After making its premiere in 2023, Pegasus Contemporary Ballet is bringing back its multi-disciplinary performance series Synergy on June 21 and 22 at the Moody Performance Hall.
The inaugural staging saw rock and jazz fusion blending with dance, and for the second installment, the organizers are incorporating a wholly different sonic palette — percussion, jazz violin and techno are moving to the fore.
“Synergy achieved tremendous success last season, [so] we knew this was something that had to be brought back,” Diana Crowder, artistic director and founder of Pegasus Contemporary Ballet said in a statement. “We hope the audience takes away an appreciation for the creativity and collaboration that occurs as a result of artistic partnerships.
“Synergy exists to expose audiences to new art forms and genres through an accessible, engaging performance that highlights the vibrancy achieved when different artistic mediums collide in a new way.”
Per press materials, the participating artists in this year’s Synergy include Grammy-winning violinist Scott Tixier, who’ll pair with choreographer Michelle Thompson; percussionist and producer Christopher “Chill” Hill, who will collaborate with choreographer Thang Dao, and techno composer-producer Declan James, who will join forces with dancer Daniel Palladino.
Each of the performances is a world premiere commission, and will feature, as last year’s installment did, live music performed on stage alongside dancers. The mission for this year — and likely future installments; there are plans, per press materials, to bring back Synergy in future years — is as clear as it was last year, when KXT spoke with Crowder ahead of the inaugural event.
“I’m a ballet dancer by training … and I realized that I was very immersed in the dance scene, and didn’t really know that much about the live music scene,” Crowder told KXT in 2023. “I wanted to dive into it, and I knew we had a really rich, beautiful, vibrant music scene here in Dallas, and I wanted to learn more about it. I wanted to explore it, and I wanted to connect with those artists in new ways, because dance and music are so connected as art forms.”
Synergy 2024 at Moody Performance Hall, Dallas. 8 p.m. June 21-22. Tickets are $17-$65.
Preston Jones is a North Texas freelance writer and regular contributor to KXT. Email him at [email protected] or find him on Twitter (@prestonjones). Our work is made possible by our generous, music-loving members. If you like how we lift up local music, consider becoming a KXT sustaining member right here.
