The South Carolina Ballet will perform "Motown Ballet," bringing local Columbia artists together, demonstrating the value of collaboration with a timeless piece that takes away misconceptions on what a ballet truly is, according to the ballet's CEO and artistic director, William Starrett.
Starrett is bringing back the South Carolina Ballet’s “Motown Ballet” that has been reworked since it was last on stage in 2024. The ballet showcases new choreography that incorporates elements of classical ballet while exploring jazz, contemporary and hip-hop styles as well.
“What I love about this is, this is the second year that I'm putting Motown back together, and so it keeps evolving, which I really love,” Starrett said. “When you get to rework a ballet, it's really satisfying that you just get to keep improving on it.”
Rodney Foster Jr. will play live with his band, Rod Foster & Company, and said he is honored to play with his band and collaborate with so many local artists.
"It's such a unique experience and a unique opportunity. I'm just honored to be able to have my name be a part with all these other great people,” Foster said.
Starrett said the songs that will be performed are some of his favorites from the Motown era and are like an autobiography to him.
“We have so much incredible talent here in South Carolina, especially in the Midlands, that it's another way of partnering and celebrating human spirit and artists all together,” Starrett said.
South Carolina Ballet's artistic administrator and tour director Brandon Funk is a former South Carolina Ballet dancer and helped choreograph a piece in “Motown Ballet.” The dance Funk choreographed is contemporary-styled and will be performed to the Temptation's “Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me).”
Funk said he uses imagery for the dancer to help them visualize the mood he is trying to create through the dance. He said making someone feel euphoric when watching the dance would be special to him.
"For me, the most important thing is just 'What movement feels right in this music at that moment,'" Funk said. "So, it's not about the story so much as it is about the movement and the joy of that movement."
Costume designer Abby McDowell said adjustments to music and choreography resulted in some costume design changes for the ballet.
The ballet is not a "period piece," so the costumes were not created to tell the Motown story, according to McDowell. The outfits are more centered on the choreographer's preferences and Starrett's vision, she said.
“You're just allowing them to see that beautiful aesthetic for three or four minutes, or however long the piece is,” McDowell said. “They're kind of being transported into a different place, even if it's not a different place in history, even if it's just that three minutes, they're kind of slipping into the choreographer's brain.”
One of the ballet’s most important features is the multimedia used throughout the entire show, Starrett said. The ballet starts with a slideshow featuring the history of Motown and why it is still important today, he said.
“The whole backdrop is sometimes a slide, sometimes a movie, sometimes a combination, and it's all different approaches so that it's never mundane, or boring or the same," Starrett said.
C'Jae Ransom, a company dancer, said a dance she loves is "Stop! In the Name of Love" by the Supremes because of the background featuring the song's musicians dancing and a duet performing on the stage, featuring big lifts and catches.
“Ballet dancers aren't just people that go up in tutus and swirl around every day,” Ransom said. “We actually put in a bunch of work, and we can dance to other styles of music.”
“Motown Ballet” will be performing at Township Auditorium on Sept. 19 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased on the South Carolina Ballet website.