Under Edwaard Liang, The Washington Ballet Takes Flight
Washington Ballet artistic director Edwaard Liang teases a new season that will have audiences flocking to the ballet.
Tucked below D.C. in Dupont Underground on a recent October evening, the Washington Ballet soft-launched its 2024-2025 season with an immersive Dance for All program. In addition to a well-timed popup pre-show, TWB’s lithe Studio Company performed new choreography by artistic director Edwaard Liang, set to music by composer Blake Neely.
To my surprise, Liang’s was practically the first face I saw as I descended into the bustling space for the performance. The former New York City Ballet soloist-turned-choreographer, and now company leader, was greeting patrons at the door, the soul of easygoing ambassadorship.
“We do say that Washington Ballet belongs to this community,” he says later, over a Zoom call. “We’re in the service industry. And if we are saying ‘Dance for All,’ what does that mean and how do you welcome your patrons? How do you show that the Washington Ballet is really about the experience?”
Liang programs for the audience experience. “Even for ‘when WE take flight,'” he says, referring to the company’s official season opener at Warner Theatre. The evening features a trio of works choreographed by George Balanchine, Gustavo Ramirez Sansano, and Liang.
“I tried to curate a mixed rep as an experience,” he says. “How do I want them to enter? How do I want them when the curtain goes up? What is a perfect ballet to capture and bring the audience for a comfortable ride in, on the airplane, to get to travel around the world?”
Flowing from Balanchine’s ballet, set to the Stravinsky Violin Concerto — one of Balanchine’s great masterpieces, according to Liang — into Sansano’s mambo-infused celebration of dance, 18 + 1, the program concludes with Murmuration, Liang’s intricate ode to starlings in flight.
First up in our discussion, Liang wants to share his enthusiasm for Spanish dance artist Sansano. “You may not know Gustavo right now, but you will,” Liang declares. “He is an epic choreographer, that once you see this piece, you will remember his name.” And that won’t be the only takeaway.
“What I love about this piece is it really shows the range of the Washington Ballet dancers,” Liang says. “It’s very contemporary. All the dancers are in socks, and these sort of military-esque-slash-school uniforms,” he says, likening the looks to fashion designer Thom Browne. The piece, set to the brassy 1950s mambo of Pérez Prado, “is so musical, it’s interactive, and it creates this sense of internal rhythm and buzz. I’m really excited for D.C. and the DMV audience to see 18 +1.”
Liang is equally excited to share Murmuration, his ballet inspired by nature and connection, and friends near and dear. “I was given this piece of music many years ago by [Italian composer] Ezio Bosso,” he says. “He was a friend. He passed away many years ago. And I had his first violin concerto that he ever created. And, you know, life in life’s terms, a childhood friend sent me a message saying, ‘Hey, you should watch this video on YouTube.’ And it was murmuration. She said, ‘I think this would be a great idea for a ballet.’ So I watched the video, and the first thing I thought of was this piece of music. It fit perfectly with this premise.”
Liang’s flocking starlings create this murmuration as a yearly coming together. “My idea is that these beings come here to pick a mate. But also once a year, if they create this murmuration, to honor God or the one or the universe, that they are able to actually truly connect to the one, and not only see, but feel and inhabit.”
At its climax Murmuration rains feathers down on the dancers. “There is almost no dancing, just walking back and forth,” says Liang. “It really does showcase that dance, to me, is the ultimate communicator. Everyone knows body language. It is that type of artistry amplified that creates that moment that’s so special to me.”
Creating a season of special moments and experiences is Liang’s mission with “when WE take flight,” which will be followed by a “November Dance for All” at the Building Museum. Winter brings the company’s 20th-anniversary production of Septime Webre’s D.C.-themed The Nutcracker, then two springtime programs, “transcenDANCE” and a fresh take on Webre’s ALICE (in wonderland).
“I think that this is a good taste of the direction of where I’d like to take the company,” Liang says of the season’s lineup, clarifying that even after you’ve been handed the wheel to a major arts institution, it takes time to steer things in a new direction.
“[My] job is also to learn about this community,” says Liang, who lives in D.C. full-time with his husband, educator John Kuijper. “I’ve [had] conversations with other arts leaders. Asking questions: How can we serve this community? What works for this community? What does the audience want to see? What can we bring to this ecosystem that the Kennedy Center is not? So that we’re able to amplify what’s great about D.C., and not compete with one another.”
“when WE take flight” runs Oct. 24 to 27 at The Warner Theatre, 513 13th St. NW. Tickets are $25 to $100. Call 202-783-4000, or visit www.washingtonballet.org.
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