Cirque, Nevada Ballet Theatre again team up for Choreographers’ Showcase

This year’s theme is “Unity Through Art.”

But it’s been the guiding philosophy behind all nine years of A Choreographers’ Showcase.

An annual collaboration between Cirque du Soleil and Nevada Ballet Theatre, the showcase begins a three-performance run Sunday afternoon in Treasure Island’s Mystere Theatre.

The third performance, new this year, testifies to the popularity of the showcase, in which NBT dancers and Cirque personnel collaborate on a variety of dance works.

The collaboration, which began shortly after Cirque’s “Love” debut, was expected to be a one-time event, according to Jerry Nadal, senior vice president of Cirque’s resident shows division — who also co-chairs NBT’s board of trustees.

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But “it was so well-received at that one performance that we thought, ‘We should do this again next year,’ ” Nadal recalls.

The showcase offers a chance for Cirque performers to stretch their artistic muscles — away from their 10-performances-a-week work schedules.

Not all the Cirque participants are performers, however; this year’s roster includes a former dancer who’s now a ticketing agent, along with a “Zumanity” stage manager choreographing one of the featured works.

And NBT participants, Nadal notes, have the chance to move beyond The Smith Center’s expansive Reynolds Hall stage — where they usually perform — to work with the lifts, lighting and other technology built into “Mystere’s” Treasure Island theater.

This year’s showcase will feature two visual artists who will create original art pieces during each matinee.

NBT’s Future Dance Scholars — participants in the company’s educational outreach program — also will perform throughout the program and during the finale.

Creating the showcase is “such an evolving process” for choreographers and dancers, Nadal points out, noting that interactions among participants often alter the original proposals, which were submitted in August.

Cirque and NBT advisers provide oversight, he explains, acting like “bumper cars” that “give (creators) a lot of room” but set boundaries at the same time.

Choreographers and dancers “discover things about each other” during the creative process,” Nadal notes. “And things change.”

Read more from Carol Cling at reviewjournal.com. Contact her at ccling@reviewjournal.com and follow @CarolSCling on Twitter.