“Frida” Comes to the Stage at the Atlanta Ballet

By Daniela Cintron

Published April 27, 2026

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Artículo disponible en español.

At a Glance

• The Atlanta Ballet presents the East Coast premiere of “Frida”, inspired by Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, May 8–10 at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre.
• Choreographed by acclaimed artist Annabelle Lopez Ochoa.
• Striking visuals, including dancers embodying Kahlo’s paintings, symbolic animals and Day of the Dead imagery, bring her life and art to the stage.
• “Frida” closes the company’s 2025–26 season, continuing its focus on narrative works about influential women.
• Recommended for ages 13+, the performance features live music by the Atlanta Ballet Orchestra and themes of perseverance, identity and the power of art.

For many people, the story of Frida Kahlo begins with her paintings—bold self-portraits filled with color, pain and defiance. But this spring in Atlanta, her story will be told not with brushstrokes, but with bodies in motion.

From May 8–10, Atlanta Ballet will present the East Coast premiere of “Frida”, a full-length narrative ballet that brings the life of the iconic Mexican artist to the stage at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre. Choreographed by internationally acclaimed Belgian-Colombian artist Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, the production closes the company’s 2025–26 season with a story rooted in resilience, identity and transformation.

It is, fittingly, a story about pain—and the power to move through it.

Symbolism Into Movement

For Ochoa, the journey into Frida Kahlo’s world began not in a studio, but on a movie screen. After watching the 2010 film “Frida”, starring Salma Hayek, she realized something essential: to understand Kahlo’s paintings, you have to understand her life.

“You have to know her story to understand her paintings,” Ochoa said. “You have to know what she went through to understand the symbolism—and symbolism lends itself really well for ballet.”

That symbolism is everywhere in the production. Male dancers represent Kahlo’s self-portraits, emphasizing how her art became larger than her physical body. A deer appears as her alter ego, reflecting vulnerability and endurance. A bird—bright and hopeful—emerges during moments of resilience, inspired by Kahlo’s famous words: “Feet, what do I need you for when I have wings to fly?”

Even the set carries meaning. At the center of the stage sits a black cube, a striking visual device that transforms throughout the performance. It becomes a hospital bed, a home, a memory—revealing different chapters of Kahlo’s life while addressing a unique challenge: how to portray a woman who spent long periods bedridden through the physically demanding language of dance.

Ochoa designed the choreography to feel almost two-dimensional, as if the audience were watching a painting come alive. Most movements face forward, creating the sensation of stepping directly into Kahlo’s canvas.

“I want the audience to feel like they were looking at a painting moving,” she said.

Real Women, Not Fairy Tales

Ochoa is known for bringing historical women to the stage, from fashion designer Coco Chanel to Argentine first lady Eva Perón. Her work often centers on complex female figures—women who lived boldly, imperfectly and unapologetically.

“I like to put complex women on stage,” she said. “I like them to be real. I like them to be sassy. I don’t really like fairy tales because I don’t believe in them.”

Frida Kahlo fits that vision perfectly.

The ballet traces her tumultuous marriage, her artistic legacy and the physical and emotional trials she endured after a devastating bus accident that changed her life. Through movement, the production explores themes of love, betrayal, illness and self-expression—experiences that shaped both the artist and her art.

Skeleton figures, inspired by Mexico’s Day of the Dead traditions, appear throughout the performance as storytellers. They bring moments of joy and humor alongside darker themes, reflecting the way Kahlo herself confronted suffering with wit and color.

The Production

The ballet audiences in Atlanta will see the result of nearly a decade of creative evolution.

Ochoa first created a short work inspired by Kahlo in 2016 for the English National Ballet, titled “Broken Wings”. That piece later grew into a full-length production that premiered in 2020 with the Dutch National Ballet. The version debuting in Atlanta has been reworked once again, placing an even stronger focus on Kahlo’s personal story.

Along the way, the choreographer says Kahlo changed her, not just as an artist, but as a person.

“As an artist, she inspired me to be more personal in my work,” Ochoa said. “It’s okay to be very personal, because then it becomes universal.”

The Take Away

More than a biography set to music, “Frida” is ultimately about endurance. It asks what it means to keep creating, loving and living in the face of pain.

Ochoa hopes audiences leave with a simple but powerful realization: that resilience is possible, even in the hardest moments.

“That we can overcome pain,” she said. “All kinds of pain.”

The Team

For a city like Atlanta—one that continues to grow as a cultural hub—the production also highlights the role of the arts in telling global stories through local stages. And for audiences familiar with Kahlo’s work, it offers something new: a chance to experience her life not as a static image on a wall, but as a living, breathing narrative.

Founded in 1929, Atlanta Ballet is the longest continually operating ballet company in the United States and remains a cornerstone of the city’s arts scene. 

Check out what’s next at Atlanta Ballet for the 2026-2027 season.

Daniela Cintrón is an award-winning journalist, editor, and producer passionate about storytelling at the intersection of food, art, and culture. She is the content manager and bilingual editor for Discover Atlanta and contributes to publications like the Los Angeles Times, Atlanta Magazine and Eater.