How Near Heaven
Harvey (lifted) with members of American Ballet Theatre. Photo by Jack Vartoogian.
Dancers of American Ballet Theatre in a 1996 restaging.
Dokukin, Kalinin, Selya and Roberts in performance. Photo by Richard Greenhouse.
Premiere
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Date
3 March 1995
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Company
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Location
Washington, DC
Production
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Choreographer
Twyla Tharp
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Composer
Benjamin Britten (Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge for String Orchestra, Op. 10, 1937)
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Live Music by
American Ballet Theatre Orchestra
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Lighting Designer
Jennifer Tipton
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Costume Designer
Gianni Versace
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Assistant to Ms. Tharp
Dancers
Principals
Paloma Herrera, Kathleen Moore, Cynthia Harvey
Gil Boggs, Guillaume Graffin, Charles Askegard
Chorus
Shawn Black, Sandra Brown, Sara Mau, Ashley Tuttle, Gabrielle Brown, Yan Chen, Johanna Snyder, Lisa Sundstrom
Andrei Dokukin, Vladislav Kalinin, Keith Roberts, John Selya
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Number of Dancers
18
Dance Sections
1.Theme/Adagio
Full Cast
2. March
Moore, Boggs, Graffin and Dokukin, Kalinin, Roberts, Selya
3. Romance
Herrera, Boggs, Graffin and Black, Brown, Mau, Tuttle, Brown, Chen, Snyder, Sundstrom
4. Aria Italiana
Herrera, Moore, Black, Brown, Mau, Tuttle, Brown, Chen, Snyder, Sundstrom
5. Bouree Classique
Boggs, Graffin, Dokukin, Kalinin, Roberts, Selya, Black, Brown, Mau, Tuttle
6. Wiener Walzer
Harvey, Askegard and Full Cast
7. Moto Perpetuo
Harvey, Herrera, Moore, Black, Brown, Mau, Tuttle, Brown, Chen, Snyder, Sundstrom
8. Funeral March
Harvey, Askegard, Herrera, Moore and Dokukin, Kalinin, Roberts, Selya
9. Chant
Herrera, Moore
10. Fugue and Finale
Full Cast
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Runtime
00:26:50
Description
How Near Heaven was Tharp’s first commission for American Ballet Theatre under the leadership of artistic director Kevin McKenzie. The ballet featured three of the company’s principal ballerinas: Kathleen Moore, Paloma Herrera, in one of her first roles as principal, and Cynthia Harvey, who would retire the following year.
The two young ballerinas (Herrera was only 19 at the time) mirror each other through folk and social dance sequences. Quick steps and explosive jumps characterize their phrases. They are mythological twins – representations of duality and the constancy of change.
The third ballerina is measured and controlled. She is often partnered in high, sustained lifts, elevating her above the action onstage. Poised and mature, she personifies unification.
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Commissioned by
Past Performances
American Ballet Theatre
How Near Heaven (premiere) | American Ballet Theatre
Washington, D.C.
March 3 1995 Premiere
American Ballet Theatre
Americans We (premiere) – How Near Heaven – Jump Start (premiere) | American Ballet Theatre
New York, NY
May 1 1995 Premiere
American Ballet Theatre
Elements (premiere) – How Near Heaven – Americans We | American Ballet Theatre
New York, NY
May 3 1996 Dance
- 1995
- 1996