Ballet Austin’s Artistic Director, Stephen Mills and locally based (internationally loved) composer Graham Reynolds are two of the three collaborative masterminds behind Ballet Austin’s presentation of Cult of Color: Call to Color. Along with visual artist Trenton Doyle Hancock—who created the sets and designed the costumes, and upon whose painted characters the show is based—Mills and Reynolds have put together an astounding presentation. We talked with Mills and Graham about creating the show.

How did the idea for the show come to you?

SM: I had just finished a huge project and it was really satisfying. It was called Light/The Holocaust and Humanity Project. I was looking for something to work on that was interesting. Sue Graves, director at Art House, and I were having a conversation and I said I wanted to work with a visual artist. I thought it would be interesting to do a series based on visual art.

I’m really interested in visual art and I’ve followed Trenton’s work. I’d never had chance to work with a visual artist and Trenton was really amenable to it. Having the opportunity to step into somebody else’s work and inhabit these paintings has been the significant part of my growth as an artist.

The set is gorgeous and was done in collaboration with the Fabric Workshop and Museum in Philadelphia. What’s that about?

SM: Trenton doesn’t specifically work in textiles but the Fabric Workshop had been trying to find a project to do with him. He thought this was the best confluence of events. What they’ve done is created two looks—one is a cave the Vegans come from and the other is a forest where they come out of the underworld. Fabric Workshop created this backdrop. It is a collage not of just different colors and fabrics but also different textures—fur, felt, and silkscreen from drawings that was then collaged on fabric that is about 65 feet long and 17 feet high in seven different panels. Our hope is that when it’s not being used as a backdrop that the work will actually be shown in museums and galleries. It’s really glorious.

Clearly y’all are three very strong artists from very different backgrounds. What was it like collaborating?

SM: It was really very easy. The thing that made it so smooth was that we all had a general respect for each other. For myself while I’ve studied composition I’ve never done it. I’ve watched the process and I was interested in Graham’s process. He did a killer job. With Trenton— I’m not a visual artist—we’ve just been intrigued by the others’ process. I took it as a learning opportunity.

GR: The collaboration was easy, probably the easiest I've had across mediums. With a finished story that everyone was on board with and clear territorial boundaries, work was able to progress with confidence.

The costumes are intense. How did they come about?

SM: It was a negotiated process. In Trenton’s paintings they’re not always so fully wrought out. The original drawings would come from Trenton and we’d negotiate—could the hips be freer so as not to interfere with range of motion? Costumes might not be specifically as you see them in the paintings. While the dancers sort of look at each other in amazement they’re able to do their jobs pretty effectively.

Austin seems to be growing up culturally, with more opportunities for Austinites to see a wider array of performances. What do you think about that?

SM: In the state of Texas I would say Austin is the most laid back, easy place to live if you’re an artist. The population is highly educated and interested in art, not just classic but new art and how things get made. As an artist it’s a really pleasant place to work. If I were twenty years younger I might think maybe I need to go to NYC. But that’s not the goal for me and I don’t think it is for a lot of artists living here—I stay here because I have the opportunity to do what I want. I’m not dictated. When I do something like this the audience might say, “This is weird,” but they go along with it.

When you’re dealing with archetypes like good vs. evil, it’s easy enough to infer political underpinnings. Is there a message you want the audience to take with them?

SM: Trenton is very specific about not putting political points of view in the art although it is very political. I think based on where you sit— it’s translucent. You can put it on and it makes sense in a lot of different contexts.

What was your process in composing the music?

GR: My process changes and adapts depending on the piece and its needs. For this piece, I started by studying Trenton's art and sketching out a musical outline based on the narrative. Then I made improvised piano sketches of scenes and started creating bits of melodic and other motivic elements. Next I started recording chunks of potential content and variations on those motifs. A full score sketch came next and I used that to create a recorded sketch that was a combination of the midi instruments performing the parts and the acoustic chunks I had already laid down. That sketch became the basis of the rest of the work, with many edits and changes along the way. I would replace the midi instruments with real instruments, add layers of improvisation, etc. At the same time, Buzz Moran and I developed a literal, filmic sound design based on the narrative and that was incorporated into the musical recordings.

What was your biggest challenge?

GR: Finishing. The ideas took a tremendous amount of time to realize. Buzz Moran in particular spent a huge amount of time in my studio with me trying to bring the concepts to a presentable state.

What has been your biggest satisfaction with composing for this show?

GR: The synthesis of styles without feeling cut and paste, at least it feels that way to me.

We completely agree. Cult of Color: Call to Color closes this weekend at Ballet Austin's AustinVentures StudioTheater. Tickets are still available for the 4/12, 2pm performance.