New Ballet Adaptation of THE GREAT GATSBY Premieres in New Mexico for Novel’s 100th Anniversary
The New Mexico Ballet Company and New Mexico Philharmonic debut a new production with an original score by composer Colin Martin on April 19.
By: Joshua Wright Apr. 16, 2025
In celebration of the 100th anniversary of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, the New Mexico Ballet Company (NMBC) and the New Mexico Philharmonic (NMPhil) will present a new ballet adaptation of the novel on Saturday, April 19, at Popejoy Hall.
The production features an original orchestral score by New Mexico-based composer Colin Martin. “I listened to a lot of the really great ballet music of the past — Russian ballet, especially — and tried to take some of that influence, blended through my own style, but I also incorporated some of the 1920s Jazz Age idiom,” Martin said to the Albuquerque Journal.
Martin’s score blends classical and jazz elements, incorporating influences from Russian Romantic composer Sergei Rachmaninoff and American jazz composer George Gershwin. “There are a lot of off-kilter, shifting rhythms that frankly made it hard to dance to and hard to play for the orchestra, but I think that gave the music a lot more character,” Martin said.
Choreographed by NMBC artistic director Kelly Ruggiero, the production explores both the opulence and the underlying disillusionment portrayed in Fitzgerald’s novel. “This artistic partnership brings the magic and intrigue of this classic tale to the stage,” Ruggiero said.
The score will be performed live by NMPhil, New Mexico’s largest professional classical symphony orchestra, under the direction of conductor Roberto Minczuk.
“People think of all the Jazz Age glitz and glamour kind of stuff, but there’s so much depth and so much commentary about the American dream and different social classes and the worship of money,” Martin said. “It’s definitely a tragedy. And my music plays that up, especially at the end of the story.”
Videos