While BalletNext’s costume exhibit at the Park City Library gives the public a chance to learn about Artistic Director Michele Wiles’ lifelong journey through dance (see accompanying story), the upcoming Works in Process performance will give attendees a chance to see the company in action.Works in Process will run from 6:30-8 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 15, at the library’s Jim Santy Auditorium, said Wiles.“I’m excited about it,” she said. “We’re in the studio now getting the two ballets together that we’ll do.”The first ballet is “Between the Two,” which Wiles’s friend and renowned choreographer Brian Reeder originally created in 2023.“It’s a complex ballet with a lot of layers, and I’m excited to come back to it,” Wiles said. The work will be performed by Wiles and BalletNext resident dancers Matthew Helms, as well as two guest dancers — Ava Prentice from the Connecticut Ballet and Ignacio Jose Rivera, who hails from Costa Rica.“It’s interesting to go back and teach them this work,” Wiles said.One of the challenges is trying to remember Reeder’s alphabetical process that inspired the phrasing.“The dancers originally came up with phrases,” Wiles said. “Brian started with the letter B, so he did the first phrase that was inspired by that letter. I was the letter M, so I came up with my own phrase. Then we had two other dancers Kira Hughes who did a K, and Preston Swovelin who came up with the letter R.”Reeder and the dancers layered those movements during the first rehearsal, Wiles said.“The next day, Brian came in and said, ‘Just do the arm movements from those different phrases,’” she said. “We broke things up, and he would put the A phrase and B phrases in a certain place, and some of the other phrases in another place. It was so interesting to go through a process like that to learn a dance, and I’m excited to bring it back.”The next work in process Wiles plans to showcase was originally titled “White Out” because it was inspired by a snow storm.“It starts out with big gusts of wind and all of that stuff,” she said. “The original choreography was also kind of dissonant, and it would match up to the beat and then it wouldn’t.”Wiles choreographed the work in sections that each averaged one minute and 30 seconds. “I labeled it out, so there was a structure there,” she said.BalletNext Artistic Director Michele Wiles and the company’s resident dancer Matthew Helms perform a pas de deux. The two will host a Works in Process performance on Wednesday at the Park City Library’s Jim Santy Auditorium.An audience has never seen the work, Wiles said.“I tend to do that a lot,” she said with a laugh. “I’ll make a work to one piece of music, and, for whatever reason, it doesn’t quite work out, and people don’t get to see it. Then I’ll go back to it.”While Wiles can’t remember who composed the original music she wanted to use for the piece, she does know whose music she is working with on the revisit.“We’re using music by Post Malone,” she said. “We’re using the songs ‘Better Now,’ ‘Songflower’ and ‘Circles.’”Wiles selected Post Malone because a few months ago, she and Helms had performed a pas de deux to the music of country artist Josh Kelley, who happens to live in the Wasatch Back.“Since we had that great reception for the piece I did with Josh, I started thinking about other musicians who live in Utah, and Post Malone came to mind,” she said. “I wanted something that had a beat to it that made me respond differently. So, I put the choreography to Post Malone, and the piece works beautifully.”The new music did, however, force Wiles and Helms to revamp the choreography.“We had to investigate things a little more,” she said. “We had to go in a little deeper. Matt and I are doing some more isolated partnering and moves, and we added our pre-professional dancers. In fact, Matt is in the studio right now cleaning things up.”One of the things Wiles enjoys about performing Works in Process is the connection she and her dancers create with the audience.“These shows are more conversational where the audience can ask questions, and I’m always excited to hear the audience’s impression of the pieces,” she said. “We can talk about the process. We can share the arm phrases and other sections of the works, and the audience can learn them. So it’s like a celebration, and people will leave happy.”BalletNext: Works in ProcessWhen: 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 15 Where: Park City Library’s Jim Santy Auditorium, 1255 Park Ave. Tickets: free or donation based Registration: tinyurl.com/bp77evm8 Web: parkcity.events.mylibrary.digital/event?id=154348 and balletnext.orgThe post Works in Process gives audiences a casual peek behind the curtain appeared first on Park Record.