Full works and professional choreographic demo reel are available upon request. Please email Norbert at [email protected] to obtain links and footage. ​

ARRIVE

Arrive was comissioned by Bruce Wood Dance Company (2023) and was partially made possible by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Arrive (2023)
​Premiered Nov. 17, 2023, Moody Performance Hall (Dallas, TX)
Music by Oliver Davis, Anna Clyne, Eric Christian, Jóhann Jóhannsson, Max Richter.
Dramaturg: Héctor Alvarez
Costumes by Tracey Hawes
Lighting by Erin Earle Fleming
Photo by Sharen Bradford

Length: 26 minutes
Cast size: 14 dancers

"One of the striking aspects of Norbert De La Cruz III’s choreography is his ability to transform chaotic scenes into organized formations seemingly in an instant, the viewer unable to discern how he got the dancers from there to here. Add his gift for telling poignant human stories and you can see why his work is in such demand." - Manuel Mendoza, The Dallas Morning News

Arrive is an movement adaptation based on a monochrome immigrant fantasy illustration book entitled “The Arrival” by Shaun Tan: "A man leaves his wife and child in an impoverished town, seeking better prospects in an unknown country on the other side of a vast ocean. He eventually finds himself in a bewildering city of foreign customs, peculiar animals, curious floating objects and indecipherable languages.With nothing more than a suitcase and a handful of currency, the immigrant must find a place to live, food to eat and some kind of gainful employment. He is helped along the way by sympathetic strangers, each carrying their own unspoken history: stories of struggle and survival in a world of incomprehensible violence, upheaval and hope."

CRITICAL MASS

Critical Mass was selected by Artistic Director Melissa Young and commissioned by Dallas Black Dance Theatre for the Directors' Choice Program (2023).

Critical Mass (2023)
​Premiered Nov. 10, 2023, Wyly Theatre (Dallas, TX)
Music by Ben Waters
Costumes by Sharon Yik
Lighting by Pavel Perebillo
Photo by Amitava Sarkar

Length: 19
Cast size: 12 dancers

SEMBLANCE

Semblance was originally choreographed for Golden State Ballet (2023) for their From New York With Love Production. 

Semblance (2023)
Premiered June 6, 2023, Irvine Barclay Theatre (California)
Music by Oliver Davis
Costumes by Renee Shaeffer
Lighting by Martha Carter
Photo by Samantha Zauscher

Length: 19 minutes
Cast size: 13-15 dancers

Semblance is set to an enchanting and lively score by English composer Oliver Davis. Semblance is a heart wrenchingly romantic and an aggressively musical dance piece. This ballet is remixed with various different Oliver Davis scores.

CLOUD 9

Originally choreographed for Big Muddy Dance Company (2022) for their IGNITE program. 

CLOUD 9 (2022)
Premiered October 28, 2023, at the COCA Catherine B. Burges Theater (St. Louis, MO)
Music by Various Artists
Costumes by Shevaré Perry
Lighting by Zak Metalsky
Rehearsal Director: Leonides Arpon
Photo by Kelly Pratt
​
Length: 23 minutes
Cast size: 15 dancers

I am interested in the exploration of ‘happiness' as a cultural movement and the narratives that emerge from our relentless search for becoming happier.  From this emotional location,  I am looking at the shadows that follow euphoria; the irony of joy. The construction of this piece is a contemplative attempt to rescue oneself from disappearance.

SINCERELY YOURS

Originally choreographed in 2023 for Owen/Cox Dance Group under the support of theMidwest Trust Center at JCCC's New Dance Partners Festival. 

Sincerely Yours (2023)
Premiered on Sept. 15, 2023 at Yardley Hall (Overland Park, KS)
Length: 20 minutes
Dramaturg: Héctor Alvarez
Music: Christopher Cerrone & Oliver Davis
Lighting: Burke Brown
Cast size: 7-9 Dancers
Photo by: Mike Strong

Sincerely Yours draws inspiration from composer Christopher Cerrone's chamber music. Pulling from sections of Cerrone's Double Happiness (2016) and his I Will Learn to Love a Person (2013), I was interested in the connections between Tao Lin's New Sincerity writing style, the irony in Cerrone's compositions, and creating a theatrical dance work that shines attention to emotional reactivity. Creating a dance about emotional indulgence, which can be so addicting, Sincerely Yours captures the manic energy of attempting to pin down the search for sincerity. The work shifts abruptly between emotions: displaying hysterical sorrow, the over performance of joy, and the tension between artificial and natural voices.

BIRD'S-EYE VIEW

Originally choreographed for Richmond Ballet (2023) for the Studio Three: New Works Festival. 

Bird's-Eye View (2023)
Length: 15 minutes
Music by: Lara Somogyi, RIOPY, Ashram
Costumes by: Emily Morgan
Lighting: Nathan W. Scheuer
Photo by: Sarah Ferguson 
Cast size: 9 Dancers

REINTEGRATE

Originally choreographed for Point Park University (2021) for the Contemporary Choreographers Concert.  Reintegrate has been restaged for LaGuardia High School for the Arts for the 2022 Senior Graduation Concert. 

Reintegrate (2021)
Length: 19 minutes
Music by Oliver Davis & Matthew D. Morgan
Cast: 18-21 dancers
Photo by Mark Simpson

"My personal favourite of the evening was Reintegrate by Norbert De La Cruz III, a slightly enlarged version of the piece originally made for Point Park University in 2021, and at 18 minutes one of the show’s longer works. To music by Oliver Davis and Matthew D. Morgan, the choreography for 21 dancers and seven benches that are reformed several times, the choreography is complex but beautifully fluid and intensely musical. The work emphasises community, coming together and support. Different groups emerge, form and reform with ease. The unison work demands togetherness and got it. There are also some neat changes of mood, from thoughtful and quiet, especially in the duets in the central section, to playful and upbeat." -David Mead 
​[Seeing Dance 2022]
https://www.seeingdance.com/laguardia-graduation-dance-concert-220702/

SQUARE NONE

Aspen Santa Fe Ballet's production of Square None (2012) was made possible by the Jerome Robbins Foundation's New Essential Works (NEW) Program with additional support by Dr. Dan Luedke, in honor of his wife, Dr. Susan Luedke. (Rosalie O' Conner 2012)

Square None (2012)
Length: 18 minutes
Music by Various Artists
Cast: 7-9 dancers
Photo by Rosalie O' Conner

"It felt like a thrill, like a discovery of something new." - Stewart Oksehorn (The Aspen Times)

"Yielded moments of grace that suggested that De La Cruz is as much a poet as he is a craftsman." - Calvin Wilson (St. Louis Today)

UNTIL THE MERMAID DRAGS YOU UNDER​

MADE POSSIBLE BY OLYMPIC BALLET THEATER'S "DEBUTS" CONCERT.

Until The Mermaid Drags You Under
Premiered February 14, 2022
​Length: 35 minutes
Music by Various Artists
Cast: 10-12 dancers
Photo by Kimberly Person

Norbert De La Cruz III is a choreographer new to me but not to his craft. His Until the Mermaid Drags You Under is an extended dance statement. I liked this work — that of sea/ocean images, of mermaids, one merman, sea maiden, sailors and the conflict between these — of sirens luring them to their demise and peril. A work of depth, it reminded me of a painting hung in my ... house ... [of] women-folk standing on an ocean pier, peering out over the waves, waiting and perhaps wondering if and when their men (sailors, fishermen) will return  like the tribute at our very own Fishermen’s Terminal to fishermen lost at sea." - Dean Speer (Critical Dance Forum)

FOLD BY FOLD

Aspen Santa Fe Ballet's production of Fold by Fold (2013) was made possible through the generosity of Kelli and Allen Questrom with additional support from the Wolf Trap Foundation and The Princess Grace Foundation-USA.

Fold By Fold (2013)
Length: 19 minutes
Original Music by Michael Gilbertson
Cast: 7-9 Dancers
Photo by Rosalie O' Conner

"His innate ability to direct the eye was demonstrated in his strategic staging and use of synchronized versus isolated pairings."- Maya Olivier (MD Theatre Guide)

TALSIK

"Talsikan" was made possible in 2014 by the Anne M. and Philip H. Glatfelter Family Foundation, BalletX's Winter Series, and BalletX Giving Tuesday Supporters. "Talsikan" was then revamped/reinvented to "Talsik"  in the Winter of 2016 for the SUNY Purchase Fall Dance Concert.

Talsik (2014)
Length: 19 minutes
Original Music by Benjamin Juodvalkis
Cast: 10-20 dancers

"{Taking the nexus of what is perceived as contemporary ballet, De La Cruz manages to transform a relatively popular aesthetic into a more youthful, relevant event.  So what should you expect?  Expect to be wowed." - Gregory King (Broad Street Review)

FOURTH WALL

This production of "Fourth Wall," was made possible as part of the Tulsa Ballet II's Mini Series; presenting it's own season of production: "On Your Radar."

Fourth Wall (2014)
Length: 14 minutes
Music by Various Artists
Cast: 8 dancers

"Just spectacular to witness. It was unlike any of the ballets I have witnessed thus far in our 8 years as season ticket holders... I was very excited to see this contemporary, fun and intelligent ballet spring to life in front of us. When the curtain lifted and you saw chairs stacked up on one another, I instantly knew this was going to be something interesting.- Johnny Bryan Ward

FLUENCY

FLUENCY WAS MADE POSSIBLE BY THE JUILLIARD SCHOOL NEW DANCES PRODUCTION / EDITION 2021.

Fluency (2021)
Length: 21 minutes
Original Music by Nathan Prillaman
Cast: 20-23  dancers
Photo by Erin Baiano

CONCEAL THE UNSEEN

The Juilliard School for Dance
Senior Production 2010

Conceal The Unseen (2010)
Length: 14 minutes
Music by Psapp, Alva Noto
Cast: 7-9 dancers

LEGACY ISLAND

LEGACY ISLAND WAS COMMISSIONED BY EISENHOWER DANCE DETROIT.

Legacy Island (2022)
Length: 20 minutes
Music by Sun Electric, Dario Marianelli, Thomas Azier, additional voiceovers
Cast: 8-10 dancers
Photo by Allison Armfield

​TWO PLACES AT ONCE

TWO PLACES AT ONCE WAS COMMISSIONED BY TITAS 2022 BY CHARLES SANTOS FOR THE 2022 TITAS COMMAND UNBOUND GALA. THE CREATION WAS A SPECIAL COLLABORATION BETWEEN BRUCE WOOD DANCE AND DALLAS BLACK DANCE THEATRE.

Two Places at Once (2022)
Length: 7 minutes
Music: Johan Johannssonn, The Rachels
Cast: 2 dancers 
Photo by Sharon Bradford