New Beginnings: NYC Ballet's 9/11 Tribute
/I have no idea how I missed this until today. It resonates so much with me. I spent the morning of 9/11 with my friends and colleagues at American Repertory Ballet getting ready to begin a new season of dance when the news began to pour in. In my mind, in my heart, that morning and dance will forever be linked together.
DDB New York and the New York City Ballet quietly did a wonderful tribute called "New Beginnings," intended as a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and a tribute to the future of the city.
The video shows NYCB principal dancers Maria Kowroski and Ask la Cour performing on the 57th-floor terrace of Four World Trade Center in lower Manhattan. The backdrop, of course, is One World Trade Center. The dancers perform an excerpt from choreographer Christopher Wheeldon's poignant "After the Rain" pas de deux—signifying new beginnings in New York City.
The film, directed by Davi Russo and produced by Radical Media, was posted at sunrise (6:34 a.m. EST) on Sept. 12 to NYCB's social channels, with the hashtag #NewBeginnings. "Our hope is that 9/12 can now be rebranded as a day of optimism and new beginnings," says Matt Eastwood, chief creative officer of DDB N.Y.