By Steve Sucato

Hot off the heels of their memorable performances of Trey McIntyre’s Peter Pan in February, BalletMet continues its 48th season with For the Love of Dance, March 20-28, 2026, at the Davidson Theatre at The Riffe Center Theatres in Columbus.

The mixed-repertory program features a world premiere and two Columbus premieres, including renowned Russian-Ukrainian-American choreographer Alexei Ratmansky’s “Seven Sonatas.”

Ratmansky, the former Director of Russia’s Bolshoi Ballet and current resident choreographer for New York City Ballet, created “Seven Sonatas” in 2009 for American Ballet Theatre. It is danced to seven of Ratmansky’s favorite keyboard sonatas by Italian baroque period composer Giuseppe Domenico Scarlatti. 

A rarity for a company of BalletMet’s modest size to perform one of Ratmansky’s ballets, the company is doing so thanks to BalletMet Artistic Director Remi Wörtmeyer’s prior working relationship with the choreographer.  

“I have known Remi for a long time,” says Ratmansky. “We worked together in Australia and Amsterdam, and he wanted ‘Seven Sonatas’ to add to BalletMet’s repertory. I guess it is the ballet’s use of live music, and that it showcases the classical technique of the dancers that drew him to it.”

For Ratmansky, the inspiration for the ballet was Scarlatti’s music.

“It’s gorgeous music,” says Ratmansky. “The craftsmanship of the compositions is very complex rhythmically and harmonically, and astonishing. In contemporary art, it is rare to see that level of craftsmanship because ideas mostly drive artists today.”

The creative process for the 37-minute piece for six dancers (three couples) leaned into its musical complexity while following a pattern similar to the creation of many of his ballets.

“I usually come into the studio with ideas and teach the dancers the steps, then the work develops from there,” says Ratmansky. “Together we find the colors that bring it to life.”

“Seven Sonatas” has been performed by several different ballet companies around the world since 2009, and Ratmansky says that with each new cast, he tries to make the dancers feel that the ballet was made for them. 

“It is important to me that we can see who the dancers are in it and that they are not hiding behind the steps,” says Ratmansky. “The ballet is abstract with no narrative, but it’s not blank; it tells you something, as do the dancers’ personalities and movements in it. The choreography reflects the music and its moods.”

While “Seven Sonatas” comes with no definitive narrative, Spanish choreographer Juanjo Arqués’ “Ignite” (2018), set to music by English composer Kate Whitley, takes its inspiration from British painter William Turner’s “The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons” in 1834. Of which, Turner created two major versions, one of which is housed at the Cleveland Museum of Art.

Dense with fiery colors and a turbulent atmosphere, the paintings, painted in an impressionistic style, depict the Houses of Lords and Commons engulfed in flames from different vantage points. “Ignite” is said to “follow Turner’s use of color to convey the magnificent light and heat of the burning building while taking the audience on a dynamic color journey.” 

Rounding out For the Love of Dance is the world premiere of BalletMet dancer Leiland Charles’ “Divide and Conquer.”

The third piece Charles has created for BalletMet’s main company, the 21-minute ballet for four couples, is danced to music by Belgian composer Wim Mertens.

“It is inspired by instances of compartmentalization in our day-to-day lives,” says Charles. “In some ways, it also represents how our brains deal with the shifting of numerous emotions throughout a given stretch of time.”

For the costuming of the ballet, Charles partnered with Columbus College of Art & Design student Lily Murchie. Part of that costuming is face masks that the dancers wear. 

“When held up to the dancers’ faces, the masks represent how we all go through the same concept of compartmentalization in life,” says Charles. “When removed, we see the uniqueness of each person, showing that we are all different in the way that we cope with compartmentalization.”

BalletMet presents For the Love of Dance, March 20-28, 2026, Davidson Theatre at The Riffe Center Theatres, 77 S High St, Columbus, Ohio. Tickets range from $40.65 to $85.80 (before fees) and are available online at balletmet.org, by phone at (614) 229-4848, and in-person at the CAPA Ticket Center, 39 E. State St., Columbus, Ohio.