LADP PERFORMS: GEMS
Brisbane Festival
Queensland Performing Arts Center
Cultural Precinct Cnr Grey, Melbourne St
South Brisbane QLD 4101, Australia
Thursday, September 4, 2025 | 7:00pm
Friday, September 5, 2025 | 8:00pm
Saturday, September 6, 2025 | 1:00pm
Sunday, September 7, 2025 | 1:00pm
Now presented under the unified title Reflections, A Triptych by Benjamin Millepied, the program’s name echoes the evolution of the trilogy and its enduring partnership with Van Cleef & Arpels. Inspired by the symbolic and emotional resonance of precious stones, Reflections will serve as the title for future engagements in the U.S. and internationally.
Commissioned by Van Cleef & Arpels, this trilogy of contemporary ballets—Reflections (2013), Hearts & Arrows (2014), and On the Other Side (2016)—draws inspiration from the symbolic and emotional resonance of precious stones. Each work offers a distinct world where movement, music, and design converge to reveal something luminous and intimate.
Presented together for the first time in a world premiere event presented by the Brisbane Fair, the triptych marks the culmination of a creative journey spanning over a decade.
Reflections is a meditation on longing—sensual, sharp-edged, and fleeting. Set to David Lang’s haunting score and framed by Barbara Kruger’s bold visual language, the ballet explores the tension between presence and absence, desire and memory.
Hearts & Arrows pulses with crystalline energy, carried by the precise, layered rhythms of Philip Glass. Liam Gillick’s sculptural design of shifting light and shadow becomes a silent partner to the choreography, where emotion takes on an architectural clarity.
On the Other Side is a deeply human work—intimate, emotional, and communal. Set to a suite of piano études by Glass and enveloped by Mark Bradford’s immersive, painterly set, the ballet becomes a portrait of togetherness, tracing the bonds between individuals and the quiet strength of collective experience.
This organization is supported, in part, by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Department of Arts and Culture, and by the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture as part of Creative Recovery LA, an initiative funded by the American Rescue Plan.
