[1] The title is a reference to the use of five songs by Max Richter, and a section with all four dancers in their "separate zones" is repeated three times, including once "spatially reversed".
A pas de deux originated by Whelan and Angle is set to a mashup of "This Bitter Earth", written by Clyde Otis and sung by Dinah Washington, and Richter's "On the Nature of Daylight", first used in the film Shutter Island.
The company first performed it at their fall gala, with Whelan and Angle reprising their respective roles, wearing costumes from the fashion house Valentino.
[7][8] In 2020, New York City Ballet made a one-shot film with an excerpt of the "This Bitter Earth" pas de deux, danced by Sara Mearns and Adrian Danchig-Waring.
[9] Due to the pandemic, the Vail International Dance Festival in 2020 used a digital format, and a video of the 2016 performance of the "This Bitter Earth" pas de deux with Boylston and Royal was streamed on its opening night.