Save this article to read it later.
Find this story in your accountsSaved for Latersection.
Both use the vocabulary of classical ballet and strip it of fussy flourishes.
Theyre precise in their attention to the music.
And yet aPeck balletdoesnt look like anything else.
The result is thrilling and joyous, contemporary even as its classical.
His choreography just speaks the music so clearly, says Craig Baldwin, the companys accompanist.
At first, the steps can seem unnatural, says Delgado.
The minute you figure it out on your body, it feels like youve gained this new coordination.
Like patting your stomach while rubbing your head.
He loves an awkward movement that grows into a beautiful movement, says repertory director Craig Hall.
Relaxed Faces
Peck dislikes showy ballet acting.
He builds the emotion in the steps, says Huxley.
He gives dancers an image to work with.
Exploding Motions
Classical ballet steps get knocked off balance.
Its like youre this bomb building up, says Huxley.
Its very internal, then suddenly you explode and the energy builds up again.
Sneaker Feet
Peck frequently choreographs his ballets in sneakers.
That informs his way of moving, even though were in ballet shoes, says principal Sara Mearns.
We might jump and our feet might be flexed for a second.
A lot of my musicality is rooted in tap, he says.
Even though its silent, the quality of the movement can be percussive.
But when you watch him demonstrate, you dont see a reversal; you see movement forward.
He loves that on me, but you might miss it, it happens so fast, she says.
Justin Peck sees these kinds of movements as subverting the audiences expectations.
Its playing against the conventions of classicism in ballet, he says.
Its a lot of thinking about how the body can take the road less traveled.
He wants the audience to work a little bit, says Mearns.
Like you got to come to us.
You dont know whats happening in the center, but were trying to get in.
The audience meets it halfway, and they find themselves in what theyre watching, says Peck.
InRodeo,theres a moment where this super-compact dancer executes this incredibly kinetic kind of hyperspeed solo.
Its super-impressive, says Peck.
When he stands up, hes face-to-face with a dancer a good foot taller than him.
Classical ballet choreography loves a ta-damoment, when a dancer holds a position at its peak.
In a Peck ballet, the movement often barely reaches the full extension before moving on.
I dont like moments that hold the shape just to display a shape, says Peck.
I find that to be so anti-dance.
To me, dances should not necessarily be easy to capture in a photograph.
For all his planning, Pecks favorite steps are often the happy accidents of the studio.
He was hitting a roadblock and was like, How do you feel right now?
Its this random thing he saw playing around in the studio, says Hall.
The mistakes also lend his ballets a more human quality.
Were not expected to be robots, says Coll.
Ive always felt like Justin wants me to be me.
Tiler Peck likens how Justin Peck moves the group collectively to a Rubiks Cube.
InEverywhere We Go,the corps is arranged behind her in a migrating L-shape.
Its like a trash compactor or something, she says.
He said, I think if I wasnt a choreographer, Id be an architect.
Open Lighting
The lighting and set design are often intentionally spare.
The score itself is extremely colorful, says lighting designer Brandon Stirling Baker.
And therefore the design does not need a lot of color.
Youll never see a follow spot in a Peck ballet.
He doesnt put this overindulgent drama on top of the movement, says Mearns.
The movement makes it dramatic.
Secondary Action
The corps de ballet is usually up to something interesting.
Unless theres just one dancer onstage, the solo is almost never just a solo, says Hall.
Thank you for subscribing and supporting our journalism.
