In 1989 the well known Czech dancer and choreographer Jiri Kylian utilized American composer, Steve Reich’s music to create his 15 minute long ground breaking choreography “Falling Angels” which would be performed by the Netherlands Dance Theater for the first time. The piece was a tribute to all woman and highlighted the stereotypical path they are expected to take in life such as pregnancy, birth, motherhood, etc. The dance is known for its unique, abstract, and energetic movement as well as use of shapes and motif. After it premiered with the Netherlands Dance Theater in 1989 it was performed many more times by the company however, in the dance world it is very common for choreography to not be passed around. Similarly to copyright and plagiarism, there is a very meticulous process that goes into earning rights to a famous choreography or repertoire especially one choreographed and performed by one of the best contemporary dance companies in the world like Netherlands Dance Theater.
Fortunately enough, OU School of Dance had the very special opportunity to perform the famous piece due to Ballet faculty member Glenn Edgerton, holding the title of former Artistic Director for NDT therefore earning the right to reset the piece at OU. On April 22-24 the OU School of dance became one of the very few companies in the world to restage Falling Angels when they performed it at the Oklahoma Festival Ballet show. The school held several rehearsals and even had former Netherlands Dance Theater dancer, Fiona Lummis Eddy fly in to work with the dancers and help Edgerton reset and perfect the choreography. The school also had a lighting director come in from the Netherlands Dance Theatre to help achieve the unique lighting accurately for the show. This has been a very special opportunity for the OU School of Dance to say the least. below is the original cast of Falling Angels followed by photos of my very own friends performing it in the Oklahoma Festival Ballet.
