Wayne McGregor’s first full-length ballet for American Ballet Theatre was inspired by the late writer’s nonlinear approach to narrative.

The multi-award-winning British choreographer and director Wayne McGregor is known for innovating on traditional dance performance, often exploring the space where movement and technology meet and pushing the art form toward the unknown.
His ballet “Woolf Works” was created for the Royal Ballet in 2015 and will be performed by American Ballet Theatre for the first time in the United States at Segerstrom Center for the Arts, starting April 11. The production is inspired by the writings of 20th-century modernist author Virginia Woolf and features an original score by Max Richter that will be performed live by the Pacific Symphony.
Virginia Woolf, who lived from 1882-1941, is renowned for her stream-of-consciousness writing style. She seldom followed conventional narrative structures either in plot or character and weaved together her protagonists' thoughts, memories and emotions in a seamless flow of prose.
With that in mind, don’t expect a typical story ballet from “Woolf Works,” which focuses on the writing of three of Virginia Woolf’s novels: “Mrs. Dalloway,” “Orlando,” and “The Waves.”
The Orlando pas de deux from the Royal Ballet's original production of "Woolf Works", featuring Natalia Osipova and Edward Watson.
“‘Woolf Works’ is not a literal description of Woolf’s writing,” said McGregor in a press release. “It’s very lavish, with new visualization techniques and a collage structure; a full-on assault and collision of the senses. The idea was to choreograph and design the piece in the spirit of Woolf’s writing, in an unfolding stream of consciousness, rather than as a literal translation of the novel’s narratives.”
Dancers Devon Teuscher, Hee Seo and Gillian Murphy will perform the role of Virginia Woolf, a role that was originally created for international-acclaimed ballerina Alessandra Ferri.
“So much of the movement is inspired by Woolf’s mindset. When we create a phrase of choreography it emulates a phrase of writing,” Murphy said in a recent interview. She shared that for this role, getting into character is paramount to perfect technique.
“With this (show) in particular, it’s not about the steps. There is no long balance, no sequence of fouettés or a tricky petit allegro, every moment really starts from a place of what the character is feeling, what they are trying to stay, or how they respond to another character,” Murphy said.
In preparation for the role, Murphy said she had been reading “Mrs. Dalloway” and quotes from Woolf’s other works as a way to incorporate the writer’s cadence, intention and essence into the choreography.
Murphy has found it particularly interesting to engage with the parts of Woolf’s stories where she ruminates on the end of her life because Murphy is contemplating the end of her career as a ballet dancer.
“I am in a place in my career where the clock is ticking, so the parallel is interesting,” she said. “Of course, my life won’t be over when I quit dancing in the next year or two or whenever that happens, but I do think it feels like a little death because it is such a huge part of one’s identity and passion and form of expression.”
Murphy also appreciates the chance to portray what she described as a “full-fledged” woman, which is in stark contrast to the 16 to 20-year-old princesses and swan queens of other ballets.
“It has been quite amazing to take these words and translate them into this universal language (of movement) that might help people get closer to the language Virginia Woolf was striving for.”
Dancers from in the Royal Ballet's production of "Woolf Works."