The first thing you need to know about Joffrey Ballet's upcoming production of Midsummer Night's Dream at Cal Performances is that it has nothing to do with either Shakespeare or Mendelssohn. So, what is it about?
Running April 17-19 in Berkeley, the story is loosely based on the Scandinavian Midsommar holiday, celebrating the longest day of the year with a traditional solstice festival, including maypoles, flower crowns, dancing, food, drinks, and more. All of these elements are included in Joffrey's mysterious, dreamlike and mind-bending production. It promises to be at once playful, humorous, sensual, macabre, rousing, amusing, and trippy.
Midsummer is a large production, featuring the entire Joffrey company of over 40 dancers plus a live musical ensemble onstage, including Swedish indie-rock sensation singer Anna von Hausswolff, as a wandering, celestial storyteller. The music is a bold mix of classical, contemporary, experimental, pop, and traditional Swedish folk music.
Sets, theatrical props, and costumes are elaborate, creating a larger-than-life, multi-media, and somewhat surreal experience for the audience.
Ashley Wheater, Joffrey’s artistic director since 2007, expressed that both he and the dancers are quite excited about bringing this particular production to the West Coast for the first time.
"We have been coming to Cal Performances for decades, and I think that this production is so bold. It is the entire company as you've never seen them before,” he said. “And with so much negativity happening around the world, I cannot think of a better time that we need to find the joy in our humanity and be uplifted by something really exceptional."
The production was originally created for the Royal Swedish Ballet by an all-Swedish team. This team was led by choreographer Alexander Ekman, a world-renowned contemporary dancer and choreographer.
When Ekman created Midsummer, he insisted that Wheater see it. Wheater thought it was a "fabulous piece of theater and dance," and decided to bring the production to Chicago in 2018. It then returned to close Joffrey's 2023–2024 season. This is the fourth work by Ekman that the Joffrey has performed.
"That is truly an extraordinary piece of dance, and the Joffrey ballet is the only company in America that is presenting it," Wheater said. "In Midsummer Night's Dream, anything can happen."
Wheater went on to explain that the story of Midsummer is not linear. Rather, it unfolds through a series of episodes, similar to a series of dreams — some happy, and some dark. These episodes continually blur the lines between what is real and what is imagined, immersing the audience in a state of curiosity, wonder, and surprise.
Ekman's choreography merges contemporary and classical ballet with themes that can change drastically from one episode to another—from sensuous and mystical, to playful and eerie.
The Joffrey Ballet is considered one of the finest dance companies worldwide, and it is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year. It has had an ever-evolving relationship with Cal Performances since the 1970s, and this season is the most recent of an eight-year, four-engagement residency that began in 2024.
Midsummer will be the featured performance for Cal Performances’ spring Gala on Friday, April 17, during which Wheater will be presented with the Cal Performances Award of Distinction in the Performing Arts.
