Virginia Woolf, but Make It a Polyphonic, Sensory Ballet

In a rehearsal room at American Ballet Theater’s studios earlier this month, Alessandra Ferri and Roman Zhurbin paused during a pas de deux, waiting to take their next steps. “Where’s Big Ben?” Ferri asked. “We need to hear the bells.”

She was referring to a sound cue, a field recording of the famous bell at the Palace of Westminster in London. It tolls throughout Virginia Woolf’s novel “Mrs Dalloway,” coldly marking and making clear the passage of time.

Big Ben plays a similar role in the first part of “Woolf Works,” Wayne McGregor’s full-length ballet that evokes elements of Woolf’s biography and the essence of three novels, including “Mrs. Dalloway.” Having premiered at the Royal Ballet in 2015 to strong reviews, it arrives in New York on Tuesday, as part of Ballet Theater’s Metropolitan Opera House season.

The company’s Met season is known for its story ballets, canonical fare like “Swan Lake” and “Romeo and Juliet.” While contemporary works are also programmed, like Christopher Wheeldon’s “Like Water for Chocolate,” which returns in July, “Woolf Works” is something different: a loosely narrative attempt to capture not just the plots of three novels, but also the polyphony and sensory experiences of Woolf’s writing.

“This piece tells a story in a really modern way,” said Susan Jaffe, the company’s artistic director. “Every time I watch it, I am just thrilled.”

Devon Teuscher, who danced the role of Virginia Woolf when “Woolf Works” had its first Ballet Theater run, in California this spring, said it was also nice for a new work to counter the traditional “man-woman love story” of so many classic ballets. “We’re seeing,” she added, a “queer, beautiful story about a woman.”