Blake Works I

Blake Works I is a plotless, abstract ballet with no narrative story, characters, or events. It unfolds as a suite of seven contained dance numbers - solos, duets, a trio, and ensemble passages - each set to one song from James Blake's album The Colour in Anything, moving from a full-cast opening through increasingly intimate configurations to a hip-hop-inflected male showcase and a closing romantic duet. Forsythe built the piece around the Paris Opera Ballet's own classical training and French school technique, conceived as a celebration of the affinity between contemporary pop music and classical ballet structure, and described by critics as a love letter to the generation of dancers who premiered it.