KC Ballet program includes a ballet that incited a riot

For Kansas City Ballet’s spring performance, Adam Hougland creates a bold and daring world in Rite of Spring, expressing not a reverence of nature, but instead the dire consequences of turning one’s back on it.

The mixed-repertory program, to be presented May 6-15, includes Helen Pickett’s Petal, Yuri Possokhov’s Diving into the Lilacs, and a world premiere by Viktor Plotnikov who is known for his contemporary and intense aesthetic. All music for the performance is played live by the Kansas City Symphony.

The spring program features all Kansas City premieres. The program will begin with a Kansas City premiere, Diving into the Lilacs with choreography by Yuri Possokhov and music of Boris Tchaikovsky (no relation to Peter), is from his Sinfonietta for String Orchestra.

This Kansas City premiere provides a sweeping showcase of lush dancing for three enchanting couples and a corps of eight. Possokhov joined the Artistic Staff at San Francisco Ballet as a choreographer in residence after retiring from a highly successful dance career that spanned the globe. His work has been performed both nationally and internationally with companies like San Francisco Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, Bolshoi Ballet, Oregon Ballet Theatre and Royal Danish Ballet.

A world premiere by Viktor Plotnikov set to the music of Antonín Dvořák will follow. Known for his more contemporary and intense aesthetic, Plotnikov has been choreographing for Boston Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, the Bolshoi Ballet and others, with considerable success.

The program continues with Petal, by noted and extremely sought after choreographer, Helen Pickett. Petal is known for its gorgeous vivid primary colors and extremely challenging choreography. After dancing with William Forsythe’s Ballett Frankfurt for more than a decade, Pickett embarked on an amazing and varied career path that not only includes choreography, but also acting and teaching.

The spring program concludes with another Kansas City premiere, Rite of Spring, choreographed by Adam Hougland and featuring the music of Igor Stravinsky. Rite of Spring holds an iconic place in the world of ballet, famously inciting riots when it first appeared in 1913 with the Ballet Russes.

Angry patrons — bewildered by Stravinsky's strange music and maybe more so by Vaslav Nijinsky's primitive choreography — famously rose up in rebellion several minutes into the performance. Punches were thrown and the police were called in.

Adam Hougland, named one of Dance Magazine’s “25 to Watch” choreographers in 2011, has accomplished the challenging feat of making this historical musical milestone accessible to today’s audience without depriving it of its punch.

The Kansas City Ballet program will be performed May 6-15 in the Muriel Kauffman Theatre, at Kansas City’s Kauffman Center. Tickets are $35 to $125, and may be purchased online at www.KCBallet.org, by phone at (816) 931-8993, or at the Kansas City Ballet box office at 500 W. Pershing Road, Kansas City, MO.

The Gayly – May 3, 2016 @ 3:20 p.m.