(far left) Boston Ballet principal dancer Ji Young Chae, (above) The dome viewing structure PHOTOS: BROOKE TRISOLINI (top and left) Dance films and multimedia artworks are shown inside the viewing structure PHOTOS: ARAM BOGHOSIAN
Boston Ballet multimedia pop-up stops in Grove Hall during ‘Open Streets’
The Boston Ballet’s ÜNI public art installation will pop up in Grove Hall on Aug. 6 as part of the Boston Open Streets Initiative. The installation presents in a dome structure dance films and audio-visual artworks created by the ballet.
The pop-up will showcase seven films, some created specifically for the unique viewing structure. Some of the films are video representations of stage performances, others go more behind-the-scenes such as “Sugar Plum Dream,” which features clips of Black female dancer Chyrstyn Fentroy performing the iconic role from the “Nutcracker” and footage of her discussing the experience.
Fentroy is looking forward
to bringing the ballet into diverse communities and showing children of
color that there are dancers on stage who look like them. “Having a
ballet company with the name of a city, you have to represent the city
that you’re named after,” says Fentroy. “I think it’s important that
everyone on stage looks like the people that are here watching us.”
The
project brings both accessibility and representation to center stage.
ÜNI’s initial pop-up was at the Nubian Square Juneteenth celebration,
and more pop-up dates and locations will be announced after the Grove
Hall event. Creating the ÜNI public art project and its corresponding
online viewing platform enabled the Boston Ballet to keep dancers
employed and performing during the pandemic, jointly benefiting the
company and viewers desperate for cultural experiences.
To
create the installation, the ballet company partnered with MASARY
Studios, a Fort Pointbased group that creates public artworks at the
nexus of technology, performance, sound and light. Caleb Hawkins, design
director at MASARY Studios, says, “Over the course of developing and
designing the work with the team, I’ve been most excited by the
connections the project is able to make — cultural connections between
Boston Ballet and the public, and technical connections between digital
and physical mediums.”
The
ÜNI pop-up experience is completely free and open to the public. On
Aug. 6, it will be on the Grove Hall Open Streets blocks spanning Dudley
Street to Warren Avenue. Closed to traffic, the Open Streets event will
also feature live performances, food trucks, games, local shopping and
community connectivity.
“ÜNI
public art is an incredibly exciting addition to what Boston Ballet has
to offer and is unlike anything any other dance company is doing,” says
Boston Ballet Artistic Director Mikko Nissinen. “Being able to showcase
these innovative dance films in an immersive, pop-up structure allows
us to bring Boston Ballet to communities and meet people where they
are.”
Learn more Explore the ÜNI online platform at uni.bostonballet.org