The Orlando Ballet is celebrating its 50th birthday this weekend with a special show called “Reflections.” It includes two performance works and a documentary about the organization’s ups and downs on the way to its golden anniversary.
Orlando Ballet Artistic Director Jorden Morris shares plans for the future and perspectives on the past on the eve of the big celebration with 90.7 WMFE's Nicole Darden Creston.
Jorden Morris:
Well, it's an incredibly exciting season. As you can imagine, an organization only turns 50 once and there's lots of ballet companies that never actually make it to 50. So that is definitely a testament to the community, to the people that support us, the Board of Directors, the Dr. Phillips Center [for the Performing Arts], you know, everybody that helps us and supports us and comes up see the show, the students in our school, it's really something for everybody to celebrate when an arts organization makes it to the point of having a golden anniversary! And in this opening show, it's something I've done in other companies that I've directed - we have created a documentary film, which sort of encapsulates the first 50 years of Orlando Ballet. And we've gone back to some of the original founders, people that are still alive and with us or their children, lots of former dancers, executive directors, board members. What we're showing in the theater is a 30 minute version. There is a longer Director's Cut that we'll be putting on our website, etc. But this 30 minute documentary is really, it's quite poignant, and it's quite touching. And there's some beautiful moments that talk about, not just the successes, but the trials and the tribulations that any arts organization goes through as it matures. It's really wonderful and a great sort of snapshot of the first five decades of this company.
Then for the dance portion of the program. I realized when I took over the company that Orlando Ballet had never done a Paul Taylor work. I'm a big fan of Paul Taylor, and what he did as a choreographer, and for the voice of dance in America, and also around the world. So we are doing one of his iconic works, "Company B," which was originally choreographed and performed in 1991. And he uses the music of the Andrews Sisters. It's basically a picture of post Second World War America. And it's just a beautiful historical piece, which I thought fit into a 50th anniversary type of season with iconic choreographers and works in American dance. And that's why I also chose to bring George Balanchine's "Serenade" [a ballet by Balanchine to Tchaikovsky's "Serenade for Strings"] to close the performance. And I've been trying to work with Dr. John Sinclair in the Bach Festival Society of Winter Park ever since I got here, and we've had lunches and collaborated and we chat on the phone every now and then, and it finally worked out that we were able to come to fruition with our collaboration and the Bach Festival string section will be playing Tchaikovsky's "Serenade" live with us at the Steinmetz Theater [in the Doctor Phillips Center for the Performing Arts]. Very excited about that they were in rehearsal last week with us and just always amazing to have live musicians in the room with the dancers and of course at the beautiful Steinmetz Hall is just going to sound and it's going to look absolutely beautiful.
Nicole Darden Creston:
For people who may not be familiar, can you give me a quick synopsis on Paul Taylor?
Jorden Morris:
Yeah. Paul Taylor, American choreographer is sort of one of the pioneers of contemporary American dance. His company is known around the world. He's got a wide range of works. And Company B is one of his sort of iconic works. And I really was looking at the dancers that we have in the company, and I thought that they're just perfectly suited individuals to tackle this piece, and they've done a great job with it.
Nicole Darden Creston:
50 years is extraordinary. And some time ago, a 20-odd-year-old Nicole Darden Creston was working at the other end of the building from Orlando Ballet. It was a beautiful historical building [in the Ivanhoe area on Orange Avenue], you couldn't pry me out of there after work. I went to the Ballet for hip-hop classes, I explored the building because it was gorgeous. Unfortunately, there were serious asbestos issues. And it put Orlando Ballet in a position where it was essentially a nomadic company for a little while. And from then to now it's been extraordinary to watch Orlando Ballet not just survive, but thrive and surpass itself. Can you talk a little bit about that history?
Jorden Morris:
There was one point where the company was rehearsing in a gentlemen's club because there was space to dance, and of course, not much happening during the day, and then of course, it would turn into...sort of shades of Moulin Rouge for me a little bit. So there was also a rehearsal space that they had, and the only washroom was in a gas station across the street, because the rehearsal space was just basically a warehouse rehearsal space. And there were times where the administration was in one building, the dancers were in a separate building, the school was in a separate building. As you know, that sort of fractures in organization and it fractures the teamwork element, and yet the organization survived. And through the grace of Harriet Lake [philanthropist behind the state-of-the-art Harriet's Orlando Ballet Center], and her really creating the building that we're in now all together, the company to school, the administration, the production team, to all be under one roof in this fabulous building, I think we appreciate that. And we celebrate that. And we respect it every day, that we are now a cohesive team, really trying to develop and create the next evolution of dance in not just Florida, but in the world.
Nicole Darden Creston:
What about the next 50 years? What are some broad overarching goals you've got for the next 50 years of Orlando Ballet?
Jorden Morris:
Well, I mean, every director writes their chapter in a book, right? I don't think I'll be here for the next 50 years...[laughter]
Nicole Darden Creston:
Wow, that would be a lot. [laughter]
Jorden Morris:
But you know, it's a little bit of serendipity. And it's a little bit of time and place, and it's a little bit of opportunity in the right place at the right time. I've really enjoyed being the director and having the support of the board of directors and the community at large. There is a lot of opportunity to push the artform forward. This is a great example for you. I'm bringing in a ballet from the UK and bringing in a ballet choreographed by Kenny Tyndall, who is one of the UK's hot choreographers. And in order to bring this production over, I created a sort of a triumvirate with two other directors, Michael Pink in Milwaukee Ballet and Gil Boggs in Colorado Ballet. So we're actually splitting the costs of bringing the production over three ways so that it's affordable for each company - we're far enough apart that we're not stepping on each other's backyards. But this is sort of what I think dance is going to look like in the near future, is more collaboration. COVID really taught us that we need to pull together as a community, and that we need to start thinking of new ways and coming out of COVID, we have financial restrictions, and everybody's trying to get back on their feet. And these sort of collaborations and teamwork efforts to bring new versions of dance and new productions of the artform over to North America. Orlando will be the first company to perform Kenny Tyndall's "Casanova," and then it will go to Milwaukee, and then it will go to Colorado. And I'm really excited that we're not just bringing it for the Orlando audiences, but the two other directors and myself sort of joined forces to really help develop dance in North America. It's a very, very exciting time. And I think we have some really incredible opportunities, not just for the dancers and choreographers, but for the audience at large as well.
Nicole Darden Creston:
What do you say to people who still view ballet as something that is only for a certain group of people? And it's not for everyone?
Jorden Morris:
I'm glad you asked that, because that's really a big part of what drives me as a choreographer. My ballet's, for instance, Moulin Rouge, it's a household name, people know it, it's accessible, and people flocked to see it. The Great Gatsby, iconic American story, all these have been worked into ballets. So I think the past generations that have thought of the very rigid classical sense of the art form...it really has evolved, and we have grown. And we still pay homage to the great classic works - those are historically incredibly important to our art form. But we have to grow with society as well. And we have to tell stories that are relevant and tell stories that are going to touch people. And I think there's room for all that. I think the art form itself, by necessity is becoming more versatile, things are moving at such a pace that the arts will always keep up and the arts are always there for the people. And it's up to us as the makers of dance to give the people something that they're going to connect with as their stories evolve.
