Sentinel
Choreography: David Berkey
Music: Johannes Brahms
Mr. Berkey’s lyrical men’s quartet explores camaraderie through a changing of the guards-type ritual and the passing of knowledge from one generation to the next. The dance was a gift to his dancers at the University of Iowa on Berkey’s retirement from active performing in 1990. It premiered in Dance Gala 1990 at Hancher Auditorium on the University of Iowa campus. In that same year the dance was selected for the outstanding choreography award at the national American College Dance Festival Association in Denton, Texas. In 1990 it also appeared at the 5th Hong Kong International Dance Festival. Sentinel is represented in the repertories of numerous ballet companies, including Ballet de Nord, Roubaix, France and Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet.
World Premiere: 1990, University of Iowa, Hancher Auditorium
Kansas City Ballet Premiere: April 19, 2001, Lyric Theatre, Kansas City, Missouri