Daniel Ojeda’s newest for Ballet Idaho features art and original music performed live

Ballet Idaho’s Daniel Ojeda creates movement with dancer Adrienne Kerr for his new ballet “The Monster and the Gift,” a new work created with original music and visual art. KATHERINE JONES KJONES@IDAHOSTATESMAN.COM

Creativity can be difficult. In fact, it can be downright scary, especially when the material’s focus is the creative process itself. Just ask choreographer Daniel Ojeda, who is at work on a new ballet about the relationship between art and the artist.
“It’s the most personal thing I’ve made so far,” Ojeda says. “It’s about what I do. Putting personal things on stage is difficult. I relate to the artist character, her struggles — they are my own.” 
Now, add the fact that Ojeda is working with original music by Idaho composers Jeremy Stewart and Daniel Kerr, and the stakes go even higher. It’s the first time in memory that Ballet Idaho has commissioned original music for a new ballet. 
You can see and hear Ojeda’s “The Monster and the Gift” as part of Ballet Idaho’s Winter Repertory concert on Friday, Feb. 10, and Saturday, Feb. 11, at the Morrison Center.
Boise Baroque Chamber Orchestra will play Stewart and Kerr’s score for the performance as well as Bach’s Concerto in D minor for Two Violins for a staging of Balanchine’s “Concerto Barocco.” 
The evening fulfills a promise Ballet Idaho Artistic Director Peter Anastos made when he took over the company in 2008: to regularly pair live music with dance. 

By Dana Oland