♪♪ Funding for Of Gravity and Light is provided by, Friends, the Iowa PBS Foundation as well as generations of families and friends who feel passionate about the programs they watch on Iowa PBS.

♪♪ Beau Kenyon: Of Gravity and Light is an interdisciplinary stage performance of contemporary ballet, new music and large-scale projection.

♪♪ Beau Kenyon: And through those three disciplines, we're exploring the science of the solar system, both as a science itself but also as a metaphor to better understand our humanity and how we connect with each other.

♪♪ Tom Mattingly: Our amazing composer, Beau Kenyon, has created this wonderful score, which examines those different scientific concepts in a really stunning way.

It is in eight movements.

Each movement has a distinct inspiration behind the music, which has then inspired the scenic design, which has inspired the choreography.

♪♪ Tom Mattingly: Everything is really rooted back to this amazing score.

♪♪ Beau Kenyon: The idea that gravity is a force that weighs us down but it also helps us to stand upright, it also helps us to lift other people up.

♪♪ Beau Kenyon: Thinking about ballet, thinking about dance, but also metaphorically what does that mean?

And then when I started really pulling in just the concept of light it really added this interesting cross section to me and the story that was going to be told on stage of really these two elements that help us move through the world but also shape our perception of the world.

♪♪ Tom Mattingly: It's very interesting to play with dancer bodies, how gravity pulls them towards each other and then kind of can slingshot them apart when you lose that tension.

There is a push and pull in Movement III of the ballet based on the gravitational pull of the moon affecting the tides on the Earth.

It creates these beautiful ocean tides that are ever-changing, ever moving.

♪♪ Beau Kenyon: I really hope that people leave with a sense of wonder or a sense of curiosity, that I'm not necessarily creating a contemporary ballet that is explainy, that is trying to explain and teach the science of solar eclipse.

♪♪ Beau Kenyon: But it's more about the human connection, this bigger feeling of this is a universal experience that we all experience gravity, we all experience this sort of wonder about the stars at different times in our life.

♪♪ Tom Mattingly: I hope more than anything that people are surprised pleasantly by what they see.

There is no right way to experience the ballet, there is no wrong way to experience the ballet, it is the nature of art to be subjective and to be interpreted.

And I hope that audiences feel free to consider the work and come away with their own interpretation.

♪♪ And now, from the Des Moines Civic Center, Ballet Des Moines presents Of Gravity and Light.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ (whispers) (whispers) ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ (whispers) ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ (whispers) ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ (whispers) ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ (applause) (applause) ♪♪ Beau Kenyon: To me it started with the concept of really wanting to explore not just the solar system and the sort of wonder and magic and awe that is the solar system and the stars, but really wanting it to be the science as a foundational element.

♪♪ Greg Oakes: I sometimes tell people that I'm really as much of a clarinet scientist as I am an artist.

♪♪ Yu-Wen Wu: I think scientists and artists are very much alike.

I think that we pose questions and then we go into this process of researching.

It's all about this kind of relationship that we have together, it's collaborative.

Catherine Girardi: We would talk about what each part of the show is about, what kind of feelings we wanted to invoke.

♪♪ Catherine Girardi: And how we were physically going to do those things.

♪♪ Catherine Girardi: Every moment that we experience with our eyes open is about light.

Everything that we can see is because light is bouncing off of it.

♪♪ Ann Cravero: The composition in itself is made up of instruments and voice.

So we have two violins, we have a cellist, we have a French horn, we have a clarinet, we have a piano, we have a baritone soloist, we have a soprano soloist, we have a choir and then I'm the alto soloist.

The alto is the only vocal part in the first movement of this work.

And the alto is talking about the sense of tidal bulge.

So really what this is referring to is that the Earth's gravitational pull is constantly pulling on a tidal bulge, simply put, the highest point of water on our planet.

And so this sense of pull also creates friction, which then in turn slows down the moon's rotation in orbit where they aligned.

And so this was all very new to me, this was something that the piece really made me think a little bit more deeply about.

Why is the moon always facing the Earth?

♪♪ One more time, same spot choir, 348 in your score.

Tim McMillin: Beau has been referring to the role that I play as conductor as being the gravitational center in this solar system that we have created.

I think that's a great compliment, but really I view my role as keeping together all of these moving parts and I stand in awe of the work that Beau has done.

In the first movement there is a great moment that is cello and clarinet.

There is this continual undulation as though one planet is spinning at one speed and another celestial body is spinning at a different speed and yet it all continues to come together.

♪♪ ♪♪ Ann Cravero: There's also unique uses of sound that aren't via instrumentation, they're more creations of sounds.

Greg Oakes: There's turning pages.

That sound of -- Greg Oakes: Or there's lighting a match -- next to a microphone.

So you hear these sounds and it is liberating the idea of music from just I play this note at this time.

And instead we are experiencing what are all these sounds?

And that starts to blur the idea of what is music, what are you listening to?

Greg Oakes: I can make this sound.

How does that integrate in there?

Which is something that we did in this movement with the French horn, the clarinet.

Beau sat down with us and said hey, those were really cool sounds that I heard in this movement here.

Can we do something more with that?

Do you like that register?

I do.

Greg Oakes: For me, the fact that the music is living and growing as we're creating it, no one has heard this before and so we're not trying to match a standard, but instead we're trying to create something exciting and interesting.

♪♪ Ann Cravero: No one has ever rehearsed it before.

No one has ever performed it before.

There's no recordings of this particular piece.

For me I really like the process that it has never been done.

I just think there is such a creative freedom that you're given with regard to that because, again, there is no former recording of it so no one is expecting you to sound a certain way, to be presenting it a certain way.

It's up to your creativity what color choices you use.

I do like it when you have a little tiny bit of vibrato at the end of that just to kind of like taper off.

Ann Cravero: What is also exciting is you're working with a living composer.

There is someone there, you have a guide on your journey.

You have a guide that you can ask, well how did you think about this phrase?

Could you hear a breath in here?

♪♪ Tom Mattingly: When it comes to choreography I am a firm believer that you should see the music when you're watching the dance.

Beau's music for Of Gravity and Light is beautiful and at times it feels very avant-garde and it feels very experimental and that has been interesting for me as a choreographer because it allows me to experiment myself.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Ann Cravero: It really is unique in that we are bringing two different disciplines together.

We're bringing the music discipline together with the discipline of science.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ (applause & cheering) Funding for Of Gravity and Light is provided by Friends, the Iowa PBS Foundation, as well as generations of families and friends who feel passionate about the programs they watch on Iowa PBS.

♪♪