State Street Shuffle: Ballet Blossoms Anew

The twist is decidedly not part of the ballet repertoire, but State Street Ballet has done some shakin’ for its 30th season, the first one to be entirely programmed without the supervising hand of founding director Rodney Gustafson. New artistic director Megan Philipp and executive director Cecily MacDougall – who worked with Gustafson for more than a decade – have now been handed the helm to steer State Street through its next era. 

The pair have put together the 2024-25 offerings, which in March will feature the homegrown company’s first full-length world premiere since 2019 in The Little Mermaid, with original choreography by Philipp and MacDougall, and close out in May with State Street’s first foray into performing works by famous choreographers withGeorge Balanchine’s Who Cares? and Birthday Variations by Joffrey Ballet’s Gerald Arpino. 

But first there’s this weekend’s performances of two repertoire pieces, Scheherazade (2014) and The Firebird (2013), which return to the Granada, linking the old with the new and honoring some longtime SSB heroes. Scheherazade, with choreography by frequent SSB collaborator Autumn Eckman, was first envisioned by the company’s managing director Tim Mikel, who wrote the libretto as a variation on the classic story, while The Firebird, the classic Russian fairy tale of good vs. evil, features dramatic choreography by William Soleau, the NYC choreographer who also served as SSB’s co-artistic director. 

Both Mikel and Soleau are also scaling back their associations with State Street. 

“We’re excited with our new fresh energy, but we are standing on the shoulders of giants,” Philipp explained. “Last year was all Rodney, so we wanted to honor Bill and Tim and to demonstrate that what we’re building is an evolution, not a revolution.” 

The two ballets are often connected, not least by their respective scores, because Scheherazade’s Rimsky-Korsakov was a mentor to Firebird’sStravinsky, Philipp said. “They fill the program with a beautiful arc.” 

Both also take place in mystical realms with females serving as the protagonists – which does unintentionally mirror the SSB’s new directorial team. 

“But it’s a performance that even the little boys in the audience are going to enjoy, because there’s a battle in both ballets,” Philipp said. “They’ve got all the pieces to keep everybody on the edge of their seat.”

This will be the first time either piece will be performed to a live score by the Santa Barbara Symphony playing in the theater’s pit, a rare occurrence for the company. 

“It’s a game changer for us,” Philipp said. “Having live music raises the bar. It’s just magic.”