And Aeneas by Blanca Li Music by Purcell

Blanca Li's contemporary ballet reimagines Purcell's baroque masterpiece through the lens of modern movement. Drawing on the tragic love story of Aeneas and Dido from Virgil's Aeneid, the work transforms the operatic narrative into pure dance, allowing Purcell's luminous score to guide the physical storytelling. Li's choreography explores themes of duty versus desire, fate and abandonment, as the Trojan hero must choose between his destined mission and his passionate connection to the Carthaginian queen. The ballet strips away narrative exposition to focus on the emotional and sensual core of their doomed romance, with dancers embodying both the grandeur of classical mythology and the vulnerability of human longing. Purcell's music—including the famous Lament of Dido—provides the emotional architecture for Li's inventive movement vocabulary, creating a bridge between baroque splendor and contemporary dance aesthetics.