Christopher Wheeldon's Carousel (A Dance)

Christopher Wheeldon created this piece in 2002 while he was resident choreographer for the New York City Ballet. We saw its Seattle premiere as part of an evening of short works at PNB's Broadway Festival. It is a reinterpretation of Rodgers and Hammerstein's 1945 musical of the same name, a story about the ill-fated marriage of a carnival barker to a young woman who works in a mill.

While the ballet is based on the story, it is not really a story ballet. It was really more of a thematic and emotional riff on the relationship of the two young lovers and the difficulties they faced living in two different worlds.

I found this ballet particularly visually striking, especially the interesting tensions it created using the corps as a swirling and frustrating barrier of society, people, and movement, always getting between the two as they reached to connect with one another. One very striking scene had the dancers holding poles to simulate the carousel itself, while the couple tried to find moments of connection while mostly being blocked by the swirling carousel.

This is the 3rd piece of Wheeldon's to enter PNB's repertory, the first 2 being Polyphonia and Variations Serieuses.