Princeton University Ballet's ‘Art in Motion’ defies boundaries between art forms

In one of the many collaborative pieces from Princeton University Ballet’s “Art in Motion,” Alice Frederick ’17, co-presidentof the Ellipses Slam Team, stands in the middle of the stage and performs Shane Koyczan’s slam poem “Instructions for a Bad Day.” As she speaks, four dancers standing in the four corners of the stage depict the poem’s instructions through the graceful motion of their bodies.

PUB’s spring production, titled “Art in Motion,” is being brought to Princeton from April 21 to April 23. Jiae Azad ’15 and Marisa Remez ‘16, the current co-presidents of the company, explained that what really makes this year’s spring show stand out from previous ones is not only that this show has 21 pieces, but that the show is truly diverse in dance forms and art forms.

“In addition to all of our dancers, we also have a huge range of collaborators,” Azad said, reflecting on the different art forms in the production.

“Art in Motion” is very diverse in the sense that it has long and short pieces, pieces set to classical music, pieces set to a viola and a piano, and excerpts from very traditional ballets, as well as pieces choreographed to poetry. Itshowcases pieces that have dancers moving to songs performed by the Princeton Wildcats and Pam Soffer ’15, to name a couple.

In addition to the guest performers from Princeton's campus, Azad and Remez brought in two guest choreographers, Bennyroyce Royon, the artistic director of his own dance company in New York, and Joseph Morrissey, the Director of Artistic Planning and Touring for the Hong Kong Ballet, to direct one piece each. The remaining 19 pieces in the show are all choreographed or staged by PUB’s dancers.

Not only does "Art in Motion" incorporate a wide variety of talent, but it also meets PUB’s missionto make ballet accessible to the members of the Princeton community, according to Remez.

“We are really doing this by bringing in more collaborators, because we are bringing in more people who usually wouldn’t come see ballet,” Remez said. “We are getting the chance to show what we are capable of and to showcase and further the art that’s on campus.”

Azad agreed with Remez’s sentiment, especially considering traditional perceptions of ballet.

“We also really want to change people’s stereotypical idea of what they think ballet is because the ballet world is often perceived as a very traditional art form, and that’s not true at all anymore,” Azad said.

Azad and Remez explained that a lot of major ballet companies do more contemporary and interesting work that people do not always notice. By bringing in artists that one would not associate with ballet performances, PUB strives to provide acontemporary twist to ballet.

“Art in Motion” is longer than PUB’s previous performances, lasting an hour-and-a-half. Traditionally, PUB shows are one hour long. Putting on a longer production, on top of incorporating modern twists to ballet, has not been without its challenges. Azad and Remez agreed that performing to live music can be challenging, because live music is always a little different from the actual recording.

“Live music always brings something new,” Remez said. “A lot of our dances haven’t really done that much to live music before so we are getting used to that.”

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Azad stressed that coordinating all the artists involved was challenging.

“There is also the coordination with all the different groups of people,” Azad said.

The co-presidents are excited for the Princeton community to see this production, as they hope it will be memorable because of the collaborations with other artists.

“We are so thrilled to be incorporating these other artists into our show and showing what the art community on campus is capable of,” Remez said.

Azad built on that, highlighting what makes “Art in Motion” so different.

“I think there are a lot of mediums on campus that showcase all the different art groups individually but a lot of them don’t encourage putting these different art forms together,” Azad said.