Why Darkness is Essential to Storytelling

What is it about darkness that we fear? In life and in art, there’s a tendency to avoid what is uncomfortable, painful, or unresolved. We seek the light, forgetting that it’s only visible because of the contrast darkness provides.

The great storytellers—Dostoevsky, Tolkien, Lewis and even Shakespeare—understood this. Their works dive into the depths of human suffering and sin, not to glorify the darkness but to reveal the brilliance of redemption. They show us that the only way to truly understand light is to walk through shadow.

The Space in Between

Based on C.S. Lewis’ The Great Divorce

”The gates of hell are locked from the inside.”

In ballet, this principle is often overlooked. Movement becomes pretty, sanitized, even superficial. But true storytelling cannot flinch from reality. Ballet loses its power when it forgets this.

When I choreograph, I seek to create work that doesn’t shy away from the hard things. Pain, loss, doubt—these are part of the human experience. My work is sometimes called “dark” because it asks the audience to sit with these truths, to wrestle with them, and to look for the light on the other side.

Darkness in storytelling isn’t about despair. It’s about honesty. It’s about showing the fullness of life, not just the parts we like to see. Only then can we uncover meaning.

Present day ballet has grown too safe. In its fear of offending or discomforting, it has lost the ability to challenge and transform. If we want ballet to matter, we must embrace the darkness—not as an end, but as a way to reveal the light.