Spirit of the Dance
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AN AMERICAN IN PARIS
Ballet in One Act
Choreography: Roman Mykyta * Composer: George Gershwin
Run Time: 18 Minutes * Cast: 5-9 Women, 3 Men
Premiere: July 2, 2022
Performed by Players on Air with guest artists from
The Ballet Theatre of Maryland at the
Coppermine Pantherplex, Hampstead, MD
SUMMARY
An American in Paris is a ballet in one act inspired by the romance of travel, youth, and self-discovery. Set against the allure of Paris, the ballet follows a young American woman who arrives in the city dreaming of adventure and enchantment. Drawn into its nightlife and atmosphere, she finds new confidence, embraces the thrill of possibility, and encounters a love that feels at once magical and immediate.
Though her journey abroad is brief, the experience leaves a lasting imprint. The ballet reflects on the way travel can heighten longing, awaken imagination, and transform memory into something luminous and enduring. Beneath its glamour and buoyancy, the work suggests a distinctly American kind of romantic idealism — one that reaches outward into the world while remaining tied to a sense of home.
ARTISTIC PERSPECTIVE
In creating this ballet, I was drawn to the spirit of George Gershwin and to the generation of American artists whose creative lives were shaped by both modernity and transatlantic exchange. Rather than presenting Paris naturalistically, I approached it as a world of elegance, nightlife, fantasy, and emotional possibility — a place where romance and memory become inseparable.
