By Doris Alvarez
Medill Reports

Last year, more than 111,000 Americans died from a drug overdose, according to the CDC. Opioid fatalities inspired Belgian choreographer Stina Quagebeur to create “Hungry Ghosts,” one of three pieces in Joffrey’s February mixed repertory program, “Studies in Blues.”

“I’m kind of fascinated with how we are, how we think and how we all carry our past traumas, mental health especially,” Quagebeur said. “Certain people find it hard writing or saying it out loud in words, hence why I’ve always felt like dance has a power there.”

Addiction may seem too heavy and dark for a ballerina, but it’s not, Quagebeur said. Through movement, dancers can help the audience members understand a “story that statistics can’t tell and that words cannot do justice to.”

Last year the Joffrey Ballet commissioned a ballet from Quagebeur, who worked with her frequent collaborator, composer Jeremy Birchall. They knew they wanted to sensitively tackle addictions, especially opioids. So they read books, watched documentaries, listened to survivor stories and explored its history in the U.S.

“Nowadays, opioids are the real worst,” Quagebeur said. “But we have it with everything, with social media, with phones, with shopping, with distractions, whatever it may be.”

A major challenge in “Hungry Ghosts” was showing the emotion behind losing a loved one to addiction.

Another one: launching a world premiere in just four weeks.

Excerpts from a conversation with Quagebeur:

On what an audience member told her on opening night: I’ve never felt a whole audience take a breath at the end of a piece, all together. Like it was a release of a feeling connecting this big (opioid) crisis in America.

On conceptualizing emotions into visuals like the human shaped pyramid: When we were brainstorming the pyramid idea, that (visual) came off that very high feeling when you are suddenly pain-free, you’re top of the world. When everything is great, there’s nothing to worry about. There’s a feeling of having the energy of the drug, a sudden lust for life and determination, that kind of energy comes into it when Anais reunites with the group (the group is meant to symbolize the addiction).

On humanizing classical ballet movements: Generally, classical ballet will always be my base, so it’s always there, but I try to mix it with contemporary and everyday gestures. I’ve started with very plain text, you begin movement like you would naturally as a person, which every audience member recognizes. They can see themselves in that movement, but then it kind of becomes drawing it into classical ballet — almost from a normal language to ballet.

On “no fairytale ending”: It’s funny, one of my family members always says, “Oh, but you have to have hope and a happy ending.” I just didn’t want to leave it with a too-hopeful ending because it’s an opioid crisis, it’s been so devastating and it’s such a powerful drug that you don’t want to underestimate the power of the opioids and not downplay (that)I’ve tried to leave it in this kind of middle ground, for me it’s a non-conclusive ending. So, you can make your own story from it.

Quagebeur will continue to showcase work that analyzes human behavior through the arts.  “Rashomon” will be featured July 2024 at Ballet X Philadelphia. The work will explore how the combination of our own bias, our own interests, our desire for self-preservation and even our lies hold power in shaping our perception of memories. For more info visit: https://www.balletx.org/seasons/summer-series-2024/

Doris Alvarez is a magazine specialization graduate student at Medill. You can follow her on Twitter at @dorisalvarz