Vail Dance Festival’s 2018 season begins this month, and the program is designed to give dancers and musicians the opportunity to experiment in new forms and with new partners. “For the 30th-anniversary season, there is a special obligation to present the essence of who we are as a festival,” director Damian Woetzel says. “In that spirit, we have even more new work being developed, even more collaboration and even more new companies taking the stages in our communities.”
There are seven commissions, including a collaboration between New York City Ballet’s resident choreographer Justin Peck and Pulitzer Prize–winning composer Caroline Shaw. “This is a very special commission, since it is the first time we’ve had an official composer in residence,” Woetzel says.
Another highlight will be Michelle Dorrance’s new work for American Ballet Theatre dancers and other festival artists. “Michelle is a creative engine whose energy infects the whole festival,” Woetzel says, noting that this collaboration is one of three co-commissions between the festival and ABT.
This is the first season that ABT, Alonzo King LINES Ballet and Ballet Hispánico will perform, and additional commissions include work from Lil Buck, Lauren Lovette, Silas Riener and Rashaun Mitchell, Claudia Schreier and, in her choreographic debut, NYCB principal Tiler Peck.
“I try to do things in Vail that can’t be seen elsewhere,” Woetzel says. “It’s dancers who ordinarily wouldn’t work together, new collaborations, different types of musicians in unusual situations, even onstage participating in the choreography. What we are looking for is an experience that is unique—as unique as the beautiful venues in which we perform it.”
Woetzel has led Vail Dance Festival since 2007 and has big plans for its future: “More,” he says. “There is always a next step—a next step for an individual artist, a choreographer, a company, a musician. You name it, we are looking for something more for everyone, including the audience.”
Vail Dance Festival runs July 28–August 11