One Thousand Pieces
Music
Philip Glass
(“The Illusionist” from the motion picture soundtrack The Illusionist, 2006; “Tissue No. 7” from the film Naqoyqatsi: Life as War, 2002; “Song VII” from Songs & Poems for Solo Cello, 2007; “Renfield,” “When the Dream Comes,” “Seward Sanatorium,” “The Crypt,” “Renfield in the Drawing Room,” “Carriage Without a Driver,” and “Dr. Van Helsing & Dracula” from the motion picture soundtrack Dracula, 1998; “Etude No. 12” from Etudes for Solo Piano, Book 2: Nos. 11-20, 1994/2012; “Cassandra’s Dream” from the motion picture soundtrack Cassandra’s Dream, 2007; “The Land” from Piano Concerto No. 2: After Lewis and Clark, 2004; Mad Rush, 1979; “Knee Play No. 5” from the opera Einstein on the Beach, 1975)
Choreography
Alejandro Cerrudo
Staging
Ana Lopez & Pablo Piantino
Scenic & Costume Design
Thomas Mika
Lighting Design
Michael Korsch
Duration
70 minutes
Premiere
October 18, 2012; Hubbard Street Dance Chicago
Pacific Northwest Ballet Premiere
March 13, 2020
The 2020 Pacific Northwest Ballet premiere of Alejandro Cerrudo’s One Thousand Pieces is generously underwritten by Susan Brotman.
Program Notes
“For me, a stained glass window is a transparent partition between my heart and the heart of the world. Stained glass has to be serious and passionate. It is something elevating and exhilarating” — Marc Chagall
One Thousand Pieces was created in celebration of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago’s 35th anniversary in 2012. Choreographed by Alejandro Cerrudo, the work was inspired by Marc Chagall’s America Windows, stunning panels of glowing stained glass created by the Russian-French artist and donated to the Art Institute of Chicago in 1977—the same year Hubbard Street was founded—to commemorate America’s bicentennial.
When asked during the creative process why he chose the title One Thousand Pieces, Cerrudo replied, “Literally because of the symbolism of the work, observing how each piece of glass combines to make a whole larger piece made from many individual pieces, the same way human beings come together to create a project. The windows have inspired my choreography, but I’m not intending to teach anyone about this artwork. Instead, it’s my personal interpretation. The set designer, the music by Philip Glass, and the dancers have all inspired me. I’m not trying to tell a story or represent the art. The work will have three sections, and the scenic design is quite abstract, yet I hope everyone will be immersed in the images that will appear and connect them to the windows.”
One Thousand Pieces is the fourth work by Alejandro Cerrudo to be added to Pacific Northwest Ballet’s repertory.
Videos
Artist Biographies
Michael Korsch
Lighting Designer
Michael Korsch is a lighting, projection, and scenic designer based in Philadelphia, where he earned his BA in theater at Temple University. He has created hundreds of visual designs for dance, theater, and other live performances around the world. Mr. Korsch has been the resident lighting designer and technical director for Complexions Contemporary Ballet since 1998, the resident lighting designer for Ballet Arizona since 2001, and the lighting and technical director for the Laguna Dance Festival since 2005. He has also designed for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, BalletMet, BalletX, Charlotte Ballet, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Disney Creative Entertainment, English National Ballet, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, MOMIX, Pennsylvania Ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Royal Danish Ballet, Staatsballett Berlin, and Washington Ballet, among others.
Ana Lopez
Stager
Ana Lopez began her formal training at Conservatorio de Danza Diputacion de A Coruña. Upon graduating Isaac Diaz Pardo High School, she continued her training at Centro Internacional de Danza Carmen Roche. Lopez danced with Joven Ballet Carmen Roche, with Compañía Nacional de Danza 2 in works by Nacho Duato and Tony Fabre, and at Ballet Theater Munich under the directorship of Philip Taylor. From 2008 to 2019 she danced with Hubbard Street Dance Chicago where she performed works by choreographers such as Jiri Kylian, Mats Ek, Ohad Naharin, Crystal Pite, William Forsythe, Jorma Elo, Alejandro Cerrudo, and many others. She was named one of Dance Magazineʼs “25 to Watch” in 2012, and in 2017 she was invited to perform in Daniil Simkinʼs Falls the Shadow, a site-specific work choreographed for the Guggenheim Rotunda and commissioned by Work & Process.
Thomas Mika
Set & Costume Designer
Thomas Mika studied opera direction at Hamburger Hochschule für Musik und Theater. He has worked with modern choreographers Alejandro Cerrudo, Edward Clug, Marco Goecke, Leo Mujic, Kevin O’Day, Tim Plegge, Sergej Vanaev, and Jeroen Verbruggen. In classical repertoire Thomas Mika created the designs for Onegin and Romeo and Juliet by John Cranko followed by Lady of the Camellias by Derek Deane, Don Quixote by Alexey Fadeechev and a version by Nina Ananishvili, Romeo and Juliet by Ben van Cauwenbergh, and Swan Lake by Thomas Edur and a version by Eno Peci and Sabrina Sadowska. Thomas Mika has collaborated worldwide with ballet companies such as Stuttgarter Ballett, Staatsballett Berlin, Ballet de Opéra National de Paris, Royal Birmingham Ballet, National Ballet of China, Hong Kong Ballet, Universal Ballet Seoul, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Ballet X Philadelphia, Hungarian National Ballet, Polish National Ballet, Estonian National Ballet, Slovenian National Ballet, Croatian National Ballet, Hessisches Staatsballett Wiesbaden, Ballett Mannheim, Aalto Ballett Theater, and the Royal Ballet of Flanders.
Pablo Piantino
Stager
Pablo Piantino began dancing at the age of 14. His training included private work with Hector Zaraspe and he also studied and performed at both the Colon Theatre School and The Julliard School, where he received his BFA. Mr. Piantino joined the San Francisco Ballet in 1999 and became a member of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago in August 2005.