Ballet meets hip-hop with ‘Big’

By ERRIN HAINES

The work is a play on the contrasts between ballet and hip-hop.

ATLANTA — For the past few months, dancers in the Atlanta Ballet have been pimping out the pirouette, breaking down the battement and remixing the ronde de jambe.

On Thursday, the classically trained dancers will put on their toe shoes and debut “Big,” a new work that fuses the hip-hop stylings of Outkast’s Big Boi and the graceful traditions of ballet.

“I just thought it would be ... cool ... to make something that’s so dainty and elegant and sophisticated to some of this hard-core, bumping type funk that we do,” says Big Boi, who was born Antwan Patton.

The iconic duo Outkast — Big Boi and Andre 3000 — probably didn’t have ballet in mind when they wrote tracks such as “Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik” or “Player’s Ball,” but the music is now part of the new collaboration between Big Boi and the Atlanta Ballet.

Choreographed by Lauri Stallings, “Big” is part ballet and part concert. The work, which features dozens of dancers and consists of two 50-minute acts, is a play on the contrasts between hip-hop and ballet.

The dancers perform alongside six-time Grammy winner Big Boi and other artists from his record label, Purple Ribbon Entertainment. Though it wasn’t his idea, Patton says the finished product, which was different and avant-garde even for him, is exactly what he wanted.

Sharing his excitement is John McFall, the 61-year-old who directs the Atlanta Ballet.

McFall had been looking for a hip-hop partner when he was introduced to the 33-year-old Patton at a fundraiser for the rapper’s youth foundation about three years ago. McFall immediately pitched the idea and said P atton seemed interested — as long as he didn’t have to wear a tutu or tights.

The world premiere runs through Monday at The Fox Theatre in Atlanta.

A year in the making, “Big” features music from Outkast’s catalog — including “Bombs Over Baghdad” from “Stankonia,” “Morris Brown” from the “Idlewild” movie soundtrack and “Kryptonite” from “Big Boi Presents ... Got Purp? Vol. 2.” The production also showcases such artists as Sleepy Brown and Janelle Monae, who are on Patton’s label.

“Big” tells the story of Little Big, a younger, more naive Patton, who goes through different encounters in various scenes to learn more about the world around him.

Artistically, the focus is on contrasts: beauty and ugliness, male and female, slow and fast, smooth and rough. The movement is more modern dance in movement and expression.