Tiler Peck, principal dancer for the New York City Ballet, choreographed her first ballet there, âConcerto for Two Pianos,” and found it a joyful new way to lead the dancers.
âI have never been so nervous and excited at the same time,â Peck told The Associated Press. âNormally when thereâs a performance, you know, I get a little nervous. But mostly, I know I can count on myself, but this is putting it in other dancersâ hands, and I have to just hold and have hope, and just trust in them that they will pull through.â
Sometimes itâs difficult to manage your peers in a new role, but Peck says the transition was easy.
âI have so much joy and respect for them that I think it was⦠honestly just the best process,â Peck said. âI looked forward to it every single day.â
The most satisfying part was mentoring the dancers and seeing their skills improve.
âWhat I was hoping for more than anything was to inspire them as dancers and to give them tools that they could use in all of their ballets throughout their career, not just my ballet,â Peck said.
âWhether it be how to shape your foot when youâre running⦠things that they could carry over that I normally donât get to say to them because I donât want to overstep my place,” she said. “But here, I said everything Iâve ever wanted to say to be helpful, and I see it translating into their other work.â
Designer Zac Posen is a friend and a natural fit to design the costumes for Peckâs debut. Posenâs husband, Harrison Ball, was a dancer for New York City Ballet, so he knows the space and how to design for dancersâ movement.
Posen proposed that most of the dancers be in shades of blue and gray, with a pop of red for the lead female dancer.
The idea was to juxtapose âthe rich and dark, dark crimson that can change color, and next to kind of a sea of like eight or nine different shades of inky blues, like morning glories at midnight, moving,â he said. “And then the men in these beautiful slate, simple grays, just so you can see their line and form.â
âConcerto for Two Pianosâ is playing at the New York City Ballet through Feb. 24.