Photos: American Ballet Theatre performing Children’s Songs Dance. © Rosalie O’Connor
Children's Songs Dance
Choreography: Jessica Lang
Creative Associate: Kanji Segawa
Music: Chick Corea, Children's SongsCostume Design: Jillian Lewis
Lighting Design: Nicole Pearce
Length: 18 minutes
Number of Dancers: 7
Commissioned by American Ballet Theatre Studio Company, Artistic Director Sascha Radetsky.
"These young dancers brought Lang’s inventive choreography, set to piano pieces by Chick Corea (played live by Emily Wong), to nuanced life. And given the bombast and emotional intensity of the rest of the programming, these quiet dances were the hardest sell on the bill. No matter, Lang and her cast drew you into their engrossing world. “Children’s Songs” is like a moodier version of Jerome Robbins’s “2 & 3 Part Inventions.”
- Faye Arthurs, Fjord Review, August 21, 2022
"Lang’s ballet has retained a breezy gentleness, one that reflects the clarity and gentle simplicity of Corea’s piano pieces. Each of the short sections has a movement theme: a skating step in the first, a quick series of piqués in another, an arm movement, up and down, reflecting a two-note figure in the music, in another. Entrances and exits are deftly handled, as is the arithmetic of the stage. A trio becomes a quartet, a duet becomes a solo, and then morphs into a trio. The fluidity of these additions and subtractions is a tribute to Lang’s craft, as is the way she shows the dancer’s refined technique."
-Marina Harss, Fjord Review, October 28, 2022
This ballet was commissioned to celebrate 20 years since Jessica Lang's first creation for the company.
American Ballet Theatre Studio Company World Premiere (Digital) June 3, 2021
Performance History:
ABT Studio Company
November 9, 2021 in Farmington, NM
November 11, 2021 in Santa Fe, NM
November 13, 2021 in Alburquerque, NM
March 25, 2022 in Glen Ellyn, IL
March 26, 2022 in Detroit, MI
April 1, 2022 in Concord, NH
June 9-10, 2022 in London, England
American Ballet Theatre:
August 9, 10 and 13, 2022 in New York, NY (BAAND Festival)
October 28 - 29, 2022 in New York, NY (Koch Theater)
October 23 + 27, 2024 in New York, NY (Koch Theater)