Ballet

Boston Ballet on point for new, virtual, season

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On March 12, Boston Ballet artistic director Mikko Nissinen walked on the Opera House stage to tell the company’s dancers that “Carmen” had been canceled. Resident choreographer Jorma Elo’s “Carmen” hadn’t just been canceled for the night, but for the month. Despite efforts to move the remaining parts of the Boston Ballet’s 2019-20 season to later in the year, it quickly became clear that gathering in person just wasn’t safe for the audience or dancers.

But this week, the company kicks off its 2020-21 season with “Forsythe Elements.” Yes, the BB@yourhome programs will be presented virtually. Yes, they will still be a visceral thrill — “Forsythe Elements” takes an in-depth look at William Forsythe’s choreographic genius and runs online from Thursday to Nov. 29.

“We have this great partnership, Bill (Forsythe] says that this is his new home company, so we are the luckiest people in the world,” Nissinen said. “We will have a collage of archival footage of all the works we have done of his, we will live stream from our studio two of the works he’s done and we will conduct conversations between him and the dancers.”

The Boston Ballet’s connection with Forsythe, considered one of a handful of living masters of choreography, has been an artistic triumph for our city. But it’s hard to feel triumphant about anything these days.

BB@yourhome has six virtual offerings showing off new creations, signature works, and classical favorites captured live in-studio (the series subscription is $180). To create the programs, the Boston Ballet had to reinvent itself as a digital production company while rehearsing under a health and safety plan developed with a team of medical specialists. While working around the pandemic, the company faces millions in lost revenue and a racial reckoning across America that has been a longtime coming.

“Diversity, equality and inclusion is part of society today even if it’s something America hasn’t dealt with,” Nissinen said. “We now look at everything through a diversity, equality and inclusion lens and that will help us decide what the ballet company of the future is. If we went through COVID and all the issues of today and came out the same, we would be the ballet company of the past.”

Nissinen reminds audiences that ballet — like all art forms — should illuminate progress and champion humanity.

“People forget that when ‘Swan Lake’ was created it was a revolutionary work,” he said. “Then it became a classic. It’s very important to curate the past of the art form, but we really need to focus on paving the way to the future.”

But that means making it to the future (in a world where the company received zero support from the National Endowment of the Arts in 2020). The first steps involve grabbing fans virtually with the magic of Forsythe; the next will be embracing art and community fighting for justice.

Subscription and streaming info at bostonballet.org

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