Harvard Ballet Company’s spring production On Exhibition created a moving, breathing art museum this past weekend on the Loeb mainstage. Dancers embodied works of visual art, dissolving barriers between static and mobile spheres of art.
On Exhibition opened with ‘self portrayal,’ a number choreographed by producer Amy Benedetto ’23. Dancers ran on stage holding pictures of themselves, admiring their self portraits and dancing with them. Benedetto cites the piece as one of her personal favorite parts of the show. “At the very end we all place our portraits on [the easels], symbolizing the confidence to show off your artwork and to show off yourself. I just love that moment,” she says.
Each number in the show was based on a distinct work of visual art. Director Nina Montalbano explains, “We focused on collaboration with student artists. We wanted our show to be reminiscent of a museum gallery, hence the name On Exhibition.”Producer Caroline Cooper ‘23 accredits the physical and visual hybrid of the show for its uniqueness. “I loved the aspect of adding visual art to dance. Many never think about how visual art can add into movement so I think combining those turned out really beautiful.”
Each semester HBC tries to work with one or two guest choreographers. This semester, they collaborated with renowned Filipino choreographer Francisco Gella, who choreographed a flagship piece of the performance, ‘Still Hungry.’ Based on a drawing of the same name by Harvard student Ava Salzman ’23, the piece was visually stunning and a fan favorite. “Everybody loves this piece,” says one of its male soloists Carter Hayes ’25.
Gella speaks briefly on his process of converting the work of static art to a work of movement. “I interviewed Ava… she was telling me about how everywhere we inhabit is built with this contradiction- between monstrosity and beauty, between composition and decomposition.” This helped me craft all the juxtapositions you saw within the piece,” he says. In particular, one of the notable and extremely unique juxtapositions within the piece was Gella’s choice to put half the dancers in bare feet and half in pointe shoes. “Normally you put everybody in socks/ bare feet or in pointe, but I found this juxtaposition between contemporary and ballet to be interesting because [juxtaposition] is what Ava cited as the inspiration for her art.”
Francisco Gella immigrated to the United States from the Philippines when he was eleven years old, and often his Filipino roots will emerge in his works. “I didn’t start dancing until I was nineteen, but I always had this love of movement.” Gella says. “My Filipino heritage comes out in certain folkloric influences. I learned some folkloric dances when I was younger, and some of those rhythms inadvertently come out in sequences I choreograph.”
Gella notes that his background also gives him a unique perspective on music. “Some people will only hear the harmony of the artist’s voice. I hear the undercurrent of the beat. For me there’s a tendency to look at music in a way that goes back to my island roots. Certain island folkloric movement signatures end up inherently showing up in my work without me even thinking about it.”
‘Still Hungry,’ while certainly dark and gothic like Salzman’s drawing, felt welcoming and comforting—like a celebration of movement and life, in line with Gella’s description of his roots. “The one thing about my people is that there’s a sense of warmth, welcoming, and a love of life, that is inherent even with our catholic upbringing,” he said. “Even if the work is dark, it makes you feel warmth and love.”
For director Montalbano, On Exhibition didn’t feel disjointed, but rather as if you were walking through an art gallery, letting your eyes glide from one piece to the next. Each dance numberpiece transported viewers somewhere new—auditorily and visually. A subsequent number, ‘Coastline,’ choreographed by Talia DeLeo ’25 and based on Chris Bushe’s painting, Rocks, Sand, and Sea Spray, Saligo Bay, effectively took audience members to the sea. Dancers’ movements were reminiscent of ocean waves, blue lights rippled across the stage, and ocean sound effects wove in and out of the music. ‘Coastline’ brings both the serenity and expressiveness in Chris Bushe’s painting to life through dance, and demonstrates the ways in which visual art and ballet can be used together to reflect personal experiences and create connections,” writes DeLeo.
Although Gella enjoys success and recognition in the dance world, his experience as an openly gay and non-white choreographer in the dance world has not been without struggle. He said, “If you look at the ballet world, it is very much led by white men. If you’re not white, you have to fight for your voice to get heard.” Gella speaks on how critical the support he received from mentors of color during streaks of constant rejection was. Gella talks about a specific moment when his mentor, ballerina Joan Myers Brown, said to him: “Francisco, you’re going to get a lot of ‘no’s.’ When the funding runs out, the person of color is the first person they cut out. Do you love what you do?” she asked him. “Yes,” Gella responded. “Then that’s all you need,” Myers affirmed. Now ninety years old, Myers is a living legend in the dance world. She used to take dance class in the basement in New York City, listening to the dance teacher and the music through the pipes.
Gella now passes this advice onto his mentees. “The one thing I tell my students, no matter what ethnicity they are, is to allow your love for the craft to drive you,” he says. Harvard Ballet Company dancers certainly internalized this advice. Gella, audience members, and all of HBC were struck by the dedication the entire company gave On Exhibition to ensure its success on stage.
HBC’s Amy Benedetto ’23 and Caroline Cooper ’23 put together their finale number, ‘Company Moment,’ in a single week. Accompanied by the Brattle Street Chamber Players, they transformed Edgar Degas’s statue Little Dancer Aged Fourteen into a dance number featuring every single HBC member. On Exhibition was a kaleidoscope of every form of art blending together, orbiting around an explosive love of life.
Kayla Reifel ’25 (kaylareifel@college.harvard.edu) has never even been able to do the splits.