PACIFIC NORTHWEST BALLET, 2023
Music: Shannon Rugani
Costumes: Emma Kingsbury
Lighting: Reed Nakayama
[3 dancers, 25 minutes]
Artists of Pacific Northwest Ballet in Rowe’s The Window (©Angela Sterling)
SAN FRANCISCO BALLET, 2023
Music: Pär Hagström
Costumes/Set: Emma Kingsbury
Lighting: Jim French
[13 dancers, 30 minutes]
Artists of San Francisco Ballet in Rowe's MADCAP (©Lindsay Thomas & ©Quinn Wharton)
USC KAUFMAN, 2022
Music: Aram Khachaturian
Costumes: Kathryn Poppen
Lighting: Spencer Saccoman
[15 dancers, 10 minutes]
Artists of USCKaufman in Rowe’s Leaving (©Rose Eichenbaum)
Collaboration with SATELLITE COLLECTIVE & GRAND RAPIDS BALLET, 2022
Music: Ellis Ludwig-Leone
Film: Lora Robertson
Scenic Paintings: Kevin Draper
Costumes: Ronald Altman
Lighting: Matthew Taylor
King Lear challenges his three daughters to fight for his legacy. He unfairly divides the kingdom and the children go to war with each other until there is nothing left of value. Lear realizes the meaning of genuine love thanks to Cordelia and experiences a redemption, but is it too late to grasp this hard lesson learned?
[4 dancers, 25 minutes]
Artists of Grand Rapids Ballet in Rowe’s Liar Lear King (©Ryan Jackson)
DANCE ASPEN, 2022
Music: Avner Dorman
Lighting: Cody Kosinski
Costumes: Kaya Wolsey & Danielle Rowe
A dance of episodic disputes and thoughtless chatter mimicking the impulsive and quick-to-judge land of social media many of us currently reside in, interrupted by a welcome sense of home and sincerity, and ending in… well, it’s hard to say… everyone’s in…
[6 dancers, 20 minutes]
Artists of Dance Aspen in Rowe’s Everyone’s In St. Barth’s (©Beau Pearson)
SF DANCEWORKS, 2022
Music: Joby Talbot
Lighting: Jim French
Costumes: Susan Roemer
[2 dancers, 5 minutes]
Katerina Beckman & Benjamin Simoens in Rowe’s Little Scratch (©Lindsay Clipner)
MILWAUKEE BALLET, 2021
“…technically challenging, thrilling and beautiful.” John Schneider, Shepherd Express
Music: Cécile Chaminade
Costumes: Mary Piering & Dani Rowe
Lighting: David Grill
[9 dancers, 30 minutes]
Artists of Milwaukee Ballet in Rowe’s Chaminade (© Nathaniel Davauer & Rachel Malehorn)
SAN FRANCISCO BALLET for KØBENHAVN DANSER, 2021
Music: Camille Saint-Saëns
Violin: Niklas Walentin
Piano: Alexander McKenzie
Costumes: Emma Kingsbury
Lighting: Brian Njie
[5 dancers, 9 minutes]
Dores André, Frances Chung, Sasha De Sola, Misa Kuranga & Sarah Van Patten in Rowe’s No.5 ( ©Tom McKenzie)
TAHOE DANCE CAMP, 2021
Sponsored by Susan & David Dossetter
In Loving Memory of Jeremy Dossetter
Music: Vulfpeck
Additional Music: James Jackson
Costumes: Emma Kingsbury
Lighting: Jim French
In the words of Jeremy… “You gotta be big enough to be small enough to let the world be awesome, and it will.”
[5 dancers, 20 minutes]
Thamires Chuvas, Cavan Conley, Jahna Frantziskonis, Anatalia Hordov & Nathaniel Remez in Rowe’s And It Will (© Reneff-Olson Productions)
SAN FRANCISCO BALLET
FILM, 2021
“…an absorbing, fast-moving spectacle” Terez Rose, The Classical Girl
Music: James M. Stephenson
Director of Photography: Heath Orchard
Costumes: Emma Kingsbury
Lighting: Jim French & Matthew Stouppe
Editor: Lindsay Gauthier
Executive Producer: Christopher Dennis
Producers: Lauren Finerman & Lindsay Gautier
The meteoric rise of Betty Fine—from chorus girl to vaudeville star—puts her marriage to office worker Robert Fine to the test. This roaring '20s, art deco-inspired film is also a love letter to a life in the theater and the backstage world that’s been dark for a year.
BALLET IDAHO
FILM, 2020
Music: Camille Saint-Saëns
Director: Danielle Rowe
Director of Photography: Tyler Nimmons
Costume Design: Dores André
Say hello to a charming series of vignettes at a family dinner where a new boyfriend is brought over, butlers scurry about, old love interests feel chemistry spark again, the uncle no one knows what to do with causes a ruckus (again), and everyone hopes they can at least make it to the final toast.
Artists of Ballet Idaho in Rowe’s The Animals
THE AUSTRALIAN BALLET
SHORT FILM, 2020
Written, Directed and Choreographed by Danielle Rowe and Garen Scribner
Produced by Reneff-Olson Productions
Ballet dancers compete for the title role in an upcoming Australian Ballet production of Spartacus.
Lucien Xu in I Am Spartacus
THE AUSTRALIAN BALLET
SHORT FILM, 2020
Lilah Ramzi
“The Australian Ballet company reveals it has a wonderful sense of humor in this scripted video, which retells the famous plot of Giselle as though it has just unfolded.” Lilah Ramzi, Vogue
Written, Directed and Choreographed by Danielle Rowe and Garen Scribner
Produced by Reneff-Olson Productions
Inspired by the iconic full-length ballet Giselle, the “wilis” take back their power and seek revenge on cheating Albrecht.
Nicola Curry in Wilis in Corps-en-tine
SHORT FILM, 2020
“And to this ‘whole world’ comes digital art to one’s living room in the form of “Shelter” by Alexander Reneff-Olson, Danielle Rowe, Garen Scribner, and Valentina Reneff-Olson…
… As Jared Wright, soloist with Dutch National Ballet, comments direct to camera in “Shelter,” “being in isolation is not my thing, and I don’t think it’s anyone’s thing.” Cassandra Trenary, soloist with American Ballet Theatre, picks up the thread, “this isn’t going to be easy to come back from.” Filmed “at the theatre for the last time for the foreseeable future,” Joseph Walsh, principal dancer with the San Francisco Ballet, performs in the hold-your-breath hush of the War Memorial Opera House as members of the public were requested to shelter-in-place. It is surreal to watch this dance unfold as a different one unfolds on the streets and is in turn reflected in the dance. “Shelter” speaks of this ripple of news and its accompanying, varied emotions and bodily responses, “as cities all over the world began to issue their own shelter-in-place mandates;” the creators of “Shelter” reached out to dancers around the world “to participate in this project, with the intention of capturing artists’ resilience in the face of unprecedented times.” Gracia Haby, Fjord Review
Music: Piano Sonata No. 14 in C♯ minor by Beethoven, performed and arranged by Thomas Lauderdale and Jacob Van of Pink Martini.
Created and Directed by Danielle Rowe, Garen Scribner and Alexander Reneff-Olson
Choreographed by Danielle Rowe and Garen Scribner
A portrait of the dance world under shelter in place that captures artists' resilience in the face of unprecedented times.
Joseph Walsh in Shelter (©Alexander Reneff-Olson)
GRAND RAPIDS BALLET, 2020
Music: Sergei Prokofiev & Max Richter
Lighting: Matthew Taylor
Costumes: Danielle Truss
“Love is not something that weak people do. Being a romantic takes a hell of a lot of hope.” Phoebe Waller Bridge
Intermingled stories of people finding and dealing with the turbulent nature of love.
[5 dancers, 17:30 minutes]
Matthew Wenckowski & Nathan Young in Rowe’s November (©Ray Nard Imagemaker)
Emily Reed in Rowe’s November (©Ray Nard Imagemaker)
Matthew Wenckowski in Rowe’s November (©Ray Nard Imagemaker)
CO.LAB DANCE, 2019
Music: Alton San Giovanni
Lighting: Shannon Clarke
Costumes: Ruby Canner
What does the creative process look like without a plan, idea or goal? Without preconceived notions, preparation, or expectations? Everyone commits to staying in the "now". We notice, adapt and embrace tiny moments. We allow distraction, surrender to tangents, and take time to find a range of answers to a single question. We welcome varied perspectives, sensitivities, and energies. We laugh, cry, joke, push each other's buttons, forgive, forget, and try really hard to be OK with not knowing. In the end, we connect all we've experienced. We take a good look. And we surprise ourselves. It is nothing like what we expected. (...And so the new question arrises: is it possible to create without expectations?)
[11 dancers, 20 minutes]
Zhong-Jing Fang & Jose Sebastian in Rowe’s Any/Which/Way (© Jon Ragel)
SAN FRANCISCO BALLET, 2019
“Thrilling.” Leslie Katz, San Francisco Examiner
Music: Ezio Bosso
Lighting: Jim French
Costumes: Wes Crain & Danielle Rowe
“We had everything to say to each other, and no ways to say it.” Jonathan Safran Foer, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
[2 dancers, 8 minutes 30 seconds]
Sofiane Sylve & Aaron Robison in Rowe’s UnSaid (© Erik Tomasson)
BARAK BALLET, 2019
FILM, 2019
Produced by: Heather Powell, Alisa Lapidus, Danielle Rowe
Music Direction & Violinist: Heather Powell
Projection Design: Alisa Lapidus
Featuring: Sarah Van Patten
Director & Cinematographer: Raquel Gallego
Editor: Daniel Velez
Lighting: Nathan Scheuer
Sound Engineer: Matt Carr
Music: J.S. Bach
Something precious, my secret, my own. Who will you be? Who will I be? You visit me in my dreams. I know you. And then you had a name.
Sarah Van Patten & Heather Powell in Rowe’s Before You Had A Name (© Cheryl Mann)
BALLET IDAHO, 2019
OREGON BALLET THEATRE, 2022
“It’s a feast that leaves you wanting more.” Dana Oland, Idaho Statesman
Music: Valgeir Sigurosson & Ezio Bosso
Lighting: Matt Miller
Costumes: Keri Fitch & Courtney Wright Anderson
An emotionally evocative and compelling journey into our subconscious.
[20 dancers, 20 minutes]
Madeline Bay in Rowe’s Dreamland (© Mike Reid)
Collaboration with dancers of SAN FRANCISCO BALLET & ALONZO KING LINES BALLET, 2018
“The seated and the larger SRO audience totals 800 each night. It is strikingly young in composition. Dancers improvise bows in all directions for a jubilant standing ovation, where Rowe can’t be fully seen until the second call. Her luminosity feels nearly buried in the celebratory fray: you want the dancers and musicians to carry her down Fury Road on their shoulders. With Duhamel’s help and the artists’ dedicated interpretations, she has demonstrated that even with a scant 50 hours of rehearsal time, if you build it, they will awesomely come.” Toba Singer, Culture Vulture
Producer: Kate Duhamel
Music: Yassou & Kristina Dutton
Visual & Lighting Design: Michael Straun, Luke Acret & Brandon McFarland
Costumes: Vasily Vein
A multi-media concert experience inspired by the iconic movie Mad-Max: Fury Road.
[7 dancers, 1 hour]
Babatunji in Rowe’s FURY (© Jon Baur)
Katerina Eng, Kimberly Braylock & Ramona Kelley in Rowe’s FURY (© Jon Bauer)
ROYAL NEW ZEALAND BALLET, 2018
Music: Alton San Giovanni, Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart & Cliff Adams Singers
Lighting Design: Andrew Lees
Costume Design: Donna Jefferis
I have been inspired by the strong women in my life, especially my mother and my mother-in-law. They are both single mothers and, in some way, heroes to all their children, male and female. This work is a celebration of the strength, sacrifice and beauty of motherhood. It is a glimpse into the world of one mother and her son; the ebbs and flows of their relationship over time, revealing that behind every great man, is a great woman.
[23 dancers, 20 minutes]
Artists of Royal New Zealand Ballet in Rowe’s Remember, Mama (© Stephen A’Court)
SF DANCEWORKS, 2018
GRAND RAPIDS BALLET, 2021
DANCE ASPEN, 2021
Music: Alton San Giovanni
Lighting Design: Jim French
Costume Design: Mario Alonzo & Danielle Rowe
The traumatic relationships that have brought her to the edge, wash over her. She reflects on heartbreaking moments with her father, sister, lover and husband and falls into depression, before accepting that despite those painful memories she will continue... as she always has.
[8 dancers, 20 minutes]
Laura O’Malley & Brett Conway in Rowe’s The Old Child (© Alexander Reneff-Olson)
FILM, 2018
Director: Lisa Le Lievre
Dancers: Sasha De Sola & Luke Ingham
A series of men are lured to their destruction when they engage in a steamy tango with a seductive dance partner. With a lush musical score, Jazz Age costumes, and visually striking cinematography, this evocative short film uses the tango as a metaphor for life’s tempting interruptions.
Sasha De Sola & Luke Ingham in Sirens Tango
GRAND RAPIDS BALLET, 2018
“Using a myriad of intricate hand and arm gestures that built on each other like a Jenga game, along with a rich, flowing, contemporary ballet movement aesthetic, Rowe constructed a captivating and brutally emotional work that was as brilliantly crafted as it was expertly danced.” Steve Sucato, culturedGR
Music: Alton San Giovanni
Lighting Design: Matthew Taylor
Costume Design: Brennan Smith & Danielle Rowe
Adam's Key illuminates the world of Adam, a child with Autism, and the perspectives of the people living with, working with and interacting with him as they attempt to unlock and understand his world. The external world overwhelms Adam with its dissonance of sound, activity, color and change. Order and routine allow Adam to regulate his response to the constant and confusing bombardment of incoming information. He retreats to his safe inner world, disconnected from those who love him. Slowly the isolation and pain initially felt by Adam's family diminishes as their world expands to accept help and support from the wider community and enables them to embrace Adam's uniqueness. Adam brings joy and teaches patience to the 'village' in which he is being raised. With understanding, the community accepts and celebrates Adam's differences.
[16 dancers, 20 minutes]
Micaelina Risch & Branden Reiners in Rowe’s Adam’s Key (© Ray Nard)
DIABLO BALLET, 2018
Music: Gustav Mahler
Lighting Design: Jack Carpenter
Costume Design: Christian Squires & Danielle Rowe
A study of a single relationship represented by three couples, over the course of many years. Wants and needs within the relationship begin to differ and the question of whether the relationship is worth fighting for, is posed.
[6 dancers, 14 minutes]
Amanda Farris & Felipe Leon in Rowe’s And Here We Are (© Bilha Sperling)
OAKLAND BALLET, 2018
“If one test for a narrative ballet is the ability to comprehend the story without program notes, then Danielle Rowe’s Itchy Bot Bot (A Family Portrait) merits much praise. This work concerns intergenerational spats in a close-knit family, and Rowe succinctly characterizes her quartet through gesture.” Alan Ulrich, SF Chronicle
Music: Alton San Giovanni
Lighting Design: Patty Ann Farrell
Costume Design: Christopher Dunn
“Parents are always more knowledgeable than their children, and children are always smarter than their parents.” Jonathan Safran Foer, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.
[5 dancers, 12 minutes]
Landes Dixon in Rowe’s Itchy Bot Bot (A Family Portrait) (© John Hefti)
SF DANCEWORKS, 2017
GRAND RAPIDS BALLET, 2019
SAN FRANCISCO BALLET, 2020
BALLET IDAHO, 2021
DANCE ASPEN, 2021
“This gem by a rising choreographer reveals more facets with each viewing…” Rachel Howard, SF Chronicle
Music: Nina Simone
Lighting Design: Jim French
Costume Design: Lauren Strongin
[2 dancers, 7 minutes]
Laura O’Malley in Rowe’s For Pixie (© Alexander Reneff-Olson)
Dores Andre & Joseph Walsh in Rowe’s For Pixie (© Erik Tomasson)
BERKELEY BALLET THEATER, 2017
Music: Alton San Giovanni
Costume Design: Danielle Rowe
[11 dancers, 7 minutes]
Artists of Berkeley Ballet Theater in Rowe’s O (© Natalia Perez)
