Mr. Ludden's ballets have met with critical success and have become regular offerings in the repertoire of different ballet companies in the United States, Europe and the former Soviet Union. Of Mr. Ludden's work, the critics say:

"Ludden can string together enchainements that show off his dancers advantageously, with a stress on feather-soft landings and lightly nuanced phrasing."

--New York Native

"...an able craftsman with a refreshing interest in steps and gestures, not just in lifts."

--The Washington Post

"...a deliberate focus on toe work, often used too casually these days."

--The Washington Post

"Nash, Ludden and Wilson regard pointe shoes not as tools of sexist oppression but as extensions of what women can do."

-- New York Native

"Poughkeepsie Ballet Theatre [has] a fresh choreographic framework that displays its performers' talents. This infusion of radiance comes from Kate Neils, Ken Ludden, and Sallie Wilson. It was a delight to see PBT achieve new sophistication, nurture the budding genius of choreographer Ken Ludden, and treat us to the finely honed talents of Sallie Wilson."

--Poughkeepsie Journal

Choreographic Works

Big Noise from Waneka - Recorded by Bette Midler

8 dancers

Commissioned by the Southern High School Dance Company, this romp was premiered at their High School Spring Concert, then performed at a Regional High School Dance Company Event on the East Coast. Taking the cue from the music and lyrics, the lead dancer comes into a society doing the dances of the Roaring 20s and introduces Latin dance motifs and rhythms. She teaches the others in the piece to loosen up their structured dance and get into the joy of the body and its ability to express through movement. In doing so she wins the heart of a young man, who follows her as she leaves. Premiered at Southern Dance Company Festival, 1996

Symphonie Fantastique - Music by Hector Berlioz

25 dancers

Ludden's latest classical work debuted in Moscow, Russia on September 26, 1993 with the Moscow Festival Ballet Company under the direction of Bolshoi Ballet Star, Sergei Radchenko. This full staging of the work features Ludden's own interpretation of the score.

The work met with critical success in Moscow and was reviewed by the international ballet press. This marked the first foreign choreographer to work in Russia since the end of the Soviet Union. While there, Ludden also worked with Bolshoi Stars Lena Radchenka and Taranda on a staging of scenes from Za Rythma Jazza, performed with the Oleg Longstrem Orchestra.

Za Rythma Jazza - Music by Duke Ellington ("Caravan" and "East Saint Louis Toodeloo")

13 dancers

Ludden was asked to create this ballet while in the USSR as guest choreographer for the Donetsk Ballet, sponsored by Interballet and the International Ballet Center. The world premiere was held at the Donetsk Opera and Ballet Theater on 17 June, 1989, making it the first work choreographed by and American for Soviet dancers. Vadim Pisarev danced the solo and men from the Donetsk company performed "Caravan" in which Sascha Alexandrov was featured.

The piece was originally designed to include four parts, with additional music by Hoagy Carmichael and Dizzy Gellespie. The ballet explores jazz musical rhythms and intense personal expression in music and dance. It is based on jazz technique developed in the United States with thematic material from social dancing of the 1940s.

Royal Invitation: Homage to the Queen of Tonga - Music by Dominick Argento (same title)

12 dancers, 3 actors and orchestra; 30 min.

Pulitzer Prize winning composer Dominick Argento asked Mr. Ludden to choreograph this ballet following a Washington Opera performance of Argento's "Postcard from Morocco" in which Ludden appeared. The ballet was premiered in 1982 at the Kennedy Center featuring Sallie Wilson (American Ballet Theatre ballerina) and the Poughkeepsie Ballet Theater. It was later performed by PBT in Upstate New York and by the Appalachian Ballet Company in Knoxville, Tennessee.

This comic "plum story ballet" [Dance News] tells the true story of Tongan Queen Salote's attendance at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. Queen Salote was the only reigning monarch to attend the coronation, and at the time, the world press was quite taken with this Polynesian potentate, giving her front page coverage all over the world and even a cartoon in New Yorker magazine. The civilized world was led out of its initial prejudiced view of Tongans by the new Queen Elizabeth who, with dignity and grace, treated the Tongan Queen as an equal.

The story unfolds in five scenes, matching the movements of the musical score. Scene I takes place in the office of the British emissary who, along with his three assistants, prepares invitations to the coronation. When he leaves for a conference with Princess Elizabeth, each young woman has a fantasy about her place in the coronation.

Scene II shows the quartet traveling to various world capitols, leading to Scene III: Tonga. Upon receiving her invitation, Salote responds with a welcoming dance, as is the custom. The emissary is aghast at the 'uncivilized' hula he is soon asked to join. He clumsily partners the Queen, while his assistants join the dance with the Tongan Royal Guard.

Scene IV returns to England as Princess Elizabeth prepares for the coronation. The Emissary delivers his report of the uncivilized Queen's acceptance (and her distasteful dance) to an unmoved Elizabeth. He is dismissed, but the assistants remain to help with the coronation attire. As Elizabeth is dressed, she confirms the accuracy of the emissary's report by repeating the dance she has just seen.

In Scene V we go to Westminster Abbey and the coronation. The emissary is extremely nervous as he enforces protocol on those attending, with particular attention paid to the Tongan delegation. Queen Elizabeth receives her court. As Salote approaches the throne and begins to bow, Elizabeth prevents her bow, indicating that she, too, is a queen. Elizabeth then dances the Tongan welcoming dance to Salote, who joins in, as is her custom. Both queens command the entourage to join in the dance. In the recessional march, Queen Salote respectfully takes her place last in line. The emissary rushes to her and, having learned his lesson, bows low to honor her.

Reviews:

"There is a Gilbert and Sullivan wit to this work, yet one also senses the fine humanity of the two protagonists. Sallie Wilson was adorable as the hula-dancing South Seas Island ruler, suggesting the lady's bulk through movement and stance and not with padding. ...When a lady of the English court daydreams about the savage partner she'll meet on Tonga, their adagio becomes the occasion of a mock evocation of the romantic era."

--Dance News

"Ken Ludden's 'Royal Invitation: Homage to the Queen of Tonga,' is a work with a subtle humor, parsley freshness, and classical stature. ...This South Sea Island dance is performed in gesture. These understated gestures are so poignant, they for a language that is repeated by the emissary and, finally, by Queen Elizabeth. Soft swaying of hips, gentle clapping, and palms that meet overhead look delightfully humorous on the uninitiated English bodies. Innovative sets, understated choreography, unselfconscious performances, and gentle theme combine to make this a ballet of quiet brilliance."

--Poughkeepsie Journal

Liebestanz - Music by Luciano Berio ("Folk Song Suite")

Soprano, 7 dancers and Orchestra; 20 min.

Premiered in 1980 with the Poughkeepsie Ballet Theater at the Bardavon 1864 Opera House in Poughkeepsie, New York. "Liebestanz" is a mixture of ballet and opera, viewed by some as a one-woman opera, by others as a ballet with the lead part played by an opera singer. The singer gives an on-stage recital of folk songs to her dancer audience who, in turn, express their reactions through dance. The young man falls in love with the singer and attempts to break the performer/audience barrier to the chagrin of the singer. During the course of their tumultuous relationship, each of the other dancers finds a love mate through the lessons learned from the songs. The singer eventually accepts the young man's overtures, joining in 'leibestanz' (love's dance) which is the last song in her recital.

Reviews:

"Liebestanz, a ballet-opera choreographed by guest choreographer Ken Ludden, was delightfully innovative and superbly performed by dancers, orchestra and soprano soloist Penny Orloff.

"The work deals with the sometimes awkward courting games of four young couples and the dilemma of women caught between their little girl impulses and blossoming sexuality. Lynn Barr vacillates between clinging to her stuffed toy and her lover, Sydna Flynn is dressed in pink and blue. The ballet comes to an hysterical climax when the singer is lifted off her feet by her boy friend and gives vent to an operatic 'Ah...'"

--Poughkeepsie Journal

Apt. 16C - Music by Rachmaninov ("Vocalise")

Solo Dancer, Soprano and Orchestra; 9 min.

Premiered in 1986 by Ruth Mayer (American Ballet Theatre soloist) at the Riverside Dance Festival in New York City.

"Apt. 16C" presents an inside view of the increasingly common choice to live alone. The resolution of the dilemma of human desire for affection and physical companionship is explored. The work was inspired by a woman who has become a success story of liberation in modern society, as well as by the catch phrase: "I want a man in my life, but not in my house."

Review:

"...this languid solo is immediate and personal, the morning after what was evidently an extremely romantic night; by turns wistful and coy, sensual and abandoned. Ludden's literal-mindedness yielded a final image of considerable erotic heat. In a distaff parallel to the ending of Nijinsky's 'Afternoon of a Faun,' the green silk scarf Mayer's lover left behind somehow achieves a life of its own and satisfies her dream."

--New York Native

Erli - Music by Hector Berlioz ("Dance of the Ishmialites")

4 dancers, 2 flutes and Harp; 6 min.

Previewed as a work in progress in 1981 with the Poughkeepsie Ballet Theater at the Vassar Institute; it was premiered in 1985 with the Appalachian Ballet Company at the Spoleto USA Festival in Charleston, South Carolina.

The title, a Swiss dialect word meaning "from the heart," is used here to refer to the love of sisters for each other and young love in general. The ballet is an abstract movement piece which carries a message.

Reviews:

"...an inventive romp for three nymphs and a classical porteur, set to a score by Berlioz."

--New York Times

"'Erli' (from the heart), displayed crisp leaps and some good work on many levels, especially on the floor."

--Times Herald

Romantic Etudes - Music by Johannas Brahms ("Variations on a Theme by Haydn"). US premier as Don Juan Variations, renamed for Soviet premier.

12 dancers, orchestra; 30 min.

The work was premiered at the Spoleto Festival, USA by the Appalachian Ballet Company in 1984, and was later performed in New York at the Riverside Dance Festival, featuring Ruth Mayer and Brian Frette. On June 2, 1989, the work was premiered in the former Soviet Union under the title "Romantic Etudes." The Donetsk Ballet of the Ukraine now has this work in their repertoire. It is the first work staged by an American choreographer in the USSR.

The ballet is in the romantic style, and begins with the danced recap of the ending of Don Giovanni. Don Juan, unhappy in hell, rises through the clouds and attempts to gain entry into heaven. There, he finds the souls of all of the women he has wronged and is confronted by La Donna Ideale, who bids him to make amends to the women and give up his infatuation with earthly pleasures.

He dances with the women, explaining that in each he saw a glimmer of the idea., but could not be satisfied by only one woman. His explanations are too weak, too late, and he is sent back to the depths of hell.

Reviews:

"'Romantic Etudes' is a one-act ballet produced by Kenneth Ludden. As we wrote earlier, this is the first production by an American choreographer in the Soviet Union. The production is a first step, a first attempt at international cooperation in ballet. here everything is pure poetry, from the female figures to the clouds, light pink and airy, their movements whimsical, unpredictable.

"This silent dialogue is the hero's confession of his discovery of a new Truth. Pisarev portrays not the eternal desire of a satiated Don Juan for earthly beauty, but the search of a young man for an ideal, the sublime.

"And it was a success. The ballet master, the soloists and the chorus all received an ovation. The purity of form contained in this short, elegant ballet, which, in our opinion, remind one of the works of the impressionists, would be impossible if not for its arresting combination of different elements and romantic elation.

"Therefore, one might say that 'Romantic Etudes' is an affirmation of a moral ideal, of that flight to reach the boundaries of the sublime."

--Evening Donetsk, USSR

Impetus - Music by Pamela Layman

2 dancers, electronic music score

Ms. Layman commissioned Ludden to choreograph this piece to be presented at her faculty recital at Peabody conservatory of Music in Baltimore, Maryland. It was premiered there in May of 1978.

The work is an abstract pas de deux exploring the dynamics of conflict and harmony in human relations.

Review:

"Taking his cue from Pam Layman's electronic score for Impetus, he created a dance for a Harlequin and Columbine of the distant future. The contrast between the dancers--short, slim, light Stephanie Godino and tall, sinewy and strong Ludden--emphasized the ballet stylization of the couple's romance."

--Washington Post

L'Histoire d'un Soldat - Music by Igor Stravinsky, libretto by Albert Ramuz

3 actors, 2 dancer/actors, orchestra

Ludden first choreographed this production in 1977 as the centerpiece of the performances which launched the formation of his company The National Arts Group. The "Three Dances" section was later performed at the Kennedy Center.

Review:

"Bruce Harger mimed the Soldier in the Stravinsky piece, while Ludden as the Devil and Godino as his bait frolicked around him. There was deliberate focus in Godino's role on toe work, often used too casually these days. She sparkled."

--Washington Post