Thomas Kikta Writes NYC Ballet Score, Daughter to Dance to It

It’s likely that no other father and daughter have ever had the opportunity to perform together with the New York City Ballet at Lincoln Center.

Thomas Kikta, assistant professor of music technology at the Mary Pappert School of Music, and his daughter Emily, will both perform during the New York City Ballet’s 2016 Fall Gala: Celebrating Five Years of Ballet and Fashion on Tuesday, Sept. 20, at Lincoln Center. A primary fundraiser for the ballet, the Gala is being co-chaired by actress Sarah Jessica Parker, Ricki Lander and Noriko “Daisy Lin” Maeda.

Guitarist Thomas will lead (and perform with) the four-piece ensemble playing a 15-minute, guitar-centric score that he composed. Emily will be among the 10 featured members of the New York City Ballet’s corps dancing in the segment ten in seven at the performance.

Peter Walker—also a member of the New York City Ballet’s corps and choreographer for the gala—called Thomas last December to invite him to write the score. The two collaborated previously when Walker recruited Thomas to write a short piece for The New York Choreographic Institute, followed by another piece for the School of American Ballet’s Winter Ball (both are operated by the New York City Ballet).

“Our past projects ultimately set the foundation for how we would work when we got to this ballet,” Thomas said. “I’d write thematic material based on his direction.”

According to Thomas, Walker wanted seven movements, and he utilized adjectives such as “unstable” to describe the kind of music he wanted. “Peter told me, ‘I don’t choreograph this—the music does. When I listen to the music, it tells me what movements have to happen. That’s how I know when the music is right,’” explained Thomas.

In July, Thomas sent the final recording of the finished seven movements to Walker to be used by the dancers to rehearse. The score—which features guitar, trumpet, piano and drums—will be performed live by Thomas, pianist Arkadiy Figlin (known for playing the piano music in the movie Black Swan), trumpet player Raymond Mace and drummer James Saporito, each of whom will be stationed on individual platforms above the 10 dancers at the Gala.

While he’s a trained classical guitarist, Thomas said the score that he’s composed for the Fall Gala could not be described as featuring classical guitar.

“But to play it, you have to be a classical guitarist,” he said, referring to the polyphony and other types of techniques included in the music. “I’m using classical meters and classical harmonies, but I’m getting jazz, fusion, classical and pop—that pretty much supports the type of dancing that has been choreographed, as Peter is bringing together all of those styles and all of those movements.”

Repeat performances of ten in seven are scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 27; Saturday, Oct. 1; Wednesday, Oct. 5; Saturday, Oct. 15; and Saturday, May 6, and Sunday, May 7, 2017.

To hear a sneak peek of bits of the score that Thomas composed, as well as some of the dance moves from ten in seven, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qncG9WddxLE to watch a trailer shot by his daughter Emily.