A Striking Ballet Gets a New Life. So Does a Budding Ballerina.
The New York Times
Olivia Bell, 20, a radiant member of New York City Ballet, reprises the role she knocked out of the park as a student: “I want to do it right.”
Olivia Bell walks to the front of the stage where a piano sits. She rests a hand on it and nods to the pianist for the music to start — the first sign in “Signs,” a ballet of mystery and depth. The curtain rises behind her; the dancing begins. Bell is the ballet’s unflappable leader, both lithe and resolute. She is its lighthouse, its anchor. “In a lot of the movements that I do, it’s kind of me controlling everyone, but not in a controlling way,” she said. “I’m the conductor of the ballet.”
Bell was 17 when the choreographer Gianna Reisen made “Signs” for the 2022 Workshop Performances of the School of American Ballet, New York City Ballet’s affiliate. Now 20, Bell is dancing the role again, this time as a member of City Ballet during the company’s fall season. It’s rare that new ballets, even good ones, get a chance at a substantial second life: To have “Signs,” a company premiere, reborn with its original young dancer in the lead feels like a gift.
Bell attracts the eye no matter the part. But this part is big, and it is hers. “I want — for myself and Gianna — to help the ballet come to life as I feel like it did when we were in the school,” Bell said. “It’s such a beautiful ballet, and I want to do it right.”
This won’t be the same “Signs” — its cast is no longer made up of students but professionals. But from its opening section, “March of the Mourning Dove,” the ballet has a youthful, questing spirit and flow. It’s a dance unafraid of beauty, both sweeping and serene.
