The game’s afoot at Grand Rapids Ballet with the hotly anticipated world premiere of Resident Choreographer Penny Saunders’ Sherlock that opened its already sold-out run Friday.
This experimental ballet brings to life the beloved Victorian detective consultant created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle through snippets and scenes from many of his collected works, and the way in which it was developed—through collaboration with three different ballet companies, Ballet Idaho and Nashville Ballet in addition to Grand Rapids Ballet, is so unique it’s garnered national attention, featured in The Washington Post and Pointe Magazine.
Saunders effectively recreates the atmosphere of fin de siecle London with brilliant technical elements, including moody lighting design by Trad Burns; a solid set including a bridge with stairs to a platform, street lamps and a chandelier, and framed doors that dancers move from place to place, providing effective scene changes; with elegant period costumes from Keri Fitch. Saunders also stitched together an interesting score, using music favored by Holmes, of his time, such as that of Mendelssohn and Tchaikovsky, with a contemporary nod to recent adaptations, borrowing music from the Netflix series Enola Holmes, among others…