a painful jerk. The room of her imagination is not entirely her own.”

- Apollinaire Scherr, Financial Times

October 24, 2016

Jessica Lang
Director | Choreographer

Her Notes

Credits

Press

More Info