HQ Review: Saint Louis Ballet presents FEELS LIKE BROADWAY
Saint Louis Ballet’s recent production, Feels Like Broadway, presented at the Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center, ambitiously sought to bridge the worlds of classical ballet and the showmanship of Broadway’s golden age. Featuring works by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, and Christopher Wheeldon, the program leveraged some of the biggest names in ballet to explore where these two categories converge and contrast. While the evening showcased moments of brilliance, particularly in Wheeldon’s Carousel (A Dance), it also highlighted a shared conservative approach to gender, sexuality, and romance.
The evening’s opener, Interplay, melded classical ballet vocabulary with mid-century pedestrian movements. The choreography was notable for its inventive partnering, especially a duet performed by Michael Burke and Zoe Middleton. In it, dancers fused their bodies, spiraling around each other, creating shapes that resembled barbershop poles or the corkscrewing of water flowing in just the right current.
Challenging the otherwise grounded work were the multiple double tour en l’air performed throughout the piece. As a former dancer myself, I understand that these are some of the most demanding steps that a male ballet dancer can perform. While the men worked hard to complete each rotation, I found myself becoming increasingly on edge with each new attempt. Despite the technical challenge, this piece displayed athleticism and novelty without tipping into spectacle or cliché.
The highlight of the evening was undoubtedly Christopher Wheeldon’s Carousel (A Dance). Set to Richard Rodgers’ lush score, the piece distilled the essence of the original musical into a poignant ballet that resonated deeply with the audience. From the moment the curtain rose, there was a palpable shift in energy, culminating in a noticeably enthusiastic response at the work’s conclusion.
Wheeldon’s choreography was both intricate and emotionally charged. The piece dimly lit and the stage framed by string lights meant to evoke a night-time outdoor setting. Dancers were draped in simple costumes of deep blues and maroons, lending even more mystique to work. The central pas de deux showcased a profound connection between Olivia Cornelius and Ethan Maszer, conveyed not only through their expressive facial interactions but also through subtle physical cues and timing.
The choreography itself was also crafted with specific images in mind. One particularly memorable sequence involved dancers positioned diagonally in pairs, executing a cannon where each woman was propelled downstage by her partner, eventually circling back to leap into his embrace. This segment exemplified the piece’s dynamic structure and the dancers’ impeccable synchronization. There was also a moment in the work where dancers created a human-carousel, complete with gold poles and the illusion of a rotating platform.
The ensemble's performance in Carousel was markedly tighter and more cohesive than in the opening act. The dancers navigated the complex choreography with confidence and grace, fully embodying the romantic and dramatic nuances of the piece. This segment stood out as one of the finest displays of artistry and technique from Saint Louis Ballet in recent memory. It stoked in myself the embers of a deep love for moments where ballet can surprise viewers by somehow alluding to some elusive truths found through the beautification of simple moments
The closing piece of the program adopted a format consisting of successive solos and duets. While each segment aimed to showcase individual talents, the overall structure felt somewhat formulaic coming after Wheeldon’s cerebral masterpiece. It also served to highlight some of classical ballet’s more traditional tendencies.
While the entire program offered moments of real beauty and skill, it also quietly underscored a traditional approach to gender, sexuality, and romance in both ballet and old-school Broadway. Across all three works—each choreographed by men—relationships were rendered through familiar binaries: men as initiators and lifters, women as ethereal and reactive. Romantic expression leaned into convention, favoring the timeworn arc of courtship, rejection, reconciliation and idealized love. Though these choices were likely rooted in the choreographers’ artistic lineage and genre expectations, they left little room for queerness, ambiguity, or alternative narratives. The result was a program that, for all its innovation in movement, still felt anchored in a more narrow emotional and relational framework. As Saint Louis Ballet continues to chart its path as a champion of bold new ideas while conserving the time-tested traditions and conventions of a centuries old art-form, I hope it continues to find new opportunities to explore ballet at the intersection of other cultural touchstones.
Feels Like Broadway was an ambitious endeavor that sought to honor the intersection of ballet and musical theatre, featuring moments of exceptional artistry, particularly in Wheeldon’s masterful Carousel (A Dance). The evening served as a testament to Saint Louis Ballet’s potential and the importance of consistent technical excellence to fully realize such ambitious artistic visions.