Onstage This Fall: Twists on Classics, Musical Tributes, and Spooky Stories

Ballet season is back, and this month, companies around the world welcome autumn with exciting world premieres. Check out some of the new works hitting the stage, from contemporary takes on classic stories, spooky supernatural tales, and tributes to musical and choreographic greats.

Something Wicked at Ballet Memphis

Ballet Memphis travels to 11th-century Scotland in Macbeth, a contemporary-ballet version of Shakespeare’s fraught, witchy play of the same name. Conceived and choreographed by Joshua L. Peugh, founder and former artistic director of Dark Circles Contemporary Dance, the 80-minute work includes all 18 Ballet Memphis dancers as they portray the rise and fall of Shakespeare’s most infamous general.

Macbeth will run at the Ballet Memphis Studio October 10–12 and October 16–19. The company’s first story ballet set to a commissioned score, by Brandon Carson, it also features costumes by Elizabeth Bourgeois and stage-combat direction by Lauren Gunn.

Dani Rowe’s First for Ballet Zürich

Oregon Ballet Theatre artistic director Dani Rowe is creating her first world premiere for Ballet Zürich. The abstract, contemporary work, Vestige, is set to Maurice Ravel’s arrangement of Modest Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. In each orchestral movement, the ballet’s protagonist, Human, reflects on a fleeting moment from her past.

Vestige shares Ballet Zürich’s Oiseaux Rebelles program with Mats Ek’s Carmen on the Zürich Opera House main stage. Performed on select dates between October 12 and December 9, it integrates stage design by Jörg Zielinski, costumes by Louise Flanagan, lighting by Martin Gebhardt, and dramaturgy by Michael Küster.

Philadelphia Ballet’s New Supernatural Thriller

Philadelphia Ballet resident choreographer Juliano Nunes explores the supernatural with his world premiere Valley of Death. Part of the company’s Evening of Horror program (October 16–19 at Philadelphia’s Academy of Music), the contemporary ballet is paired alongside Agnes de Mille’s frightening work on the Lizzie Borden murders, Fall River Legend.

With a score featuring music by Ralph Vaughan Williams and Sergei Rachmaninoff, Valley of Death tells the story of a masquerade ball gone wrong when a mysterious figure appears and causes the host, Oscar, to be poisoned. But in the end, goodness prevails over darkness. 

Women Reimagine Nijinsky Classics at Alberta Ballet

At Alberta Ballet, female choreographers take on four of Vaslav Nijinsky’s most enduring works in the company’s Nijinsky program (October 16–18 in Calgary and October 24–25 in Edmonton). Denise Clarke, associate artist with One Yellow Rabbit Theatre Ensemble, reimagines Afternoon of a Faun with new choreography and costumes, weaving in visual design by artist Chris Cran. The second modern interpretation is by Alyssa Martin, founder and artistic director of Rock Bottom Movement, who presents her world premiere Petrushka, with costumes by Robyn Clarke.

Also on the bill is a new Firebird, choreographed by Ballet Edmonton artistic director Kirsten Wicklund. Racheal Prince, co-founder and co-artistic director of Dance//Novella, rounds out the program with her version of Spectre de la Rose.

Les Grands Ballets Canadiens’ Twist on Snow White

Contemporary choreographer Etienne Béchard reimagines the classic Brothers Grimm tale Snow White in Blanche-Neige et le Miroir (“Snow White and the Mirror”), for Les Grands Ballets Canadiens. Running October 22–26 at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier, Place des Arts in Montreal, the ballet features sets by Till Kuhnert, costumes by Emma Paris, lighting by Tom Vincke, and visual artwork and video elements by Vincke and Théo Baudras.

In Béchard’s interpretation, Snow White discovers not dwarves but seven aspects of herself, and the traditional characters of the prince and the hunter are combined into one role, Chavallant. Béchard has also turned the Mirror into an omnipresent character who acts as narrator as the story unfolds—with a tragic twist ending.

A New Ratmansky at Royal Danish Ballet

Ukrainian choreographer Alexei Ratmansky first imagined his The Art of the Fugue, a classical tribute to Johann Sebastian Bach’s unfinished masterpiece, for the Bolshoi Ballet. But following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, he pulled the work, which was originally set to premiere in Moscow just one month later.

Now, after three years, Ratmansky has completed the five-act ballet, which will debut at the Royal Danish Ballet on November 1. (It will continue on select dates through November 18.) The abstract work celebrates the fugue, a Baroque musical composition built around a single theme that is repeated and developed. With scenic and costume design by Moritz Junge and lighting by Brandon Stirling Baker, The Art of the Fugue will be performed to live music by The Royal Danish Orchestra and vocal ensemble Musica Ficta.