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Since its inception in 2008, "Innovations" has been one of Ballet West's most popular concepts, consistently selling out the 500-seat Jeanné Wagner Theatre for all seven shows. So you might wonder why this is the last year for the performance that taps the talents of company dancers and emerging choreographers for new work.

"We are actually expanding our dedication to new choreographic work," BW artistic director Adam Sklute said. "Next year, we will unveil two programs that focus on developing choreographers and introducing our community to new ballets and ballet companies from around the world — the National Choreographic Festival and Works from Within."

The National Choreographic Festival will be spread over two weekends in May, each featuring two yet-to-be-named guest companies. Additionally, choreographers Val Caniparoli and Nicolo Fonte will premiere new works on Ballet West during the festival. There have even been hints of a Fringe Festival but no confirmed plans. The "Works from Within" program presented in March in Park City will continue as a vehicle for developing the talents of often first-time ​Ballet West dancer-choreographers.

The anticipation of next year hasn't dampened the excitement of "Innovations 2016," opening Friday, May 20, featuring live accompaniment for three of the five pieces, and the Salt Lake premiere of choreographer Jessica Lang's "Lyric Pieces."

Lang is one of the most prolific contemporary ballet choreographers in America today, receiving commissions from Royal Birmingham Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, Ailey II, ABT II, Cincinnati Ballet and Joffrey Ballet — to name a few. In 2011, after two successful runs at New York's Joyce Theater and the renowned summer dance festival Jacob's Pillow, Lang launched her company, Jessica Lang Dance.

Looking back at her 20-year professional trajectory, Lang said: "I graduated from Juilliard one day [in 1997] and the next day I was performing at the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, S.C., in 'Tharp!' "

A first job dancing with Twyla Tharp, one of the most respected and enduring choreographers of a generation, would have been a dream come true for any dancer.

"I went to Juilliard to become a dancer, and I was a dancer touring the world," Lang said. "What I loved about dancing up to that point was the different experiences in varied creative environments — whether it was Agnes DeMille's 'Rodeo' or Glen Tetley's 'Pierrot Lunaire.' And although Twyla is incredibly creative, we were doing the same six pieces in rotation for years."

Lang danced for two more years with "Tharp!" while developing a plan for the future that would satisfy her creative urges. The fulfillment she felt from her successes in her Juilliard composition classes with the famed Bessie Schonberg continued to resonate. Lang said she wasn't a star in the class but "it was a tool box, I was watching and listening and breaking down choreography and honing my eye, learning how to actually see dance."

Lang later began to develop a class for students while on faculty at American Ballet Theatre's Jackie Kennedy Onassis series, where she would "let them play and create and invent on their own bodies without fear of judgment."

Seeing success in her students, Lang went on to develop a methodology called LANGuage, a creative curriculum emphasizing creative thinking through exercise.

"In my process of exploring with ballet dancers, I started exploring with anyone," she said. "What does a choreographer need — you need to be observant, you need to be a leader but you need to follow what's happening in the room. I started to develop other exercises that increased that awareness and then tested it on nondancers."

In 2013 when Jessica Lang Dance Company came to perform in Utah, Park City Institute executive director Teri Orr asked to include the LANGuage creative arts program. Orr later described the process to The Tribune: "Jessica convened a half-day retreat exploring the concept of when to lead and when to follow. We had the school board president, a local singer-songwriter, the CEO of an educational company, an estate manager, the VP of the U.S. Ski Team, a former CFO of a financial company — an eclectic mix of people I thought would spark conversation. Many said it was the most important thing they'd done in a very long time."

Exploring creativity in such broad terms gives Lang a nuanced perspective on the heated topic of gender bias and the lack of women choreographers. She says she prefers "to stop the conversation about where are all the women and I want it to be where are all the good choreographers? Where are we dropping the seed of creativity in anyone's mind in ballet?" —

Ballet West's 'Innovations 2016'

An annual program that explores the newest works by Ballet West dancers and national and international choreographers. This year includes a full-company work by choreographer Jessica Lang.

When • Friday, May 20, through May 28: Thursdays through Saturdays, 7:30 p.m.; May 25, 7 p.m.; May 28, 2 p.m.

Where • Jeanné Wagner Theatre, 138 W. 300 South, Salt Lake City

Tickets • $49.50 to $59.50; artsaltlake.org or 801-869-6900

Program details

"Innovations 2016" opens with "In Memoriam," by Ballet West principal dancer Christopher Ruud, whose fourth premiere for the company will be accompanied by a newly commissioned score for piano and strings by Ballet West associate music director Jared Oaks, who will perform it live alongside a string ensemble.

Three works make up the second act, all of which are by first-time "Innovations" dancer-choreographers: First soloist Christopher Sellars presents "Barre Spot" with music from Erwin Schulhoff, an early 20th-century Czech composer; Corps artist Oliver Oguma presents "Fragments of Simplicity," a zenlike exploration of the role of men and women in ballet, set to the music of Jia Peng Fang, a master of the erhu, a Chinese violin; and "Homer — A Study in Phenomenological Ontology," choreographed by newly named demi-soloist Trevor Naumann, accompanied by another newly commissioned piece of music by Boaz Roberts.

Professional choreographer Jessica Lang presents "Lyric Pieces" to music of Edvard Grieg. The work, originally created for Birmingham Royal Ballet in England in 2012, features large accordion-style set pieces that are moved around the stage to develop new environments for dancers to explore. —

Stepping up

Ballet West recently announced its 2016-17 dancer roster and promotions.

Soloist Chase O'Connell was promoted to principal, skipping the usual step of first-soloist.

Jenna Rae Herrera and Alexander MacFarlan (the couple recently announced wedding plans) were each promoted from the rank of demi-soloist to soloist.

Demi-soloist Katlyn Addison, who received national press for being cast as Ballet West's first African-American Sugar Plum Fairy, is being promoted to soloist.

Demi-soloists Tyler Gum and Katie Critchlow attained the rank of soloists.

Corps de ballet members Trevor Naumann, Joshua Whitehead and Jordan Veit move to the demi-soloist positions.

Former supplemental dancer Amber Miller joins the corps.

Two dancers transitioning from the Ballet West Academy Professional Training Division to Ballet West II are Emily Neale and David Huffmire.

Also joining Ballet West II from a nationwide audition tour by BW artistic director Adam Sklute are Levi Durie, Jake Preece and Alexandra Terry.