Terra

Program Notes

Oregon Ballet Theatre

Director: Kevin Irving

TERRA, World Premiere – April 13, 2017

Choreographer: Helen Pickett

Composer: Jeff Beal

Designer: Emma Kingsbury

Lighting: Michael Mazzola

Dancers: Xuan Cheng and Michael Linsmeier

Photograph: Yi Yin

““Terra”: of, from, pertaining to the earth… Terra signifies a return to life, a celebration of the life-impulse as well as our joy in the world around us.  When we first presented Helen Pickett’s Petal (Celebrate/2014) – you could feel the shivers of pleasure cascade through the audience – the sheer pleasure of discovery. We’ve made you all wait long enough, and now Petal is back, and this time we’ve asked the incredibly talented Ms. Pickett to create a new work to serve as a counterpoint to the brightness and effervescence of her prior ballet. As we welcome spring and light back into our lives, we take inspiration from the earth – from which all things grow.””

“The new piece by choreographer Helen Pickett is high-adrenaline – What brings Terra to life even more than its dramatic staging is Pickett’s sense for the individual, and her ability to contain a wide spectrum of human emotions in a single piece.”

– Shannon Gormley, Willamette Week