March 19, 2026, marked the opening night of Boston Ballet’s spring experience, featuring a contemporary first act, “The Leisurely Installation of a New Window,” choreographed by My’kal Stromile with music composed by Mischa Santora. The second act featured “The Dream,” choreographed by Sir Fredrick Ashton (1904–1988), telling Shakespeare’s comedy “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” with the same theatrics, this time with the body’s ability.
Behind the curtain: My’kal Stromile and the process
My’kal Stromile has navigated the music world for the past decade. He began his career with the Boston Ballet as a dancer from 2018 to 2024, as well as with Bruce Wood Dance, before moving on to his focus as a choreographer. Until now, much of his time had been spent collaborating on works with the New York Ballet as well as the Paris Opera Ballet with their production “Word for Word.”
Stromile aimed for “The Leisurely Installation of a New Window” to target what is often hidden from the naked eye about the system view. As we follow our day-to-day lives, our brains are wired for familiarity and safety. It is only then that changes try to come along, the choice to either embrace it or do what you can to hide away from it.
The curtain drew with the current Boston ballet principal, Ji Young Chae, reading a book, acting out the movements. The lights are tense in organs as she tries to decipher this indifference in front of her. The music took many punches in swings to show the disorder and what is new.
The moment stood out to me: Dreck Dunn and Paul Craig dressed in the same blue shirts, passing the maroon book back and forth between each other, urging the other to open what is inside. Their entanglement makes it center left as the same orange light covers them, and three other dancers enter the blue side of the stage as Dunn, Craig, and now the audience peer into the mystery of this traveling book.
Two male and one female dancer sway in harmony with one another as Dunn and Craig try their best to understand. They try to copy the trio’s movements to the best of their ability. As more dancers reach the stage, we draw the conclusion that Chae is left alone with the book, and as the music crescendos, Chae drops the book and runs to the far left of the stage. She reluctantly reached for the book before the curtain dropped.
The magic didn’t just come from the show but from the enchanting ambiance of the theater itself, the second you walk into the Opera House. The valet floors the creation of chandeliers. It’s a wonder before the eyes every second that leads up to the start. Sitting in your seat if you are right on time, you can hear the symphony playing in the pit, the parts that they want to nail down, the sounds that cool their nerves, a mindless mastery, and what is their second nature.
Power is beheld to Stromile, dedicating to a raw defiance to the very laws of physics being masked by the beauty in such a craft. His talents exceed him with his knowledge upon him. The act is told in three movements, “Thesis, Antithesis, Synthesis,” with the chopped movements dedicated to the shared structures between dancers and the willingness to break into something new.
As a long-time fan of the Boston Ballet, I am eager and earnest to see what else My’Kal has in store for the trajectory of the company.
The next time you find yourself in the Boston area, the art scene is waiting to be discovered. Sorry Timothee, it’s not dead yet!
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