Have you ever heard the word ekphrasis? The literary nerds out there will know what it is. It’s a Greek word that essentially means a poem or literary work inspired by a piece of visual art. "Ode to a Grecian Urn" is a classic example – the poet John Keats was inspired by, you guessed it, a Grecian urn.
If you check out Cincinnati Ballet’s Kaplan New Works Series this September, you’ll see a version of physical ekphrasis, up close and personal. Each of the four choreographers on the bill have created new choreography by drawing inspiration from visual art. Two of these visual artists are local Cincinnatians: Michael Stillion and Gee Horton.
“Creatives, we create for the sake of being creative, but we all have different vocabulary and different languages
we use to articulate what we’re trying to convey,” Horton said. “I think this collaboration does that.”
A self-taught visual artist, Horton’s career trajectory has been a straight line upward, gathering acclaim and exhibition opportunities across the region, including his latest exhibition, Chapter 4: In Another Lifetime at the Contemporary Arts Center.
“What I’m really impressed by is the ballet’s interest in using the work here as source material that will inspire movement,” Horton said. “(My work) is mounted on a wall – the movement that happens is through the creative process, and once that is done, the only movement it encounters is the viewers that walk through it and the energy that passes by. So to capture something that is now stationary and repurpose it through movement is interesting.”
Chapter 4: In Another Lifetime is a deeply personal, narrative-based meditation exploring grief through three lenses, structured around a fictional character named Freeman Little, who suffers from a prophetic sleep disorder. It’s complex, beautiful, moving. Acclaimed South African choreographer Mthuthuzeli November found many facets of Horton’s work resonant with his life and his artistic vision.
“I was really moved by his story as a Black artist,” November said. “I was particularly drawn to one of his works … I had a gut feeling that moved me about this piece in particular, and so that’s what I wanted to base the piece on.”
The piece November used as a primary basis for his ballet is "The Sweetest Thing," a charcoal rendering Horton made of his teenage niece holding a sunflower, capturing her youthful innocence and wonder. He also drew from Chapter 4 and its scope and throughline of self.
“When I saw the exhibition, I was like, ‘Oh, we’re on the right track about his life story, his approach to his work’,” November said. “There was this sense of ancestry. We are living in our ancestors’ wildest dreams, and so it’s also up to us to paint what the future looks like.”
November’s "Echoes of Before" draws the audience into each facet of the choreography. Amid the impassioned solos and expressive group portions, there is a carefully articulated moment of a dancer pausing, as if captured in a picture frame – a direct callback to "The Sweetest Thing" itself. It’s clear November imbues his work with intention.
“For my work, I always try to bring a little bit, and sometimes a lot, of who I am in, in the sense that I come from dancing in the streets,” he said. “For half my life, I was barefoot in the streets of South Africa, dancing and dancing and dancing. When I started training in ballet, I couldn’t let go of that. My work becomes a celebration of the world of classical ballet and the world of African dance, and how those worlds coexist and live.”
The layers of the ekphrastic metaphor run deep in New Works. From pencil strokes that create visual art to choreography that embodies visual art to movement inspired within the audience taking it all in – it’s safe to say this ballet is a celebration of what moves us, in whatever form it takes.
Go see what it inspires in you.
This article was underwritten as part of a promotional agreement between The Enquirer and the Cincinnati Ballet.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati Ballet's 'New Works' is a celebration of what moves us
