Ballet X presents Loughlan Prior, Christian Denice, and Amy Hall Garner in its 2026 Fall Series

Prior’s return

Macaroni, Prior’s first work for BalletX and a standout of that season (reviewed here as part of the 2024 Fall Series), took on 18th-century fashion and queer culture with cheeky humor. His new dance tells a rich story of law-abiding citizens juxtaposed with flappers and gents sipping contraband hooch. Speakeasy combines ballet technique with dance theater for elegant lifts, lively duets, and saucy movement.

It gives noir themes a lighthearted treatment as undercover cop Jack Marlow (Jonathan Montepara) falls under the spell of femme-fatale mob boss Vivienne Devereux (April Watson). Alternating casts highlight BalletX’s deep roster and four new dancers. Watson, one of the new faces, shines as the commanding seductress. (Itzkan Barbosa and Anderson Da Silva, another new dancer, alternate the roles of Vivienne and Jack; they look smokin’ hot in documentary rehearsal footage.) Jared Kelly made me laugh out loud as the Judge, the comic heart of Speakeasy.

Lush and jaunty

Lush design and a jaunty score bring a bustling speakeasy to life onstage. Emma Kingsbury’s scenic and costume design creates a hidden venue that bursts open with color, movement, and joy once you provide the password. Frank Moon’s score ushers the dance’s narrative, from Jack receiving his orders to his immersion in the speakeasy and entanglement with Vivienne. And the music is a lot of fun, with jazzy trumpets and the energetic, impromptu quality of a band in an underground club that could be busted at any moment. Every club needs a jazz singer, and Ashley Simpson is stylish and sassy as Ruby. Speakeasy’s use of lip-sync falls flat, though, as the jazz singer moves too much for the illusion of singing to take hold.

Prior, a native Australian based at the Royal New Zealand Ballet, lends Speakeasy a knack for storytelling augmented with cultural understanding. Deliberate historical revisionism imagines 1920s Philadelphia as the diverse, progressive city it is today, with women and people of color holding positions of power and prominence. It is a gratifying and accessible way to revisit the Prohibition era. Meanwhile, Speakeasy reveals institutional hypocrisy and corruption that resonate today.

In the Wake

A restaging of two recent works round out the 2026 Fall Series. Christian Denice’s In the Wake (2025) and Amy Hall Garner’s Switching the Groove (2023) demonstrate the company’s range and depth. Abstract rather than narrative, these dances require and elicit different emotions than the lighthearted premiere.

Denice created In the Wake as BalletX’s 2025 Choreographic Fellow, and the work explores grief. Shroud-like costumes by Martha Chamberlain and lighting by Alyssandra Docherty suggest the veil between life and death. Dancers stand behind a fabric curtain before breaking through, but the boundary is porous. The dance’s images and movement have a holy quality, and Rui Cruz and Minori Sakita partner beautifully. In the Wake captures the rituals and embodiment of grieving, as well as the nonlinear quality of healing. Moving but not tragic, Denice’s work manages to affirm life while examining death.

Switching the Groove

On the other hand, Switching the Groove is a pure celebration of movement. Driven by music (Rodrigo y Gabriela, Francesco Tristano, Rami Khalifé, and Edoardo Pietrogrande) that combines classical and electronic elements, Garner’s dance is a visual feast of alternating rhythms that cycle through various movement styles. Lighting by Docherty evolves along with the rhythm and movement to create visually distinct sections. Intricate footwork set to a thumping beat spotlights the dancers’ technical skills, and their energy and enthusiasm radiate from the stage. Arms jerk like clockwork, and Cruz and João Pedro Silva move like snakes. Other highlights include duets for Skyler Lubin and Silva, Savannah Green and Kelly, and especially Eli Alford and Watson, a mesmerizing pair.

A testament to success at BalletX

Overall, this program exemplifies the diversity of BalletX’s creative partnerships, which include talented dancers and artists from all over the world. From the raucous amusements of Speakeasy to the stirring elegance of In the Wake and the vibrancy of Switching the Groove, the Fall Series is a testament to the company’s continuous growth and artistic prowess. BalletX is indeed leveling up, and this program shows viewers all that contemporary ballet can be.

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