Creating a ballet from the works of artist Jonathan Green came naturally to South Carolina Ballet’s artistic director and CEO William Starrett.
“There’s so much movement in his paintings. How could you not create a ballet? The fabrics have a flow and bold, vibrant colors. When he explained the stories, the ballets unfolded,” said Starrett who conceptualized and choreographed “Off the Wall and Onto the Stage: Dancing the Art of Jonathan Green” which debuted in 2005.
The South Carolina Ballet will bring 37 dancers to Augusta to perform it at 7:30 p.m. March 13 at the Miller Theater. Go here for tickets. The production is a fundraiser for the Morris Museum of Art.
Green is a Charleston-based artist, internationally known for his works highlighting the Gullah and African American culture of South Carolina’s Low Country.
Green and Starrett met at a reception in 2002 after Starrett won the Elizabeth O’Neill Verner Award from the South Carolina Arts Commission, and the two became fast friends. The idea grew from that meeting and a visit to Green’s home to see a collection of his work added fuel to the creative fire.
It took about two years and $1.2 million to bring the ballet to the stage. Part of that expense came from the design of the massive backdrops that imitate Green’s paintings. Starrett said the colors had to match those of the paintings themselves.
“It’s magical to be able to bring Jonathan Green’s painting to life. It’s a spiritual evening of transcendence and unity,” Starrett said.
“Off the Wall and Onto the Stage: Dancing the Art of Jonathan Green” has been performed multiple times in Columbia, where the South Carolina Ballet is based, over the years, and the ballet company has traveled to different cities to perform it. This is the first time it’s come to Augusta.
“We’ve been talking about it at least 10 years, maybe longer,” said Kevin Grogan, Morris Museum of Art director and curator. “It finally seems like all the planets aligned.”
Grogan said this year is the perfect time to bring the ballet to Augusta.
“Jonathan celebrates his 70th birthday this year; Billy Morris (museum founder) celebrates his 90th,” he said.
Green is the featured artist at this year’s museum gala scheduled for March 8.
“He will be at the gala, and we will highlight our new acquisitions of his,” Grogan said.
The Morris Museum of Art holds the largest collection of his work with 41 paintings, prints and sculptures. The “Jonathan Green: The Aesthetics of Heritage” exhibition features many of these and includes three newly acquired silkscreen prints. It opened Feb 22 at the Morris and runs through Aug. 31.
One work central to “Off the Wall and Onto the Stage: Dancing the Art of Jonathan Green”” is “Daughters of the South,” which is part of the museum’s collection and is on permanent display at the Morris.
“It’s magical to get to do it in Augusta the home of the painting,” Starrett said.
Opened to the public on Sept. 26, 1992, “the Morris Museum of Art is the oldest museum in the country dedicated to the art and artists of the American South and the only art museum in the Central Savannah River Area. Its collection includes more than six thousand works of art—paintings, works on paper, photographs, and sculptures—dating from the late-eighteenth century to the present. In addition to the permanent collection galleries, the museum hosts more than fifteen temporary special exhibitions every year,” according to the Morris Museum of Art website.
Charmain Z. Brackett, the publisher of Augusta Good News and Inspiring: Women of Augusta, has covered Augusta’s news for more than 35 years. Reach her at charmain@augustagoodnews.com. Sign up for the newsletter here.
