Ballet 502

By Lisa Hornung • Photos By Kathryn Harrington

Hometown hero and rapper Jack Harlow is well-known as a proud Louisvillian who gives back to his community through philanthropy, promotion and more. One new way is lending his music to the Louisville Ballet for its November show, “Triple Take.”

“Triple Take” is a show with three performances with different themes, music and choreographers that will take the stage Nov. 1-3 at the Brown Theatre, 315 W Broadway. One of the three performances, titled “502,” incorporates classical ballet with Harlow’s music. 

While Harlow will not perform or participate in the show, he’s given the music rights to the ballet for the performance. Choreographer Ching Ching Wong created the piece for the Ballet.

The other two performances in “Triple Take,” are: 

• “Broken Totem,” choreographed by Resident Choreographer Adam Hougland and music by Igor Stravinsky 

• “Influences,” choreographed by ballet Artistic Director Harald Uwe Kern and music by Robert Schumann

Louisville Ballet is the fifth oldest ballet company in the United States, and it’s the only company with which Mikhail Baryshnikov has performed twice. The 24 dancers originate in 22 global cities. 

‘502’ DOCUMENTARY

The Louisville Ballet worked with VOICE-TRIBUNE and Medici Creative to make a documentary about the “502” dance, which is available to view through the QR below. “It could only have been done in this moment at this time,” Ching Ching Wong said of “502”. Wong is a dancer, choreographer, and rehearsal director for Ballets JazzMontreal. She has choreographed for Louisville Ballet before, on “Grassis Green” in the 2022–2023 season. It was a ballet set to a spectrum of musical styles. 

Wong’s interaction with the dancers during the artistic process is a highlight of the documentary. Her energy shines. “We had nine days, and we created a ballet to the music of Jack Harlow. It feels like a miracle!” Wong said.

One dancer said he knew Wong was the right person for the task: “If anyone can marry ballet, contemporary dance and modern dance with Jack Harlow’s music, it would definitely be Ching Ching,” dancer Daniel Scofield said. 

“She’s a whole vibe in herself,” said dancer Leigh Anne Albrechta in the documentary. “She is so thoughtful, and creative, and precise, and doesn’t mind when it’s messy. To a classical ballet artist, we tend to want perfection, and she is able to strip all of us down from that and really build from the bottom-up to everybody’s strengths.” 

BUZZING FOR BALLET 

Leslie Smart said the buzz around the show is rising in the city. “Louisville is such a small community, and it’s so fun to walk into a public space and have people come up to you,” she said. “And people already come up and start talking about ‘502’ and the excitement behind this collaboration.” 

For local dance artists, the love for Louisville makes this project special. “Jack is such a Louisville icon that to do a work with the Louisville Ballet to his music, about the city, is really, really exciting and fulfilling as a Louisville native myself,” Scofield said. 

Maggie Harlow, Jack Harlow’s mother, makes an appearance in the documentary. She is the co-owner of Signarama and represented the Jack Harlow Foundation at the rehearsal shown in the documentary. Jack Harlow donated $50,000 to the ballet in 2023. 

“Not every community has a ballet, and it really, for me, is sort of a defining thing for our community, is that we support the arts, are serious about the arts, we make great art,” she said.