Become Ocean
Become Ocean is a full-length choreography for the Hessian State Ballet, premiered on the 21st of February 2026 in Darmstadt.
For tickets and more info, click to one of the host stages: Darmstadt / Wiesbaden
The vast, undulating waves of the ocean are a metaphor for transformation and continuity. Inspired by John Luther Adams’ Pulitzer Prize-winning composition Become Ocean (2014), the choreographic duo Chen-Wei Lee and Zoltán Vakulya, known as LEE\VAKULYA, summon the unstoppable movement of the tides in their new creation of the same title for the Hessisches Staatsballett.
Adams’ orchestral masterpiece can be read as an allegory of the climate crisis, while also serving as a powerful
meditation on depth, turbulence, eerie silences, and ultimate calm. For LEE\VAKULYA, however, the piece also embodies the beauty of life’s circularity. They are drawn to nature’s graceful balance – one that gives life but, through its immense force, can also take it away – ultimately leading us back to our origin.
The dance material arises from their shared passion for pure movement, with a focus onfluidity and explosive energy. The choreographers incorporate Adams’ palindrome structure – asequence that reads the same forwards and backwards – into their choreographic process. Just as the composition unfolds through musical layers that generate waves and splashes of sound, the dance interweaves these depths, revealing moments of play and discovery. Become Ocean is a tribute to our ever-changing world, defined by perpetual motion. Dance and music alike express this through the alternation of harmony and dissonance – between the gentle, flowing tenderness of water and the intense, stone-splitting tension of ice.
Choreography: LEE\VAKULYA
Music: John Luther Adams
Sound design of prologue: Fanny Thollot
Conductor in Darmstadt: Nicolas Kierdorf
Conductor in Wiesbaden: Alejandro Jassán
Stage design: Yoko Seyama
Light design: Joanne Shyue
Costume design: Damur Huang
Rehearsal director: Luc Jacobs
Dramaturgy: Lucas Herrmann
Special thanks: Daniel Zrinyi
Performed by:
Eden Beckerman,
Mathilde Belin,
Peng Chen,
Ramon John,
Sayaka Kado,
Mayayoshi Katori,
Bridget Lee,
Mei-Yin Lu,
Milica Mučibabić,
Anthony Michael Pucci,
Vanessa Shield,
Luke Watson,
Benjamin Wilson.
Become Ocean is co-produced by Staatstheater Darmstadt, Staatstheater Wiesbaden, and the National Theater and Concert Hall in Taipei, Taiwan.