Jump Start Jump Start

Jump Start

Moore and Graffin perform. Photo by Paul Kolnik.

Dancers of American Ballet Theatre in the closing section.

Members of American Ballet Theatre in performance. Photo by Paul Kolnik.

Premiere

  • Date

    1 May 1995

  • Location

    New York, NY

Production

  • Choreographer

    Twyla Tharp

  • Composer

    Wynton Marsalis

  • Live Music by

    Wynton Marsalis Orchestra

  • Lighting Designer

    Jennifer Tipton

  • Costume Designer

    Isaac Mizrahi

  • Assistants to Wynton Marsalis

    Dennis Jeter III and John Schaffer

Dancers

Tamara Barden, Shawn Black, Sandra Brown, Martha Butler, Kathleen Moore, Ashley Tuttle

Gil Boggs, Griff Braun, Andrei Dokukin, Guillaume Graffin, Vladislav Kalinin, Keith Roberts, John Selya

  • Number of Dancers

    13

  • Runtime

    00:32:00

Description

Tharp commissioned jazz musician and composer Wynton Marsalis to create a new score for Jump Start. Marsalis and his band played live during the premiere season at the Metropolitan Opera House. The dancers approach this high-octane dance with a spirited attack. Running crosses interrupt athletic solos and unison phrases, generating an excited, jovial energy onstage.

 

From the original program: “Generous underwriting for this new production has been provided by Valerie and Charles Dyker, Nanette Laitman, Sydney and Frances Lewis, Patricia and Jeff Tarr, Cathy and Stephen Weinroth.”

 

Past Performances

American Ballet Theatre

Americans We (premiere) – How Near Heaven – Jump Start (premiere) | American Ballet Theatre

Metropolitan Opera House

New York, NY

May 1 1995 Premiere

  • 1995