A Love Letter to Dance: “Turn It Out with Tiler Peck and Friends”

A slice of New York arrives in Chicago with “Turn It Out with Tiler Peck and Friends” at The Auditorium. Tiler Peck, principal dancer with New York City Ballet, directs, choreographs, and performs in a program that gathers some of today’s most exciting dancers. The result is a love letter to dance itself, where multiple genres share the stage to honor tradition while pushing the boundaries of dance.

“The Barre Project, Blake Works II,” choreographed by William Forsythe to the electric beats of James Blake, opens the program. A lone barre stands center stage, an object usually left in the studio now front and center. One by one, Peck, Lex Ishimoto, Brooklyn Mack, and Roman Mejia take turns rushing towards it. Against the reverberating bass, rapid-fire footwork slices across the floor, arms sweep through the air, and shifts in direction happen faster than the eye can follow.

The barre grounds the chaos, both as a physical extension for the dancer and a visual anchor for the audience. Hands glide across the barre as performers move through sharp leans and fluid body rolls. In class, the barre supports dancers through hours of practice, and its presence here becomes a reminder of that repetitious work, the choreography an ode to the studio itself.

“Thousandth Orange,” the only piece fully choreographed by Peck, softens the program’s energy with a more traditional ballet experience. Six dancers, India Bradley, Chun Wai Chan, KJ Takahashi, Christopher Grant, Quinn Starner, and Kloe Walker, begin in stillness, dressed in pastel color-blocked leotards, their limbs intertwined in a sculptural opening pose. Upstage, a small musical ensemble sits ready. As the pianist begins a gentle melody, the dancers breathe together into long extensions and quiet, graceful lifts.

Soon, the string instruments introduce a sharper, plucked rhythm that challenges the piano’s softer line. Most dancers continue to drift with the piano’s melody, but they break away one-by-one, pulled toward the crisp plucking of strings. Separation is brief, with each dancer returning, reforming the group, and closing with a single communal breath.

“Swift Arrow,” a pas de deux choreographed by Alonzo King, narrows the stage to an intimate duet between Peck and Mejia. Married in real life, the two dancers first connected through this very duet, and that history lingers quietly within. The movement unfolds with careful restraint, with each leg extension and arm float unfolding slow enough to see the articulation of muscle. The pacing emphasizes control and connection over spectacle, giving the duet a tender, slightly wistful quality.

The evening concludes with the genre-bending performance of “Time Spell”, created by Michelle Dorrance, Tiler Peck, and Jillian Meyers. The full cast appears for the finale, joined by musicians Brinae Ali & Aaron Marcellus whose live vocals and onstage audio mixing create an evolving soundscape of layered rhythm and echoing voice. As vocals start, the stage becomes a celebration of movement. Tap rhythms chatter beneath ballet turns, jazz isolations slide into funk grooves, and flashes of breakdancing cut across the floor.

A highlight arrives in a tap–ballet duet between Peck and Dorrance, where crisp percussion meets pointework in playful conversation. Their movements crisscross and swirl around one another, sound and energy perfectly matched. By the finale, the entire cast ripples across the stage in waves of synchronized motion. Jazz, ballet, and tap blend together as rhythms collide, creating a finale that feels like the ultimate love letter to what the human body, and the music created by it, can achieve.

Across the evening, the level of artistry is remarkable. Every dancer moves with breathtaking speed, precision, and strength, executing demanding technique with striking musicality. The live musicians and vocalists bring added vitality, their rhythms feeding directly into the choreography. Through it all, Tiler Peck remains a constant presence, her voice shaping each work with a distinct style that blends genres and pushes boundaries. The result is a program that celebrates not just individual brilliance, but the shared experience and effort of artists working at the height of their craft.

“Turn It Out with Tiler Peck and Friends” was presented by Tiler Peck at The Auditorium, 50 E. Ida B. Wells Dr. on March 7 at 7:30pm. For more information, check out the event page by clicking HERE.