Johnny Cash-inspired performance turns Charlotte Ballet into a rock concert

He was concerned it wouldn’t be an “honest take,” John told Axios. Then choreographer Christopher Stuart came along.

• Stuart, currently the Charlotte Ballet II director, moved to Nashville in 2002, where he began his professional career at the Nashville Ballet, which commissioned him to create a full-length performance. He opted to focus his on the Cash-Carter Cash story.
• Stuart and Carter Cash connected immediately, and the story became “Under the Lights,” debuting in Nashville in 2014.
• “He got it, and he could translate it into his art,” Carter Cash said of Stuart.

Driving the news: “Under the Lights” will make its Charlotte debut this week, as one of three contemporary works in Charlotte Ballet’s “Fall Works” to open the 2022-23 season.

Details: “Fall Works” runs Oct. 13-15 at Knight Theater in Uptown. There will be four performances. The other two works in the show are: Helen Pickett’s “IN Cognito” and Crystal Pite’s “A Picture of You Falling.”

Why it matters: Charlotte has never seen something like “Under the Lights.” Imagine choosing between a rock show and a ballet, but instead, you get both.

• Expect to see a blend of dance styles, from swing dancing to line dancing, with ballet throughout.
• The performance is set to Cash’s music, so you’ll hear songs like “Walk the Line,” “Ring of Fire” and “Hurt.”

Flashback: June Carter Cash loved the arts, her son told Axios. He recalled her taking him to his first opera when he was 12 or 13 years old — it was “La bohème.” They went to see “Swan Lake” in London shortly after.

• His parents were “eagerly accepting of people’s creativity,” he said, adding that his dad would appreciate Stuart’s interpretation of his own work.
• Today, Carter Cash sits on Nashville Ballet’s board. He won’t make “Fall Works” due to scheduling.
• “I’m country as the day is long, but I also know my Tchaikovsky,” he told Axios.

The bottom line: Ballet is more than tights and tutus, Stuart told Axios.