Pemberley Ann Olson: Exploring a New Work
- Artist Development, Meet the Artist
By Pemberley Ann Olson, Corps de Ballet
One little-known but important part of the ballet world is the artistic projects that we all do once the ballet repertoire season ends.
We can get hired to guest somewhere, or perform for a special event representing the Company, and these gigs can be all over the world. For me, I went to Harvard! I had the amazing opportunity to choreograph and stage my new piece, five to nine, on the Harvard Ballet Company.
Another little-known ballet fact is that there is indeed a Harvard Ballet Company. From their student body, Harvard forms a Company where they plan, rehearse, and put on performances for their campus and community. The dancers who make up Harvard Ballet are all experienced lifelong trained dancers in classical and contemporary works who made the decision to pursue their academics while continuing their passion for ballet and dance.
Harvard had plans to host a program highlighting themes of “night and nocturne.” When they asked me to create a piece, I already had some ideas in mind. As a very typical happening for choreographers, we always come up with new concepts and save them for the perfect moment. I knew exactly how I wanted to go about this commission, how I wanted to structure the piece, and what I wanted to get out of this experience.
I have been choreographing for the past 8 years now, having started at 15 when I was studying at the San Francisco Ballet School. I was given opportunities from both Helgi Tomasson and Tamara Rojo through Choreographic Fellowships and the Creation House Initiative, started two years ago with the help of Kerry Nicholls. Creation House provided me the chance to create on young dancers in the School and continue my choreographic development further into my career as a Company member. This Harvard commission is the fourth bigger piece I’ve choreographed, three of them being created on the San Francisco Ballet School and Trainee programs.
In early September, I traveled to Cambridge to work with all the dancers there at the Harvard Dance Studios. My piece is about what happens after your typical 9-to-5 job, when nighttime starts to inch in and monotonous work starts to drift away. Danced to simplistic piano and cello, the dancers made it so easy and enjoyable to build my choreography on their numerous strengths. Not only are they beautiful dancers to watch, but also intelligent and helpful in sparking new ideas and inspiration to add to the piece.
A big thank you to Olivia Callander, Emma Nagler, and the entire team at Harvard Ballet for making the weekend one to remember. I happen to know Olivia from my years at San Francisco Ballet School. Olivia is one of our own! And like it is with all of us who are SF Ballet School alumni, we have kept close. Most of the Harvard Ballet dancers I choregraphed on all had connections with me through ballet school years or summer intensives past.
It has been my privilege, my honor to have gotten this opportunity. I was able to travel to Cambridge and work with Harvard Ballet in person at their studios on campus.
It was great to go into those Harvard studios, to meet and greet everyone. And I hope this is truly only the start to more possibilities for young budding choreographers starting out like me. With dancing full-time in the company at SF Ballet and also working on these new projects, I’ve been able to find the perfect routine to fulfill all my creative outlets. I am so excited for the piece to premiere in November and can’t wait to be part of the beauty of Harvard Ballet Company.
And just as important, I feel so privileged to now officially be allowed to wear a Harvard sweatshirt.
