{"id":2275671,"date":"2026-02-10T12:22:34","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T12:22:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2275671"},"modified":"2026-02-10T12:22:34","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T12:22:34","slug":"madison-ballet-defies-convention-with-shoulder-rolls-and-combat-boots-entertainment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/madison-ballet-defies-convention-with-shoulder-rolls-and-combat-boots-entertainment\/","title":{"rendered":"Madison Ballet defies convention with shoulder rolls and combat boots | Entertainment"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Ballet on the stage is as graceful as it gets. The dancers appear to be as light as a feather, executing pirouettes and jetes with immense poise, never breaking a visible sweat.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the close quarters of Madison Ballet\u2019s studios on Odana Road, things look different.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Madison Ballet dancers rehearse at the company’s Odana Road studio.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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As the company prepares for its mixed repertory program \u201cRe: Focus Pointes of View,\u201d opening this weekend in Overture Center\u2019s Promenade Hall, nothing hides the dancers\u2019 flushed cheeks and perspiration. Performers wear shredded tights and ripped pointe shoes, torn apart from hours of being dragged, lifted and spun around in practice.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When not making the floor shake with their leaps and lands, dancers sit on the sidelines nursing their blistered and bandaged feet.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Madison Ballet Ja’Malik works with dancer Charlotte Junge during a rehearsal for the upcoming performance \u201cRe: Focus – Pointes of View\u201d at Madison Ballet.<\/p>\n

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\u201cLast week, a dancer busted their lip open after slipping on the floor, and another\u2019s head collided with their partner\u2019s teeth during a lift,\u201d said Ja\u2019 Malik, Madison Ballet\u2019s artistic executive\u00a0director and one of four choreographers behind the upcoming show.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cRe:Focus\u201d is an anthology show, spotlighting traditional ballet techniques performed in various, nontraditional ways from gender swapping to boot stomping.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOur performers get concussions and dance with hurt ankles and damaged knees,\u201d Ja\u2019 Malik said. \u201cThey don\u2019t get paid a lot but they kill themselves to be here because they love it. Even if you don\u2019t like the music and ballet isn\u2019t your thing, still see the show just to appreciate the athleticism.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Dancers Dana Sheldon and Sarah Martin rehearse for the upcoming performance \u201cRe:Focus – Pointes of View\u201d at Madison Ballet.<\/p>\n

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When ballet gets flirty<\/h3>\n

There are five different ballets in the 95-minute show, including three Madison premiers: Heinz Poll\u2019s \u201cSchubert Waltzes\u201d exploring different stages of love to the tunes of Franz Schubert; Tom Mattingly\u2019s explosive \u201cFlight\u201d with music by Oliver Davis; and Ja\u2019 Malik\u2019s \u201cVariations on a Grosso.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cVariations on a Grosso\u201d is a new rendition on Ja\u2019 Malik\u2019s 2013 ballet, accompanied by Baroque Italian composer Arcangelo Correli\u2019s call-and-response music.<\/p>\n

The ballet is now 13 minutes longer and 80% is brand new choreography. Classic turns and pirouettes are accompanied by flirty butt bumps and shoulder rolls. It\u2019s like Jane Austen produced a saucy ballet influenced by catwalk model moves.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of these ballets are very contemporary, some are neoclassical,\u201d said Ja\u2019 Malik, who has a second ballet in \u201cPointes of View\u201d called \u201cAgap\u00e9,\u201d focused on exploring vulnerability between two men in traditional ballet skirts.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Ja’ Malik (right) works with dancers Eric Stith and Dana Sheldon at Madison Ballet. Ja’ Malik choreographed\u00a0 \u201cVariations on a Grosso.\u201d\u00a0The ballet is now 13 minutes longer and 80% is brand new choreography.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\u201cVariations on a Grosso,\u201d he said, was influenced by Baroque-era dances.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI was watching \u2018The Tudors\u2019 at the time and was obsessed with movies like \u2018Elizabeth\u2019 and the documentaries about Mary and Anne Boleyn,\u201d he said. \u201cIn those days, flirtations were all done with the bosom because these big dresses covered up so much. I wanted to explore what these movements would look like in ballet with more leg showing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cVariations\u201d is a sensuous number, where dancers have their eyes locked on either each other or the audience while striking beautiful poses celebrating the art of ballet and the athletic capabilities of the body. The quick and witty additions of hip pops amidst the elegant formality in the dance are delightful, designed to subvert expectations.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe also have moments where not all of the movements are synched up,\u201d Ja\u2019 Malik said. \u201cThere are moments of unison but there are times we break out of that. It\u2019s how we keep the audience awake and interested even when things are very tranquil.\u201d<\/p>\n

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At Madison Ballet, Richard Walters’ “Weibermacht” shows dancers swapping pointe shoes in favor of combat boots. \u201cWe call ballet shoes \u2018boots\u2019 so it\u2019s a bit of a play on that,\u201d Walters said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Ballerinas in combat boots<\/h3>\n

Few \u201cPointes of View\u201d works subvert expectations more than School of Madison Ballet principal and rehearsal director Richard Walters\u2019 humorous \u201cWeibermacht.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The ballet is performed by an all female ensemble and \u201ckicks off\u201d with ballerinas trying to break out of their pointe shoes. At one point in the piece, a\u00a0ballerina dressed in a knee-length tulle skirt\u00a0attempts to teach another female dancer in a blazer and combat boots how to perform traditional ballet moves from rond de jambes (a circular movement with one leg) to assembles (a side jump, where your legs meet in the air).\u00a0<\/p>\n

Eventually, the entire stage is filled with ballerinas stomping in the boots. It\u2019s very reminiscent of Charlie Chaplin humor, mixed with female empowerment.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Dancers rehearse for the upcoming performance, \u201cRe:Focus – Pointes of View\u201d at Madison Ballet.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe word \u2018Weibermacht\u2019 actually means \u2018power of women\u2019 in German,\u201d Walters said. \u201cMozart’s music goes so well with it because it\u2019s got these moments of big vibrancy and power but also moments where it\u2019s just these little flutes. It\u2019s almost cartoonish \u2026 but it\u2019s a lot about disruption and changing the view of what it means to be a female dancer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe also call ballet shoes \u2018boots\u2019 so it\u2019s a bit of a play on that as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

The dancers themselves were not used to attempting pointed-toe ballet techniques in flat-footed boots.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt took a while for them to get the hang of turning in those shoes,\u201d Walters said. \u201cBut they\u2019ve all been having a lot of fun, poking at these stereotypes, and have helped to make this performance so enjoyable.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

While \u201cPointes of View\u201d is focused more on changing views of technique rather than portraying inspiring messages, both Ja\u2019 Malik and Walters encourage attendees \u2014 both avid ballet fans and otherwise \u2014 to \u201cfind something in the dance that reminds you of you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t have to be deep,\u201d Walters said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI watch Richard\u2019s ballet and think, \u2018That\u2019s just me struggling on a Monday,\u201d Ja\u2019 Malik added. \u201cAnd Tom\u2019s ballet is me on a weekend, feeling easy and breezy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no wrong way to connect with art. We just want you to stay awake and stay interested.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source captimes.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ballet on the stage is as graceful as it gets. The dancers appear to be as light as a feather, executing pirouettes and jetes with immense poise, never breaking a visible sweat.\u00a0 In the close quarters of Madison Ballet\u2019s studios on Odana Road, things look different.\u00a0 Madison Ballet dancers rehearse at the company’s Odana Road […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2275672,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2275671","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Madison-Ballet-defies-convention-with-shoulder-rolls-and-combat-boots.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2275671","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2275671"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2275671\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2275673,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2275671\/revisions\/2275673"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2275672"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2275671"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2275671"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2275671"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}