Two years ago, choreographer and New York City Ballet dancer Justin Peck needed someone to write the score for a new project and asked Sufjan Stevens — a musician with a penchant for flourescent stagewear, Hula-Hoops, and songs about Illinois. That collaboration resulted in Year of the Rabbit, showcasing the refreshingly youthful, inventive choreography that made Peck a wunderkind of the ballet world (and you can get a close-up look at his work process in Ballet 422, a highly anticipated documentary by Jody Lee Lipes debuting at the Tribeca Film Festival), with a rollicking all-string score by Stevens that was surprisingly well matched. Now they’ve put together a new piece, Everywhere We Go, which premieres May 8 at City Ballet, and it’s an even more ambitious task for Stevens: a nine-movement orchestral score. For a sneak peek at both the dance and music, Lipes directed this short film, featuring principal dancers Tiler Peck, Teresa Reichlen, and Amar Ramasar.
