INSPIRATION AND INFLUENCES

A choreographer is always looking at fables, stories, poetry, themes for inspiration.
Sometimes ideas come to him; sometimes they attack him! The Raven attacked me.
Ever since I first read Edgar Allen Poe’s famous poem -- and thought about creating
a choreography based on The Raven -- I have spent many, many hours imagining,
dancing, and creating this ballet. I have read the poem hundreds of times; finalizing
my own interpretation, looking for the musical qualities, examining the themes.

Given the almost sacred place The Raven occupies in American literary history -- and
also to reflect the tone of the poem -- I decided to choreograph this work in a classical
style. My influences include Michael Fokin’s Le Specter De la Rose, John Cranko’s Eugene
Onegin, Roland Petit’s Le Jeune Homme et la Mort, and – for style – Tim Burton’s film
Sleepy Hollow.