Watch the commission and conversation
Madeline Hollander’s 52 Final Bows premiered on September 14, 2021. Watch it below.
David Hallberg joined Madeline Hollander for a live conversation on Zoom on October 12, 2021.
About this commission
In Madeline Hollander’s video, 52 Final Bows, the artist collaborates with former American Ballet Theatre principal dancer David Hallberg to spotlight 52 iconic bows and their unique, albeit subtle choreographies. The piece features bows from roles Hallberg has performed throughout his career, as well as signature bows associated with various choreographers, dance styles, schools, and instructors. The work serves both as a collective requiem for all of the missed endings, absent applause, and canceled performances over the past year due to the pandemic as well as an official closing to Hallberg’s onstage career, as he was unable to perform his farewell role in Giselle that had been scheduled for 2020.
Hollander joined the Shed family of artists as a member of the first cohort of Open Call participants. When her 2020 performance was delayed due to the pandemic, she re-envisioned a version of her commission for a virtual audience.
52 Bows is commissioned by The Shed with the support of Performa.
Conversation Participants
David Hallberg was a principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre and the Bolshoi Ballet, a principal guest artist with the Royal Ballet, and resident guest artist with the Australian Ballet. He is the author of a critically acclaimed memoir, A Body of Work: Dancing to the Edge and Back. He made history in 2011 when he became the first American to join the Bolshoi Ballet under the title premier dancer.
Hallberg danced every major full-length classical ballet, along with works by the major choreographers of the 20th and 21st centuries. He performed as a guest artist with the Mariinsky Ballet, the Paris Opéra Ballet, Teatro alla Scala, the Tokyo Ballet, Teatro Colon Buenos Aires, Kiev Ballet, Royal Swedish Ballet, Bayreische Staatsoper Ballet, Opera di Roma, and Georgian State Ballet among others.
In November 2011, Hallberg performed The Sleeping Beauty, the first ballet performance to reopen the newly renovated Bolshoi Theatre, which was broadcast through cinemas to 60 countries around the world. He won the prestigious Benois de la Danse Prize for Best Male Dancer in 2010, for his performance as Albrecht in Giselle with American Ballet Theatre. He established the David Hallberg Scholarship to mentor aspiring male dancers at American Ballet Theatre’s Studio Company and Ballet Arizona. He has also created and directs ABT INCUBATOR, a workshop encouraging creation by emerging choreographers.
In 2021, David Hallberg became the eighth artistic director of the Australian Ballet.
Production Credits
Directed by Madeline Hollander
Featuring David Hallberg, Artistic Director of the Australian Ballet and former American Ballet Theatre principal dancer
Jack Pearce, Videographer
Sasha Okshteyn, Producer
Madeline Hollander, Editor