Charlotte Ballet returns to the stage amid COVID with a twist on a popular program

When the coronavirus pandemic threatened to cancel Charlotte Ballet’s annual Innovative Works program, artistic director Hope Muir came up with a new concept that highlights in-house talent.

Most years, guest choreographers are brought in for Innovative Works, a platform for emerging choreographers. But the pandemic prevented Charlotte Ballet from bringing in outside people.

Muir also had another problem: The May 2020 performance for Choreographic Lab, a year-long mentorship program that allows Charlotte Ballet artists to practice choreography, was canceled due to COVID-19. Many of them were left without an outlet for their choreographed pieces.

So Muir combined Innovative Works with Choreographic Lab to form “Innovative: Direct from the LAB,” a five-week performance series that begins this month. The program features choreographed performances developed by artists from the company, as well as two pieces chosen by the public.

The show opens March 19 and runs through April 18. Tickets are $50 and available for purchase at charlotteballet.org beginning March 5.

Seating at each performance will be limited to 60 people. COVID-19 protocols will include temperature scans and socially-distanced seating by ticketing group. Masks will be required before, during and after the show. A full list of protocols is on the ballet’s website.

Live performances will be at Charlotte Ballet’s Center for Dance, 701 N. Tryon St. A digital version of the show is scheduled to be released in April.

Community connections

To select the two pieces that weren’t choreographed by company dancers, Charlotte Ballet invited its employees — teachers, artists and staff — to submit an idea for an original work for “Innovative: Direct from the LAB.”

They were asked to describe their idea in 100 words or less and include descriptive elements, choreographic structure and possible suggestions for music and design.

“I told them, ‘It has to be your new stories, your stories, a way to connect with the community,’ ” Muir said. “It was pretty extraordinary because we had submissions from people I wouldn’t have assumed to be a choreographer.”

Muir received eight submissions last October and sent them anonymously to Charlotte Ballet’s Board of Trustees. The board narrowed it down to three.

Those three choreographers were given use of a videographer to develop a two-minute video as part of a public voting process. In December, more than 800 people in the community voted, narrowing it down to the top two.

“I thought it was important to include the community in what we’ve been putting out digitally,” Muir said. “We want to make sure we are putting on stage what they want to see. I basically handed over my programming hat and gave the power to Charlotte.”

The struggle

One of the winning submissions came from Bianca Bonner, director of education and community engagement at Charlotte Ballet since 2013. She came to Charlotte in 2006 after a career in dance with Chuck Davis and the African American Dance Ensemble in Durham.

Bonner submitted a piece called, “mapambano yanaendelea,” which means “the struggle continues” in Swahili. It features a contemporary African dance technique called Umfundalai, which draws upon traditional African dance. Bonner studied at Temple University under Kariamu Welsh, the technique’s creator.

This particular piece, Bonner says, is about Black women and how difficult it is for them to move about in today’s society carrying such heavy loads. In her description of the dance, Bonner refers to Malcolm X’s speech from 1962 about Black women being the most disrespected and neglected person in America.

“Sometimes we are very silent because we don’t want to be considered the angry Black woman,” she said. “This actual piece gives back the power. (It) celebrates the Black woman, celebrates the Black dancer and the Black mother.”

Dancer’s voices

Audrey Ipapo Baran has been teaching modern dance in the Charlotte Ballet Academy since 2013. She has danced with local companies and directs Baran Dance, a contemporary dance company.

Her submission was also chosen by the public vote to be included in “Innovative: Direct from the LAB.”

“I always have these seeds of choreography in my head,” Baran said. “I thought this was a great opportunity to potentially work with these amazing dancers.”

Her piece is about identity and how everyone is influenced by how we were raised, who raised us, and how those factors align or don’t align with how we live our lives now. She said some of her inspiration came from being raised by her father, an immigrant from the Philippines.

During the first rehearsal the dancer’s in Baran’s piece helped develop the choreography by sharing how their identity was formed. Baran used their words to help them create mini-choreographic phrases (small pieces of dance composition) that tie together the larger piece.

“I am really big on collaborating with dancers I work with,” she said. “Let them be part of the process and not just robots to pick up movement. I hope it will make them excited about the piece too and letting their voices be heard.”

This story is part of an Observer underwriting project with the Thrive Campaign for the Arts, supporting arts journalism in Charlotte.

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