Choreographer
John Heginbotham

Composer
Ethan Iverson

Lighting Design
Nicole Pearce

Costume Design
Maile Okamura

Performers
2 Dancers

Run Time
10 minutes

Top Photos: Jamie Kraus and Danica Paulos, Courtesy Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival

Bottom Photos: David Blakeman, Courtesy Scottsdale Arts

The Understudies had its world premiere in August 2022 at the 90th Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival. Performed to a violin and piano adagio composed by Ethan Iverson, The Understudies was praised by The Boston Globe as “heartbreaking, suspenseful” and “simply, beautiful in its beautiful simplicity.”

World Premiere: August 10, 2022
Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival
Becket, MA

“The Understudies was initially intended as a solo - and then a duet - for ballet guest artists. A pandemic, a war, injuries, a birth, performers' lives evolving in beautiful and heartbreaking ways have all directly influenced the course for casting this dance. At day's end, this piece became a duet for my great friend and collaborator, Amber Star Merkens, and me. ” - John Heginbotham