'The power of one': Utah Metropolitan Ballet debuts new contemporary ballet

PROVO — How much impact does a single person have? That's the question a Switzerland-based choreographer sought to answer in a new contemporary ballet for the Utah Metropolitan Ballet.

Vanessa Cook, a British choreographer who runs a dance company in Switzerland, created "A Brief Collection of Moments" after receiving the Ariel Bybee Endowment from the Center for Latter-day Saint Arts.

The endowment is an arts grant from the center in honor of Bybee, a famous Utah opera singer who advocated for art in all forms. Bestowed upon artists in a range of disciplines, the grant provides financial support for Latter-day Saint artists to create and showcase new artworks.

Cook was fascinated by the idea of Bybee — one woman whose impact was so great an entire program was named after her.

"It made me think about what do we leave behind? What is our influence? How far is our reach? I started thinking about the power of one individual," Cook said.

Throughout the 15-minute work, a singer is onstage vocalizing the words of a poem while a full orchestra performs an original score that the dancers move to.

The ballet starts out with just one dancer onstage, then follows the Fibonacci sequence to become two dancers, three, five, eight, 13 and then the "maximum number of dancers available."

The main dancer shifts through rhythms and intentions as more people join her onstage; meanwhile, the music switches time signatures according to the number of dancers.

"I wanted to make a piece about the different chapters of life," Cook said. "There's moments of cooperation, moments of conflict, moments of being more daring or moments of harmony — these big emotions and conditions, I wanted to explore them."

The end of the ballet then goes in reverse, with dancers leaving the stage until it is just the one again, left alone to reflect on her life.

"Maybe the audience might just reflect on the power of a single voice, and maybe they will reflect on 'What's my reach?" Cook said.

An artistic and spiritual collaboration

Throughout the dance, the backdrop of the stage will have a projection of an artwork being painted. The audience will see every brushstroke as a blank canvas transforms into a complex artwork.

"In the same way that your life unfolds, imperceptibly, you don't really know the colors, you are just in it," Cook said. "You don't always recognize the stages or the effects that each chapter's having ... but at the end, what's happening is this beautiful artwork or lifescape."

Cook hopes people find moments of awe, inspiration and relatability as the music, movement and art combine together into one experience.

Even though there aren't overt gospel themes in her choreography, Cook appreciated the center giving her the chance to create art while having deeper discussions on identity and exploring joy and growth through a spiritual lens.

"To be an LDS artist, you don't have to be making work about the Savior, but there's something intrinsic to what you are doing that informs your work," she said.

Glen Nelson, co-founder of the Center for Latter-day Saint Arts, said he couldn't be happier with how Cook's project has turned out.

"It's really rare that you have a piece like this ballet and all of the collaborators ... all of them are" Latter-day Saints, Nelson said.

Nelson joked that Cook was the "ringleader" of the artists who met during a residency with the center. Cook came up with the idea of a collaborative performance, and at first, it was just a fun project to work on across time zones.

But the Bybee endowment became the perfect opportunity for them to showcase their work in a proper format.

Dylan Findley composed the score. Poet Darlene Young wrote the lyrics that will be sung by soprano singer Rachel Porter. Michelle Nixon and Justin Wheatley created the art that will be projected, and the program will have an essay written by Isaac Richards.

"Everyone was a little bit out of what they normally do, which is the joy of it," Cook said.

Cook started creating the ballet in her head, but it was a new challenge to teach it over Zoom. In February, she traveled to Utah to shape and adapt the material until it was how she wanted it.

While the dancers are looking great, Cook is excited to see it all come together on stage with the singer, projections, lighting and full orchestra.

"Even hardworking dancers, in the moment of performance, there's another level of energy," she said.

The Center for Latter-day Saint Arts gives artists the chance to openly create with religious themes, something they may not have experienced yet in their career, Nelson said. While Cook loves the fulfilling discussions she has with her colleagues in Europe, "there are things inside me that I don't articulate."

Collaborating with artists who she has a shared understanding with was an experience that "just moved me a lot "

"I found it incredible to align my worlds. They're always aligned inside me," she said, but it was "so refreshing" to externalize and vocalize her core beliefs in her art.

'People that touch our world'

Jacqueline Colledge, artistic director of Utah Metropolitan Ballet, said it is so exciting to see her dancers participate in such a unique show that utilizes so many aspects of the arts.

Each year, Utah Metropolitan Ballet performs its "Tribute" show, where "outstanding citizens" who have contributed to the arts community are honored through original choreographic works.

Cook's ballet honoring the late Ariel Bybee is just one of four tribute pieces that will be performed on April 23 and 24.

Other honorees include acclaimed stain glass artist Tom Holdman, of Holdman Studios, singer and songwriter Hilary Weeks and sculptor Angela Johnson whose Light of the World Sculpture Garden can be seen at Thanksgiving Point.

The neoclassical piece "Cortex" employs shapes and formations to emulate Holdman's stain glass. "Simply Sibelius" honors Johnson through strong classical-based dancing "because dance is sculpture; it just moves," Colledge said.

And for Weeks, the company will perform part of the classical ballet "Giselle" because "it's timeless and that's how I feel about her music," Colledge said.

The honorees will be showcased onstage opening night alongside a tribute video. The videos will still be played Friday night, but the honorees will not be in attendance.

"I have a real desire to pay tribute to people that touch our world in positive ways because there's so much negativity and not such beautiful art sometimes," Colledge said. "I want them to walk out of the performance feeling good about the world."

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