This week, musical artist Solange debuted the original score she wrote for part of the New York City Ballet’s Fall Fashion Gala at Lincoln Center. The music was written for a show titled Play Time and choreographed by Gianna Reisen. The show will be running in October and again in May. The music is being performed by the City Ballet Orchestra and a soloist from her ensemble.
On Saturday, October 1, Solange’s sister, Beyoncé, celebrated this major accomplishment by sharing photos on her Instagram timeline and videos in her Stories of their evening at the ballet taking in the show and Solange’s musical score.
“My beloved sister, there are no words to express the pride and admiration I have for you,” Beyoncé wrote. “You are a visionary and one of one. Congratulations on being the first African American woman to compose for the New York City Ballet. The piece you composed is phenomenal. I love you deep.”
She added, “Might I suggest you don’t f*** with my sis.”
Solange also shared some photos on her Instagram page, showing herself posing at Lincoln Center, riding in the back of a limo with friends, a page of the musical notation from her score, and a shot of herself with her sister and their mother, Tina Knowles.
She captioned the carousel, “heart so fulll.”
In an interview with All Arts, Reisen described the score, saying, “There’s a lot of nuance to it. It’s exciting, for sure. That’s what I wanted; I wanted something that would kind of keep the audience on their toes.”
She added that she hopes the new music and approach to production since COVID-19 will inspire a new audience to discover NYC’s world of ballet.
“I think that the most exciting thing is getting new people to come and experience ballet,” she said. “It’s not just ’Sleeping Beauty’ and stuff like that. There are a lot of people that have that kind of mentality [of] ‘Why would I ever go to the ballet?’ It’s like, no, I promise you. There’s cool stuff happening at the ballet.”
Aimée Lutkin is the weekend editor at ELLE.com. Her writing has appeared in Jezebel, Glamour, Marie Claire and more. Her first book, The Lonely Hunter, will be released by Dial Press in February 2022.
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