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A man kneels on on knee in front of a woman in arabesque

Repertory

Sonnets

COMPANIES

CHOREOGRAPHER

WORLD PREMIERE

New York City Center, 1982

MUSIC

John Dowland

COSTUMES

Bud Santora

LIGHTING

Chenault Spence

RUN TIME

22 Minutes

“Two loves I have of comfort and despair, 
Which like two spirits do suggest me still...”  
– William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 144 

Rodney Griffin created Sonnets especially for Dudley Williams, who originally danced the role of the Poet. Set to Elizabethan lute music, this sensual yet playful ballet revolves around an emotional triangle involving a mysterious Dark Lady who comes between two male lovers, the Poet and the Friend. 

A man and a woman crouch down on the ground

Donna Wood and Dudley Williams in Rodney Griffin's Sonnets Photo by William HIlton

Two men face each other doing high kicks

Ronald Brown and Dudley Williams in Rodney Griffin's Sonnets Photo by Ruby Washington