Atlanta Ballet Plays Footsie With Hip-Hop

“Big,” the Atlanta Ballet’s new production, features a live performance of the music of Antwan Patton, better known as Big Boi of the famed hip-hop duo OutKast. Clearly the aim is to expand the ballet company’s audience. But it’s far more likely that “big,” which opened on Thursday night at the Fabulous Fox Theater here, will bring ballet audiences to hip-hop. (I, for one, am going to download as many songs by OutKast as possible.)

And that, from a dance point of view, gets to the heart of the problem with the rambunctious, rambling, hugely enjoyable concert that is “big.” As the title indicates, it’s all about Mr. Patton: his inventive, unpredictable music; his smart lyrics; his persona; his stable of artists. And as hard as Lauri Stallings, the ballet company’s resident choreographer, has tried to match his starry presence with a veritable onslaught of kinetic, charged dancing, it’s an unequal alliance. At best, “big” has moments of fascinating intersection between the movement and the firecracker verbal delivery of Mr. Patton’s work. At worst, the dancers simply look like a rather sophisticated back-up troupe.

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Big Boi Dance With Atlanta Ballet

Staged at Atlanta's historic Fox Theatre, the unprecedented collaboration between Atlanta Ballet and Big Boi, marks the first time hip-hop and ballet have been combined on this level. Fusing Big Boi's own sound of music with Atlanta's professional ballet, the show will feature new and never heard material intertwined with the classical masterpiece of Verdi's La Traviata.

"big is the place, the event, and the experience where we leave our inhibitions at the door, and move forward," explained choreographer Lauri Stalling in a statement. "big is an example of possibilities...a place for the senses to open, and be lifted, setting a new height for creativity and awareness towards ourselves and the people sitting right next to us."

The show will feature music from the multi-platinum rapper's most popular cuts like, "Morris Brown" from the Idlewild Soundtrack, "Church" from the 2003 Grammy Album of the Year, Speakerboxx and "Bombs Over Baghdad" from Stankonia. Along with Jazz and opera selections, former Purple Ribbon members Janelle Monae, Sleepy Brown and Konkrete music will make up the score for the show.

Benefiting the Big Boi's foundation the Big Kidz Foundation and the Atlanta Ballet Centre for Dance Education, there will be a fundraiser on April 10, 2008 hosted by Big Boi and Queen Latifah, immediately following the show.

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