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Long ago, in 2019, Terminus Modern Ballet Theatre commissioned choreographer Ana Maria Lucaciu to create a work for the company. Now, finally, four years later, after a pandemic and multiple pivots, the company will perform her evening-length contemporary ballet Long Ago and Only Once at Kennesaw State University’s Dance Theater in Marietta on May 6 and 7.
The ballet’s journey from Lucaciu’s imagination to a live audience has been a serpentine one. Or as Terminus’ Artistic Director John Welker said recently: “The piece has had a ride.”
Lucaciu came to Atlanta in 2019 to start building Long Ago on the dancers. Rehearsals were going well, and plans were underway to perform it outdoors at Serenbe. Welker decided the piece would do better in an indoor space, however, and booked the Stillwell Theatre at Kennesaw State University. The company did a technical rehearsal there in February 2020. Everything was in place for the world premiere to unspool in front of a live audience the following May. Then the March 2020 lockdown happened.
Like every other artistic director, Welker had to pivot. What to we do now?
The tech rehearsal had been filmed by Lucaciu and the director T.M. Rives, something Welker says they usually don’t do. It was a brilliant move.
There was enough good footage to piece together into a dance film which Terminus made available online in November 2020. When earlier this year Terminus became one of only two American dance companies added to Marquee TV’s streaming service, Long Ago and Only Once became available to a worldwide audience.
The Long Ago that audiences will see next weekend is not a carbon copy of the film, however. Some dancers have left the company, including Alexandre Gonzaga and co-founder Heath Gill, and co-founder Tara Lee no longer performs.
Jackie Nash will dance the comedic lead role that Lee helped create, and guest artists Bret Coppa and James La Russa will perform the work for the first time. Welker, Christian Clark, Rachel Van Buskirk and Laura Morton La Russa will reprise their roles. Rounding out the cast are two company protégés: Anna Owen will perform on Saturday, and Katelyn Sager on Sunday.
Lucaciu flew to Atlanta two weeks ago to polish the piece and integrate the new cast. According to Welker, the pace is different now. Tighter transitions. Different nuances. He says he’s curious to see how the screen version and the live version will compare.
Someone once said that the only constant is change and Welker knows this too well. In addition to the many pivots required to bring Long Ago to a live audience, two of Terminus’ strongest dancers are leaving the company. Morton La Russa, best known for her role as Marley in Marley Was Dead, To Begin With, is exploring new ventures. Nash will move to Orlando, Florida, to join her husband Gill who recently joined the Orlando Ballet’s artistic team. Nash will start dancing with that company in the fall.
Welker has a simple response to the seemingly endless changes: “It’s another topsy turvy ride.”
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Gillian Anne Renault has been an ArtsATL contributor since 2012 and Senior Editor for Art+Design and Dance since 2021. She has covered dance for the Los Angeles Daily News, Herald Examiner and Ballet News, and on radio stations such as KCRW, the NPR affiliate in Santa Monica, California. Many years ago, she was awarded an NEA Fellowship to attend American Dance Festival’s Dance Criticism program.
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