More interpretive than a music video and less intense than a concert, a ballet is the opportunity for the elegance and poignancy of an artist's work to shine, whether in the movement of the song or the dancer. Trey McIntyre has worked with the San Francisco Smuin Ballet to bring this elegance and poignancy to The Shins' 2001 album, Oh, Inverted World.
Mike Ward from the San Francisco Bay Times wrote a preview based on interviews and a peek at a rehearsal and said, "While ballet is typically about defying gravity (the Balanchine model of freakishly long-limbed, long-necked, high-strung dance thoroughbreds, constantly airborne or extended heavenward), McIntyre doesn't deny gravity. He uses it." Seems as though this zero-g method of thinking would work well with the light-hearted and airy nature of The Shins first album.
See a preview of the ballet below, which runs through February 27, and hear "Caring is Creepy" above to be thrust back into the world of music almost a decade ago.
Play videoIt reminds me of when I used to do ballet – I was sixteen years strong – and instead of the music for the performance I would rehearse to Digital Ash in a Digital Urn by Bright Eyes. That album would make an excellent ballet as well.