In a way, Eric Tamm is coming home.
A native of San Francisco, Eric Tamm began his dance training with tap and jazz at 14. With his role in the upcoming premiere of the production, “Of Love and Rage,” he returns to California, as an emergent dance professional on the world stage.
“It’s amazing how Alexi Ratmansky brought this story to the stage,” said Tamm, adding that he felt it was an honor to come back to California to perform in its premier on the Segerstrom stage.
In a must-see world premiere, Of Love and Rage is a new work choreographed by Ratmansky, an ABT Artist-in-Residence and MacArthur Genius who finds his inspiration in the ancient Greek text Callirhoe.
Written by Chariton of Aphrodesias, Callirhoe is widely acknowledged to be the oldest novel still in existence, set around 400 BC in the ancient Greek world, which, at that time, sprawled across the Mediterranean.
Tamm’s ballet training began at 14 at the Irine Fokine School of Ballet, under the direction of Irine Fokine, Eugene Petrov and Jeanette Hoffman.
In the Summer of 2003, he attended Kaatsbaan’s Extreme Ballet program, studying with Martine van Hamel, Bonnie Mathis and Christian Holder. In January 2004, Tamm was selected for the ABT Studio Company Associate Program (now the ABT Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School) and attended ABT’s 2004 Summer Intensive Program on a full scholarship.
Tamm joined ABT Studio Company in August 2004, the main Company, as an apprentice, in January 2007 and the corps de ballet in December 2007. He rejoined ABT in 2020. His repertory with the Company includes the principal role in Ballo della Regina, the Second Sailor in Fancy Free, Des Grieux in Lady of the Camellias, principal 1st Movement in Symphony in C, the Nutcracker Prince and the Spanish Dance in Alexei Ratmansky’s The Nutcracker, Olga’s Fiancé in On the Dnieper, Lead Highlander in The Bright Stream, the Nocturne in Fall River Legend and many other roles.
Tamm now lives in New York and is a resident ABT dancer. He returns to California this week to perform in “Of Love and Rage.”
A ballet in two acts, Of Love and Rage is influenced by the Greek aesthetic of beauty and harmony, incorporating many elements from ancient Greek drama. Ratmansky employs his expansive knowledge of classical ballet’s history and orchestrations of Aram Khachaturian’s score Gayane to create a powerful narrative of love and forgiveness, utilizing the full company of dancers. According to Ratmansky, “Of Love and Rage” is not a fairytale. Although it was written thousands of years ago, with the complexity of the relationship between Callirhoe and Chaereas at its core, it feels very modern and relevant. Callirhoe is a strong woman in a world where women had very limited options and no power. After early experiences where her fate is determined by men, she learns that she can use her beauty and her brains to shape her fate.” Ratmansky added, “I am fascinated by the topic of forgiveness. This is a story about how anger and jealousy tear two people apart – two people who are madly in love. Forgiveness is the only way they can reunite, and forgiveness requires strength. As Mahatma Gandhi said, ‘The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.’”
Tamm and the entire ABT corps de ballet can be seen in “Of Love and Rage,” on stage at Segerstrom March 5-8.
Single tickets for American Ballet Theatre’s Of Love and Rage at Segerstrom Center for the Arts start at $29 and are now available online at SCFTA.org, at the Box Office at 600 Town Center Drive in Costa Mesa or by calling (714) 556-2787. For inquiries about group ticket discounts for 10 or more, call the Group Services office at (714) 755-0236.
