On 29 October Luke Howard’s latest collaboration with Juliano Nunes Have We Met?! premiered with American Ballet Theatre as part of a run of four performances. Commissioned by American Ballet Theatre, and marking Nunes’ debut with the company, the work appears as part of a triple bill alongside Balanchine’s Theme and Variations, to music by Tchaikovsky, and Alexei Ratmansky’s Serenade after Plato’s Symposium, a choreography of Bernstein’s 1954 concerto for violin, strings and percussion. Have We Met?! features sets and costumes by Youssef Hotait and Caitlin Rain with lighting by Brad Fields.
The ballet traces the journey of two intertwined souls across a century. It begins with a fleeting encounter under the Manhattan Bridge in 1928; their connection traverses lifetimes, and the couple find themselves meeting again under the Brooklyn Bridge in 2038. It is a bond that is haunted by war, longing, and the ache of unrequited timing, but persists nonetheless. Ultimately the ballet is an exploration of whether love lets go or simply waits for the right moment to resume.
“Have We Met!?,” which was like a boiled down version of David Mitchell’s novel Cloud Atlas…Under the hulking bridge, Nunes capably used his large cast of twenty (here decked in inky tweeds) as a menacing, militant block. Trafficky scenes set to heavy brass and chimes in Howard’s score were exciting, as was the way that the lead couple’s lifts soared above the crowds like dolphins cresting on waves. A two-note oscillation was neatly paired with the corps performing an endless jog-leap sequence in place. Best of all was the gorgeous, expressive dancing of Misseldine, whose stunning, drop-waist halter gown evoked the famous green dress in Ian McEwan’s Atonement.
Fjord (Faye Arthurs) 1 November 2025
…a lush, Max-Richter-like score by Luke Howard, and a romantic mood that bucked the current trend of contemporary ballet. It was so nice to see a modern ballet where people are in love.
Bachtrack (Ivy Lin) 1 November 2025 *****
Howard previously worked with Nunes on 2022’s Interlinked for Birmingham Royal Ballet; a recording of the orchestral score was recently released by Mercury KX with the Royal Ballet Sinfonia conducted by Paul Murphy – listen here. Interlinked was commissioned for Birmingham Royal Ballet’s triple bill On Your Marks, celebrating the city’s hosting of the Commonwealth games in 2022; in 2023 it toured to the United States for performances in Orlando and New York City. In 2024 the ballet played to tens of thousands of festivalgoers on Glastonbury’s iconic Pyramid Stage, performed by Birmingham Royal Ballet.
Nunes has also choreographed music by Howard for the Atlanta Ballet, Philadelphia Ballet (2022’s Alignment), and the Royal Ballet (‘Bear Story II’ from his album Open Heart Story in 2019).