The Origin of Story and Ballet’s Forgotten Power

What is ballet, if not the marriage of beauty and truth? It is an art form that has the power to move the human soul, to speak in a language deeper than words. Yet somewhere along the way, ballet lost its voice. It became beautiful for beauty’s sake, detached from the timeless truths that once gave it power.

This blog series is a call to return.

We will explore the origin of story itself, from the great thinkers like Aristotle, Dickens and Tolkien to the timeless tales of The Odyssey and Jane Eyre. We will ask why stories matter and why the ones that endure are not lighthearted distractions but profound journeys through shadow and light.

We’ll wrestle with why darkness is essential to uncovering truth and why audiences find my work “dark” at all. Is it because it dares to confront the realities we’d rather avoid? Or because it asks questions instead of handing out easy answers?

We’ll also examine how ballet tells stories beyond words. From the abstraction of Balanchine to the narrative-driven classics, movement itself can reveal truths that words cannot. Ballet is uniquely poised to participate in this storytelling tradition—when it chooses to.

Finally, we’ll confront the uncomfortable question: has modern ballet become irrelevant because it has forgotten how to tell a story? Has its obsession with technique, precision, and novelty cost it the depth and power it once had?

This series will not be a light read, nor will it be an apology. I do not create “nice” ballets. I create stories—some literal, some abstract, all rooted in the belief that art must matter.

The journey begins here, with a question: what is the purpose of art if not to tell the truth?