Hay Rake Ballet is a six-act performance featuring eighteen local farmers harvesting alfalfa crop in choreographed patterns inspired by iconic classical ballets such as Swan Lake, Pas de Quatre, and Balanchine’s Serenade. The work features live accompaniment by a fourteen-musician chamber ensemble and Grammy-award winning soprano, Sarah Brailey. Framing everyday farming practices within a classical dance aesthetic, Hay Rake Ballet pays homage to the inherent beauty and craft of family-scale agricultural practices. Hay Rake Ballet was originally commissioned in 2024 by Wormfarm Institute and is sponsored by Ruth Arts & Arts Midwest. Premiere September 12, 2026.
Read more in New York Times, Hyperallergic, WPR, and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Photos by Ron Lutz II & Alexander Arena