BalletNext will fly “Beyond the Swan” when it takes the stage Monday at the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center’s Leona Wagner Black Box Theater in Salt Lake City. Park City’s resident dance company will perform “Swan Lake” a 50-minute, no-intermission production that spotlights innov ative choreography to the music of Gerard McMann, Devotchka and Billie Eilish, said Michele Wiles, BalletNext founder and artistic director. “I’m excited for this one,” she said. “The core of it is the classical technique — that’s the real strength. We then put in contemporary elements, movements and feelings, and when you add the technique, it all becomes explosive.” Another secret is “simplifying things and having a group of committed dancers,” Wiles said. “I have collaborated with flex dancers and jazz musicians, communities, choreographers and institutions and have done everything from sign-language ballets and different styles with different music for the past 16 years with BalletNext,” she said. “I think I’m at this point where I’m taking all I’ve learned from all of that and incorporating that into a production that’s filled with energy and visceral storytelling.” Wiles feels like BalletNext is writing these types of productions from the gut, trusting her 31 years of dance experience. “I have the hardcore 15 years with American Ballet Theatre and 16 years of BalletNext, which all takes me back to the ground truth, which is hard work, plain and simple,” she said. The production will feature Wiles, BalletNext resident dancer Matthew Helms and guest dancers Sienna Hopper from the Olympic Ballet Theatre in Washington and Bashaun Williams.  BalletNext’s pre-professionals — Courtney Rich, Charli Adams and Julia Scherbel — will round out the cast. Monday’s concert isn’t the first time these dancers have performed “Beyond the Swan,” Wiles said. “We did a preview in March at my home studio, and it was received so well,” she said. “We had a school matinee, and then the night show totally sold out.” After the bows, several audience members approached Wiles. “They told me that this was one of our most bold and innovative programs,” she said. Wiles is ready to move “Beyond the Swan” to the Wagner stage. “I like traveling down to Salt Lake because it’s like I’m on tour,” she said with a laugh. “But seriously, each venue has its own vibe. I can’t say one venue is better than the other, but I think they inform each other at the same time.” The home studio showings are very compressed, according to Wiles. “The audience is so close, and I get such a reaction because they feel they are actually in the production and feeling it with us,” she said. “I love when people come and say that, though they didn’t know the story of ‘Swan Lake,’ they felt like they did because of how we did it and how we chose the music to express the feelings of the white swan, the black swan and the intensity of the (evil sorcerer) Von Rothbart.” On the other hand, the Leona Wagner Black Box gives off a different kind of energy, Wiles said. “We also get to expand the ballet (spacing) and let it breathe,” she said. “It’s also fun to see what happens when we have more room, and it’s fun to see how the lifts evolve and how the dancers evolve within the production.” Wiles has seen familiar faces in Salt Lake City audiences during past BalletNext performances.  “There are a bunch of people who see us in the studio and then go see us downtown because, they tell me, it’s like seeing a whole different ballet,” she said.  BalletNext: ‘Beyond the Swan’ When: 6:30 p.m. Monday Where: Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center’s Leona Wagner Black Box, 138 W. Broadway, Salt Lake City Tickets: tinyurl.com/4xdym3j8 Web: balletnext.org Note: The audience is invited to stay for a post-performance Q and A with the dancers The post BalletNext considers ‘Beyond the Swan’ a feather in its cap appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less