What do you get when you combine two of ballet's powerhouses and throw a little space in the mix? "Frontier" (tentative title), a new ballet commissioned by Washington Ballet director Julie Kent and choreographed by notorious ballet 'bad-boy' Ethan Stiefel. Washington DC will celebrate the 100th birthday of President John F. Kennedy in May; Kent wanted to present a ballet at the Kennedy Center that was in some way connected to the former president.

In a new interview with the Washingtonian, Stiefel says knew immediately that he didn't want to create a ballet on the life and times of JFK and Jackie - he wanted something bigger than that. The space program was so important to JFK - and remains so incredibly relevant today - that Stiefel decided to pull inspiration from that and create a ballet.