Sonya Tayeh by Shervin Lainez. Rhye by Emma Marie Jenkinson.

In a unique collaboration, American Ballet Theatre and National Sawdust, the non-profit Brooklyn-based music venue, have joined forces to present the World Premiere of What Becomes of Love?, a dance film choreographed and directed by Sonya Tayeh and set to music by Rhye (Mike Milosh). What Becomes of Love? will be co-hosted by American Ballet Theatre and National Sawdust on Facebook on Thursday, March 4 at 6 P.M. ET.

What Becomes of Love? is ABT’s first collaboration with Tayeh, the Tony Award®-nominated choreographer and director whose most recent credits include Moulin Rouge! and Sing Street for Broadway.  Tayeh’s new work, created in November 2020 in a “ballet bubble” in Silver Bay, New York, features ABT dancers Cory Stearns, Zimmi Coker, Courtney Lavine, Jose Sebastian, Ingrid Thoms, and Joseph Markey.

What Becomes of Love? also marks Tayeh’s first collaboration with Rhye, whose recorded tracks, Dark, Awake, and Outro, provide a medley of vocals alongside piano, synthesizer, and violin instrumentation.

“What Becomes of Love? is a dance film that explores the mystery of love in all forms,” said Tayeh. “How to hold onto it, what the fall feels like, what the first drop of it does to the mind, the body, and the soul. Love, to me, is an unguarded mystery filled with sensuality, wonder, and trickery all at the same time.  Exploring the dance with ABT dancers was a process filled with such intimacy and courage.  They hold a depth inside of movement that is thick and refined.  It was a gift to watch them push themselves into such a vulnerable, raw place.”

Speaking of the collaboration, ABT Artistic Director Kevin McKenzie commented: “Sonya exposed our dancers to an entirely new way of approaching creation, with intimacy and trust informing the aesthetic and vocabulary.”

A conversation with Sonya Tayeh, Rhye, Courtney Lavine, and Ingrid Thoms will immediately follow the performance.  See trailer for What Becomes of Love on Vimeo.

What Becomes of Love? is produced in conjunction with American Ballet Theatre, National Sawdust, Sharing Spaces Productions, and MATTE PROJECTS.

For more information on American Ballet Theatre, please visit www.abt.org.

Commissions and presentations of new work by women choreographers are supported by the ABT Women’s Movement. Champion support for the ABT Women’s Movement is provided by Jenna Segal. Additional leadership support provided by the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. 

ABT’s Choreographic Innovation and Inspiration and Inclusion programs are generously supported by the Blavatnik Family Foundation. Additional major support of ABT’s Innovation and Inclusion programs is provided by Mark Casey and Carrie Gaiser Casey, the Ford Foundation, and through an endowed gift from the Toni and Martin Sosnoff New Works Fund. 

Special thanks to Denise Littlefield Sobel for her leadership gifts to: ABT’s Media Fund, advancing the Company’s digital endeavors; and ABT RISE, fueling the Company’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. 

American Ballet Theatre recognizes with deepest gratitude the dedication and dynamism of the ABT RISE Advisory Council, co-chaired by ABT Trustees David Rabkin and Shari Siadat. The Council’s championship of ABT RISE strengthens diversity, equity, and inclusion at American Ballet Theatre.

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